Arnold Uy took some
excellent photos of Fat Sand Rats near Jubail and has kindly allowed me to use
them on my website some of which are shown below. The Fat Sand Rat Psammomys obesus subspecies that lives
in Saudi Arabia is P. o. dianae.
Arnold mentioned there are a number of birds of prey in the area that appear to
be hunting them including Long-legged Buzzard, Greater Spotted Eagle and Steppe
Eagle. All these species are regular winter visitors to the Eastern Province of
the Kingdom but none are common so to see them all in a small area is very
interesting. I am still yet to see the Fat Sand Rat in Saudi Arabia as I
obviously bird the wrong areas but will try to see these animals in the near
future.
