Dead certs are a sad fact of life
THERE is a sad fact of life.
Well, a sad fact of wildlife.
Most of us will only see certain animals when they are dead.
I am pretty certain that a lot of you will have seen dead badgers and foxes by the roadside, having only seen them alive on the TV.
This week I found a dead mole and it was so sad to see this beautiful creature lying on grass by our local pond.
I am not sure how it died, it might have been snatched by a bird or even a cat, but it looked fairly intact, so whatever killed it may have been disturbed.
While it’s velvety fur almost invited you to stroke it, I would suggest you leave dead animals alone, just to be on the safe side.
Moles are lovely, just a couple of inches long, quite stocky and covered in that black fur.
They have tiny eyes, a long pink nose and two, big shovel-like front paws.
The reason we don’t see them is because they live underground.
We know they are there, when mole hills appear on our lawns. That is the earth piled up from where they have been burrowing.
That soil is also really good for your garden.
And the digging by the moles aerates the soil, allowing more plants to grow which then feed more insects. Their tunnels also help prevent flooding by improving soil drainage.
They use their paws to dig tunnels and hunt for their favourite meal of earthworms.
They also like to eat underground grubs that would usually feed off crops, so moles are pretty good for gardens and fields.
So stop complaining about those mole hills on your lawn and start to understand how good these moles are for your garden. And then, as the week went on, I found a field vole on the path close to the local river.
I am not sure what happened to this small creature, it may have fallen foul of a local dog or been captured for a bird’s dinner, before being dropped.
The field vole is one of our most common mammals, with a population of around 75 million although most of us will rarely see one – and, if we do, we might mistake it for a mouse.
I have seen plenty of bank voles, which look similar, but field voles tend to hang out in grassland and heathland and they are only about five inches long, including the short tail.
The field vole feeds on seeds, roots and leaves and is active in the day and at night.
It scuttles along well-used runs seeking the safety of its burrows, but it is an important part of the diet of kestrel, weasels and barn owls, so it needs to run fast.
Field voles can produce up to six litters a year, which may include seven young and, every few years, there may be a population boom. It is grey-brown above and grey below.
It has shaggier fur than the bank vole and a shorter tail.
A vole has a blunter, rounder face, smaller ears and eyes, and a shorter tail than a mouse.
So, while it is sad to see dead, small mammals on my walks, it makes me feel better to know that these animals are doing well in the wild.
The fact that I am seeing them means there are a lot more around.