The Naked Mole-Rat Letters (8 page)

Dear Frankie:


I didn't change the tunnel system for my amusement. I did it to keep the mole-rats active and challenged. A good keeper doesn't take care of her animals just by feeding them and keeping their exhibits clean. A good keeper tries to re-create some of the conditions and experiences the animals would have in the wild.


In the wild the tunnels of naked mole-rats sometimes cave in or get plugged up. So from time to time I interfere. I try to change things in ways that mimic what might happen to a mole-rat colony in the wild. That way the animals are able to respond appropriately. Change can be good! Change helps you to grow.


I do understand and share your concern. Some people do not like zoos because they believe no animals should be held captive. I believe that a good zoo is an educational institution where biologists study animals and people get the chance to see them. People can learn to respect and care about animals and their habitats by visiting exhibits in zoos like mine. If animals are well treated and given an environment
that is as close as possible to their native habitat, then the animals can live healthy lives and help the world to be a better place. Sometimes we reintroduce animals that have been bred in captivity back into the wild. That's always especially thrilling for a keeper.


For me, being a keeper is an awesome responsibility. I know these mole-rats, and I think they know that I'm
for
them. (At least they know my smell!) The colony is very healthy and has lived a long time. The queen is pregnant again now.


Thoughtfully yours,


Ayanna


 

Dear Ms. Bayo:


If naked mole-rats could talk, would you ask them if they liked being held captive at the zoo? What if they said no?


—F.


 

Dear Frankie:


You ask thought-provoking questions. If naked mole-rats could talk, I certainly wouldn't keep them cooped up in a plastic tunnel system.


Honestly yours,


Ayanna


 

Dear Ms. Bayo:


So you think it's okay to imprison creatures because they can't talk back? I don't think anything should be imprisoned. It reminds me of the way grown-ups control the lives of kids. Kids and naked mole-rats should have more rights.


If I were a naked mole-rat, I wouldn't want to be moved from Africa. Nobody should take anybody away from home. Ever.


Sincerely,


Frankie


 

Dear Frankie:


I certainly agree that kids, naked mole-rats, and all creatures should be treated with respect and dignity. I am a vegetarian because I don't like the way that animals are treated by large-scale agribusiness companies.


But there are times when adults need to intervene in the lives of creatures—or kids—to protect them and help them to grow up.


If koalas were about to become extinct, wouldn't it be better for a biologist to capture several and keep them protected in a zoo, hoping that they will mate and have babies, rather than
letting them become extinct? Should koalas have the
right
to become extinct?


What kind of rights should kids have? Should twelve-year-old boys and girls be allowed to drive cars if they want to? Should kids be able to decide whether or not they want to go to school? Should kids be able to baby-sit themselves? At what age?


Philosophically yours,


Ayanna


 

Dear Ms. Bayo:


I didn't like any of your questions. I thought they were smart-alecky. Obviously kids like Nutter should not be allowed to drive. What I mean is that adults should ask kids for their opinions before they make decisions about them.


Opinionatedly yours,


Frankie


 

Dear Frankie:


Well said. I think it's great that you are thinking about these philosophical questions and are developing opinions of your own. Exercise your brain!


Ayanna


 

Dear Ms. Bayo:


Now I have a question for you. If I am telling the truth and my dad really is getting married to somebody else, will you leave him alone?


Curiously yours,


Frankie


 

Dear Frankie:


I think your father is a wonderful man who deserves all the love in the world. If he found someone to love, someone who truly loved him in return, then I'd be happy for him.


Yours truly,


Ayanna


P.S. Your dad mentioned that you decided not to be in the play—I'm sorry about that.


 

Why is everybody so sorry that I'm not in the stupid play?


 

Dear Frankie:


I can't answer for everybody. I can only answer for myself. I'm sorry because I think being in a play is a great opportunity. Being a part of a production is a cooperative experience: all the people—the actors, the director, and the stagehands—are working together to create something meaningful. No one person could do it alone. Everyone is needed, no matter how small the part.


I think there should be more cooperative projects in the world. It used to be that everyone in a village helped one another to build houses and grow food and take care of children. Now we are all isolated. We cook in our own separate kitchens, drive our separate cars, and work in our separate offices. I have lived in my apartment for three years, and I don't know many of my neighbors. There's something wrong with that.


If a naked mole-rat tried to live alone, it would
starve. The ground is hard, so it takes a whole colony working together to dig far enough to find food.


Remember how I told you I try to keep the mole-rats active by re-creating the challenges they experience in their natural habitat? In the wild, naked mole-rats dig through the hard ground until they run into a “root” vegetable. Once they've chomped through that veggie, they have to dig through the hard dirt until they bump into another root or bulb. So here's what I do: From time to time I plug up one of their tunnels with about six inches of very hard dirt. At the end I stick in half a sweet potato or an ear of corn, as if it has grown in the dirt beyond their existing tunnel. As soon as I get done packing in the dirt with the food at the end, a few mole-rats scurry down the other end of the tunnel to investigate. Soon, they form an assembly line for digging. It's so much fun to watch. They form a single-file line with a “digger” mole-rat in the front, followed by a line of “sweeper” mole rats. The digger chews the dirt with his or her long teeth and brushes the dirt under his or her legs. The sweeper directly behind him or her collects the dirt into a pile and scuttles backward with it, brushing the dirt back
with him or her. The funny thing is that all the rest of the mole-rats in the line rise up on their tiptoes so that the sweeper can go backward under their arms and legs. The digger keeps working and passes more dirt to the next sweeper in line, who takes that little pile all the way to the back of the line. It looks like a game that children might play, but really it's a lot of work. One animal could never do it alone. They depend on one another.


I hope that you will audition for the next play.


Dramatically yours,


Ayanna


 

A.:


I'm glad I am not a naked mole-rat. I am independent. I am proud of being able to take care of myself. I don't need anybody, and that's the way I like it.