Photo-a-Day  (Wednesday, 12th July, 2017)

Great picture of something you don't catch sight of very often.
Remember the song......."Bum Bum Bum Bum, I am a mole and I live in a hole" , going back a bit that one.

Moles have a funny life all day they just dig tunnels underground so they can eat worms, glad I wasnt born as one.
I Leica your camera Anne.

Hasn't it got a beautiful coat..thank you Anne,I've never seen one so close up before.

A Jacobite toast,"to the little gentleman in the black velvet coat" owing to king William III being thrown from his horse when stumbling over a mole hill and causing his death.
So I was taught at school.

Apart from the unsightly mole hills apparently they do a good job aeriating the lawn!
Looks like he is looking for another spot to start another tunnel - or lost his way!

I have never seen a mole in my life....now I have. Thanks!

Poor little chap. Fortunately for him, he doesn't tealise that almost the entire world is against him. How can this little fella possibly be expected to know that people don't appreciate piles of earth on their manicured lawns? But he'll inevitably go on to do whatever he's programmed to do nonetheless, just like the rest of us. Looking back though, we didn't appreciate the dodo, or the passenger pigeon until they were extinct did we ? That's a nice photo Anne. Please keep us informed on his progress if that's possible.

Regards. Ozy.

Ozy..what a lovely thing to say..I fully expected someone with no heart to condem them for pulling up their immaculate lawns..it makes a refreshing change for someone like yourself to admit that these creatures deserve to live just the same as anyone else.

Yes I agree Maureen / Ozy all that's needed is a stiff brush to scatter the mole hills. I could never use anything to kill the moles. It's nature's plan after all. I can't say the same for slugs though! Ugh!

Ozy.... I moved him to where I thought he might survive just over my garden wall in some uncultivated rough area.

Anne,was his/her coat as lovely to touch as it looks.

I'm surprised you managed to get hold of him actually Anne. I've only ever come across one of these critters, and that was at Carr Mill when I was a kid. I tried to grab hold of him, but those front legs are very powerful and he was off like a shot.

He/she was just a baby and very docile so easy to handle. I have looked over the wall but no sign, gone! Yes its coat was lovely, all soft and warm. Whenever I pick distressed animals or birds up neighbours always warn about "catching something" but I always do it if I think it will help.

Anne,I think animals are more likely to catch something from us don't you.

We need to be very careful about interfering in the lives of wild animals. I found a baby hedgehog wandering in the street late at night a few months ago. I put him under the hedge in my back garden to allow him access to my neighbour's garden which resembles a large overgrown nature reserve. I found him about a week later at the bottom of the steps leading to my back gate. He'd gone down the steps, couldn't get back up, and died there. My fault entirely, but I won't make that mistake again.

Ozy,I totally agree..in my case it wasn't a wild animal though..since I was a child I've picked up any animal I saw..on this occasion I picked a kitten up in Wallgate..went walking down our street with it..next doors dog who used to walk to School with me every day saw it in my arms ,snatched and killed it..my Mam came out to hear my screams and said "now have you learnt your lesson"..I sure did I've never forgotten that poor little kitten and never will.