Mole

While doing laundry this morning I was alerted by my significant other to the activities of some birds in the garden. They appeared to be mobbing a mole as it ran across the lawn.

Well, that was odd on a number of levels. Firstly, a mole. Furthermore, a mole in broad daylight on top of the lawn instead of underneath. Further furthermore, a mole in broad daylight on top of the lawn instead of underneath, being attacked by birds.

I have not seen a real live mole before except on the televisual apparatus, so was surprised at how large it was. Not that it was some mutant subterranena mammal intent on smashing the house with its giant paws, but it was big enough to see quite clearly, scurrying its way across the grass, desperately trying to avoid some very irritable avians.

The only sane course of action, once the chance to get a photo had been discounted, was to refer to the wildlife books we have. It seems moles breed around March/April and gestate for about 4 weeks. Young leave the nest after about 5 weeks, more or less fully grown; an average male is about 5-6 inches long (it's an old book before we had centimetres, but I would estimate that's about 12-15 cm). This would fit into timescales of early July for a young mole seeking a new home. I also learned that youngsters may be driven from the nest by adults and travel overground for significant distances in search of new territory, so I suppose that was what was going on.

The ground is currently very hard as we have not had rain for a long time and with the soil here being basically solid clay, it won't be easy digging for little paws, no matter how evolutonarily adaptive they are.

I also assume that because moles will steal eggs to eat that was why the birds took such a dim view of the creature.


Anyway, I will now be keeping an eye out for mole hills in the garden, and may have to seek advice if they suddenly appear. Which reminds me of the Jasper Carrott sketch - you can see it on YouTube or below.