Does this rodent grow its own food?

The researchers wanted to know how plant roots behaved in underground tunnels dug by small rodents. But the rodents on site did not cooperate.

Goffers look a bit like a cross between a mole and a rat. They are found in various places in America where they live underground. They specialize in digging tunnels. Some of these tunnels are up to 160 meters long. Life in the ground is more secure from predators than life on land, but digging the tunnels takes a lot of energy. If animals ate only what they encountered while digging, it would not be enough to survive. So how do they get enough calories?

To answer this question, the researchers wanted to study tunnel sections. But each time they dropped a piece, the goffers worked around and through. After several failed attempts, they finally managed to block a few segments quite well. They could see that the roots of trees and plants grow deeper in the tunnels than elsewhere, and it looks like the goffers are manipulating the plants. As if they were growing their own food.

Now this research has been in one area so we haven’t seen how it is in other places yet but if it’s correct then the goffer is the first non-human mammal to grow food . We already knew about ants, termites and beetles.

Read more: Are pocket gophers underground farmers?