A-MUSINGS

Okay, you know the name alone made you pause and giggle.  Even more, you can’t help yourself: you have to look at the picture.  The Naked Mole Rat.  Native to Africa, this three-inch-long rodent is hairless and wrinkled with a rat-like tail and strong, protruding teeth. Some have said it resembles a bratwurst —  or worse, a part of the human male anatomy — but with teeth. It has a face only a mother could love. And as we celebrate Mother’s Day this month, isn’t that what it is really all about?

Our Moms love us, no matter what we look like, who we are, or what we do. Consider the life the naked mole rat lives. Barely able to see with its beady eyes, it spends most of its life burrowing tunnels with its four sharp teeth in search of tubers or roots to eat. Like bees, they live in colonies ruled by a queen, and only a select few males get the honor of mating with the her. The rest fall into subordinate levels of a caste system:  soldiers who guard the colony, and the workers — just more cogs in the underground machine. The lower-caste naked mole rats even serve as door mats allowing the upper-class creatures to crawl over the top of them in the tight, dark tunnels.

But mothers are able to boast about even the tiniest of their offspring’s accomplishments. To Moms, everything their children do is praiseworthy. So what’s it like to be a proud Mother Naked Mole Rat? Let’s eavesdrop on a couple of Naked Mole Rats Mommies. [Think Mike Meyer’s sketch “Coffee Talk with Linda Richman” from Saturday Night Live.]

Mommy NMR #1:   “You should have seen my son yesterday.  He was so industrious: he dug three miles of tunnel!  The dirt, it was like buttah. And he found a new supply of roots for the colony.”

Mommy NRM #2: “Well, that’s nothing. My son, the Soldier, killed a snake this morning and protected the Queen.  It was so dangerous. I’m all verklempt just thinking about it.”

Did you know that naked mole rats are xenophobic, and they use odor to recognize fellow colony members? In order to demonstrate unity, they willingly roll themselves in the colony’s “toilet chamber” to pick up the uniform smell of the colony’s poop.  Now that is dedication to the group. Another trait that would make a mother naked mole rat beam with pride.

So you may be a lowly worker, a brave soldier, or one who is responsible for the continuation of the species. Maybe you might still live with your mother, she lives down the street, across the country, or has moved on to the next world. No matter what, your mother loves you. Even if you are a naked mole rat, you are beautiful… to your mother. Thanks, Mom. I love you. Happy Mother’s Day.