Wednesday 16 November 2011

Underground, Overground (2)

.....wombling free.



The poor old mole gets a bad name for his impact on ornamental gardens. He even gives his name to certain treacherous villains including one in a recently released film.( I doubt it’s as good as the version with Alec Guiness. )

Moles share with fungi the fact that they live under the ground and yet proclaim their presence on the surface in a unique and identifiable way. It would be stretching things though to compare a molehill with a fruiting body such as a mushroom. The mole must be one of the commonest mammals on Blacka Moor where nobody can accuse it of being a pest; molehills appearing on the wasteland created by sheep are a welcome point of wildlife interest. But I wonder if any wildlife enthusiast has ever done a population survey. Or even whether there exists a standard technique for surveying or estimating mole populations.

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