Of Moles And The Moleman

[poliphilo]

The moleman came and killed a mole for us. He said he thought there'd be others out there and he was right. My mother- who grudges paying him the asking rate for what he's already done- thinks he should come back and kill the others for free. Her views on labour relations are straight out of the 1930s (when she was a daughter of the big house and people in cloth caps knew how to show respect).

I like the moleman in spite of his sanguinary trade. He's a Geordie. He and I were comparing haircuts. When my mother was trying to screw him out of his wages he turned to me and said -not so sotto voce- "She always bloody does this to me."

This morning I filled three buckets- and could fill more- with soil from the molehills. It'll be good for using with pot plants. I also found some archaeology...

Comments

nice shards

[faunhaert.livejournal.com]

how big are your moles?

ours stay pretty tiny
well the ones I've caught
the cat has brought in

its the norwegian rats that get big here
but we found a musk rat in the window well
but i think he was just a baby
he was a compact critter. size of a football.
in Chicago i've heard of rats the size of cats
luckily i missed that sight.

compared to bears and deer
moles are tiny.

i remember some one saying
moles are going after insects
you remove their food and the moles will go away

do you have hedge hogs nearby too?

Re: nice shards

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I reckon this mole was about three to four inches long, but I didn't get the tape measure out.

They shift a lot of soil for such little beasties.

I think they mostly eat worms.

I haven't seen a hedgehog round here. Just moles, rabbits, squirrels and foxes.

Re: nice shards

[faunhaert.livejournal.com]

when i dug up my yard i find grubs ets stuff
its the ground squirrels(striped critters like gophers)
that do the most damage here.
the squirrels are around but they don't stay
with Sirius the tuxedo cat patrolling ...
he prefers birds or rabbits to eat.

but then there's gus,
he used to help jack dig
Jack the black lab liked to eat what he dug up.
Gus just likes to dig.