An animal without eyes was found in Vukovar

Residents of Vučedol say that they noticed something strange happening in their gardens 17 years ago, but at the time they didn’t even think that it was a species that was considered extinct. Namely, they noticed that onions, carrots, potatoes, and flowers were disappearing from their gardens. Until recently, he was a rodent blind dog considered another extinct animal species. However, then the inhabitants of the Vukovar settlement who live on Vučedol noticed an unusual animal, after which it was determined that it was a blind dog.

In the 1980s, it was declared an extinct species

According to the literature, the blind dog lived during the 19th and early 20th centuries in the area of ​​Srem from Vinkovci towards Sremska Mitrovica. With a number of colonies that have been established over the years since 1984, the blind dog was declared an extinct species in the last century because, as stated, field research did not result in the finding of colonies. By the way, the blind dog is an animal up to 30 centimeters long, without a tail, it is covered with fur and is a covering of the body.

They live underground where they make holes so that their eyes are stunted and covered with hair. With their teeth and front paws, they dig underground corridors in which the rooms for feeding, defecation and sleeping are distinguished. They feed on bulbs, tubers and grasses.

Namely, the locals have noticed that fruits and vegetables are disappearing in their gardens. It happened that 80 percent of the garlic and potatoes disappeared. Flower bulbs, tulips, daffodils were also eaten… Whole houses were disappearing, not only from one person, but from several, which indicates that the blind dog colony on Vučedol has expanded over the years.

They tried to move the gardens to another location, but year after year everything was repeated. Vegetables and flowers in the gardens continued to disappear. The gardens were simply devastated, and if there was a stalk on the surface, there was no tuber in the ground. They also tried to seek advice from the Veterinary Station to find out what to do to protect the garden where they were told not to cultivate the garden for a year and the blind dogs would leave it.

The colony expanded

However, they doubt it because there are still a lot of gardens in the area, and it is obvious that the blind dog colony has expanded. They tried to pour water into holes in the ground, but that didn’t work either.

The locals accidentally came across an animal in the ground that was bigger than a mole, but without a tail and without eyes. Thus, through further research, as well as through the Internet, they found out that it was a blind dog.

This animal species was considered extinct, so it is unknown how it reappeared in Croatia. Locals suspect that they came across the Danube, from Serbia, but they don’t know how.

– Based on the photos sent, it is a blind dog. It is good news to hear that there is a living colony of blind dogs here in Vučedol. This is valuable information for us because now we will no longer consider it an extinct species. A specialized team from Zagreb will come and conduct genetic research in order to find out the origin of these Vučedol rodents, whose discovery I have already informed the ministry about. They will offer the plot owners some acceptable solution, for example to pay for the damage or perhaps to catch the animals and move them to another location – said Pavao Dragičević from the Public Institution for the Protection of Natural Values ​​of the Vukovar-Srem County.

(Evening paper)