Last October, I had the opportunity to join a group of mammalologists who study the lesser mole rats of the Carpathian Basin. In the Hajdúság region in East-Hungary (traditional county of the Hajdús) and in the Transylvanian Plain in Romania, an endemic (sub)species of mole rats is found: Nannospalax (leucodon) transsylvanicus. This blind rodent was once widespread, now only relict populations remain - it is strictly protected now. They spend their entire life underground, digging an extensive system of branched burrows and feeding mostly on roots. For studying the population in a military-owned area near Hajdúhadház, 2 specimens were dug out, examined and released back.
