Yesterday I took the above photo of the area at the base of my feeder before morning light. I spotted a tunnel entrance on both sides of my wooden walkway to the shop as well. When I mentioned same to my hockey team-mates before Wednesday's game I was told I might have a star-faced mole because they are becoming more common. (Interesting. I thought I saw a mole skitter past my workshop door last summer but wasn't sure at the time what it was).
Today I noticed no similar trails or tunnel entrances while working outside the shop before lunch. Just a moment ago, however, something caught my wife's eye out the study window while I sat at the computer.
"I think your critter is back," she said.
And sure enough, I think the photos below - taken after I stuck my head out the window into a cold wintry blast - prove my tunneller has been active getting his lunch, and maybe storing seeds away, while I was eating my western club.
["Trail to tunnel emerges from under the walkway"]
["Other side of walkway, w paw print in lower right. (Cat?)"]
I googled 'star-faced mole' and learned the following, among many other fascinating things:
It is active day and night and remains active in winter,
when it has been observed tunneling through the snow
and swimming in ice-covered streams. Little is known
about the social behavior of the species, but it is
suspected to be colonial.
I do get an icy pond out back during cold, spring rains. But I'm not sure if I want a colony of moles living nearby.
The star-nosed mole mates in late winter or early spring,
and the female has one litter of typically four or five
young in late spring or early summer... Predators include
the red-tailed hawk, great horned owl, various skunks and
mustelids, and large fish, as well as domestic cats.
(Read more at Wikipedia)
I'll keep my eyes peeled because I don't want a skunk or cat (both regular visitors to my yard) to nab it before I do (i.e., with my camera, at least).
Link here to Is it a bird? Mighty Mole? 2
Photos by GH
No comments:
Post a Comment