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Strength and sensitivity of the not so bumbling mole Strength and sensitivity of the not so bumbling mole
(about 7 hours later)
Foraging for bilberries in the cool of early morning, a blackcap stationed itself in a rowan near the bush I was combing, its muscular, liquid song masking the abstract drone of distant traffic. Thanks to the cold spring and the sudden heat of the week before, the berries were small but sweet and so I moved around the bush to find more.Foraging for bilberries in the cool of early morning, a blackcap stationed itself in a rowan near the bush I was combing, its muscular, liquid song masking the abstract drone of distant traffic. Thanks to the cold spring and the sudden heat of the week before, the berries were small but sweet and so I moved around the bush to find more.
Those paws could dig through loose concrete, but flick them on their long pink noses and they would bleed to death
I found instead something altogether unexpected. In front of me, on its back, was a recently dead mole, its powerful front paws framing its delicate nose, as though it died in the act of surrender. Leaving aside the small mystery of what its intact corpse was doing there, I found myself fascinated and moved. Moles are not creatures you get to examine regularly, so I studied this one: the sausage-like body, gently tapering; the usefully evolved fur, its nap free to flow in any direction, allowing the mole to wriggle backwards underground; the slender back legs and the delicate, slightly elongated tail.I found instead something altogether unexpected. In front of me, on its back, was a recently dead mole, its powerful front paws framing its delicate nose, as though it died in the act of surrender. Leaving aside the small mystery of what its intact corpse was doing there, I found myself fascinated and moved. Moles are not creatures you get to examine regularly, so I studied this one: the sausage-like body, gently tapering; the usefully evolved fur, its nap free to flow in any direction, allowing the mole to wriggle backwards underground; the slender back legs and the delicate, slightly elongated tail.
Most fascinating to me were the huge front paws, broadened by the mole’s second thumb into cupped shovels that push through the earth. This unarticulated thumb is pure bone and may be connected to another of the mole’s intriguing physiological distinctions. The female has ovotestes: gonads with both ovarian and testicular tissue. The higher levels of testosterone may assist in growing its extra bony digit.Most fascinating to me were the huge front paws, broadened by the mole’s second thumb into cupped shovels that push through the earth. This unarticulated thumb is pure bone and may be connected to another of the mole’s intriguing physiological distinctions. The female has ovotestes: gonads with both ovarian and testicular tissue. The higher levels of testosterone may assist in growing its extra bony digit.
A mole’s paw worn round the neck used to be a talisman, but I returned this one gently to the ground intact. As a boy, I knew an affable old market-gardener who regularly trapped scores of moles, drying their pelts on a wire fence. Moles in popular culture are myopic bumblers, but he spoke of them reverently; those paws could dig through loose concrete, he warned, but flick them on their long pink noses and they would bleed to death. This combination of strength and sensitivity stayed with me ever since. @calmandfearlessA mole’s paw worn round the neck used to be a talisman, but I returned this one gently to the ground intact. As a boy, I knew an affable old market-gardener who regularly trapped scores of moles, drying their pelts on a wire fence. Moles in popular culture are myopic bumblers, but he spoke of them reverently; those paws could dig through loose concrete, he warned, but flick them on their long pink noses and they would bleed to death. This combination of strength and sensitivity stayed with me ever since. @calmandfearless