Tuesday 27 January 2009

Quick update!

Well, that was funny...

...I was just answering the comments on my post about the Barn Owl, when Jo walked into the room and asked if there was any mole hills today, so I told her I had noticed a small fist-sized lump next to an old mole hill and thought nothing of it.

Jo went in to get Zak dressed for the day, when I heard a little squeal, and Jo shouted out that the hill was moving!

So I took a look, and sure enough the molehill WAS moving, so I rushed and got my coat and boots on to go outside.

I picked up a spade from by the shed, and tip toeing round to the hill I braced myself.

When I was within 10 feet of the hill I took a few large steps and...


...WHAM!!!!!

I brought the spade down on the mole hill, and dug frantically to see the mole.

Unfortunately the little wotsit had already gone, but it must have moved incredibly quickly to get away, as the hill was still moving when i was 1 step away from it.

Thinking I'd take action against this little critter, I put a smoke bomb down into the tunnel, and hopefully the coating of castor oil will put him off again for a while!

11 comments:

Jo Capper-Sandon said...

I see there are no pics of the massacred lawn after you attacked it in a mad frenzy rofl
Better luck next time lol... it was good entertainment for the rest of the family :0)

Sister--Helen said...

I came to your site from the Allotment Lady...My sister Patsy ...http://pattypenny.blogspot.com/ reads her every day. My Sister is 68 years old and lives in the Arkansas Hills and loves her chickens....She has all kinds...I tried to get rid of moles at my daughters house here in AZ it was a chore....they are indestructible........

Stiggy said...

Hi Helen, nice to have you visit!

You'll be glad to know that we love our ladies too!

We have 13 ladies and a gent chicken, luckily for us they have just started laying again after a Winter break - now we're getting 7 eggs a day from them. We have 3 Silky hens, and they get very broody and always sit on the hybrid hen's eggs - so they sort of stop laying a little bit.

I'll go check Patsy's blog out a little later today.

Hope you enjoy your stay...

..Stiggy

Unknown said...

Do you have mole traps too - they are supposed to be very effective.

I would so love to have seen you clog dancing on the mole hills.

Best to set up a remote camera - with an alarm.

They can feel the vibration in the ground from feet away - perhaps bare feet tip toeing through the cold wet grass next time?

http://kooringa.com

Lottie the Allotment lady

Don said...

Jo needs to get out the video camera so we can watch all the antics of the mole maniac!

I want to hear all the stories.

Stiggy said...

Anyone would think I was doing something unusual!?

LOL!

Is that camera to catch me or the Mole Lottie?

THANKS DON!

Although 'Mole Maniac' has a certain ring to it, don't you think?

;)

Buddhist in Training said...

We also have an increasing mole problem! I went out to the chickens the other morning and could see none, all I could see was a massive earth pile by the run. My first instinct was that something had been trying to dig in. Eeeek! When I had a closer look it was the biggest mound I have ever seen, inside the run. The chickens were just being lazy. Phew!

John Going Gently said...

good blog, nice to see someone else who loves his hens!

Stiggy said...

Berthddu, I often see weird digging in and around the chicken run - probably 80% of them are rat holes, but the occassional rabbit will have a go. I doubt very much whether any would be foxes, as the amount of digging is very small.

Still - it looks weird when you see all this activity around your beloved ladies!

Thanks very much John, I never thought in a million years this would be me - looking after chickens, and living a fairly outdoor life at 36!!

Still, it does seem to suit me living here, and pottering about building, trimming and looking after the general place.

:D

Debbie said...

I loved reading about the mole adventures. My father in-law use to sit in the yard and just watch. No mole was safe when he was on patrol!

Debbie

Stiggy said...

Hi Debbie, well hopefully there won't be too many more posts about moles - they seem to have gone deep underground at the moment, gathering their forces, sorting out their armour and chemical suits!!

I will however update with great fervour should there be any more sightings!

:d