I SAW A MOLE

[rydra_wong]

Alive and in broad daylight! I was concerned that it might be injured/unwell because of its being above ground, but it was very lively (some of my other photos were very motion-blurred).

It looked as if it had come up at a point where the earth was very dry and it couldn't find a way back into its tunnel system again; it investigated and trundled about with great energy and powerful front paws (including doing a pull-up to get up a steep bit of lawn next to someone's front steps) before eventually locating an entrance and disappearing.

Comments

[yourlibrarian]

Huh! I have never seen one in person.

[rydra_wong]

Me neither, until now! I was so excited!

[foxfirefey]

It looks so velvety!

[rydra_wong]

So so so velvety! I had to restrain myself from trying to touch it.

[wpadmirer]

Cool! I've never seen one myself.

[rydra_wong]

Ditto, until now!

[minoanmiss]

He was looking for the Water Rat, clearly!

[kore]

YES exactly what I thought

[vass]

Same.

[dreamkist]

Cute!

[rachelmanija]

Aww! I love moles.

[rydra_wong]

Sadly I didn't get a decent shot showing the mighty front paws, because wow.

[weofodthignen]

Oh wow! A real mole.

[rydra_wong]

I'd never seen one in real life before!

[st_aurafina]

It's so velvety!

[rydra_wong]

It looked so incredibly velvety! Mere photos (at least not ones taken by me) cannot convey how velvety it looked! I had to remind myself a lot that trying to stroke it was probably a Bad Idea.

[sasha_feather]

Ah this mole is so cute!!! :D

[rydra_wong]

THE FEET. THE WUFFLY SNOUT.

[shirebound]

Oh my, what an awesome sighting! Ever since reading Duncton Wood I've been fascinated by moles.

[rydra_wong]

I was stunned and thrilled! And I got to watch it for several whole minutes!

[vass]

It's beautiful. Incredibly velvety. And my brain is insisting it should be a marsupial, presumably because any animal who looks like that and is native to my part of the world would be.

[rydra_wong]

Your brain is not alone in this -- lilacsigil was comparing it to a "fat little platypus" in my DW.

[ironed_orchid]

You are not alone.

[silveradept]

A very interesting critter. I hope it has a good and deep tunnel system.

[rydra_wong]

Judging by the earth mounds on the lawn, it had been busy!

[turlough]

Wow, I've never seen a mole live before! What a fantastic plush fur it has.

[rydra_wong]

I was amazed by the velvety sheen on its fur (which the photos don't fully capture, alas).

[shapinglight]

Great pictures.

[rydra_wong]

Thank you!

[felicitygs]

omg WHAT A SOFT BABY, moles are so cute :3c

[rydra_wong]

So soft! (Soft-looking, anyway; I was well-behaved and did not try to touch.)

But also such mighty front paws and claws! A bit like the jaws of mechanical earth-moving equipment, which is basically what they are, I suppose.

[ironed_orchid]

Eeeee! I love pictures of weird exotic European mammals ;-)

[rydra_wong]

Bizarrely non-marsupial!

[cesy]

So cute!

[rydra_wong]

So cute, with MIGHTY SHOVEL PAWS!

[brownbetty]

This is amazing. Also, what great photos!

[rydra_wong]

Thank you! Achieved with my phone and no photographic skill whatsoever, by crouching on the ground and clicking frantically in the hope that at least one or two shots might turn out to be decent,