Old Moor

We're creating a wildlife garden at our Old Moor nature reserve in the Dearne Valley, South Yorkshire. Follow the garden's progress and see what comes to visit! We'll also be bringing you the latest news from the reserve. 

A gentleman in black velvet...

Whilst I haven't much new to tell you about garden progress (other than digging, followed by more digging) the group and I are really enjoying the company of a plethora of wildlife.

Last week whilst digging the last lengths of the lavender border, one of my volunteers noticed what she thought was a slight movement of earth. I'm sure I don't need to go into the detail of the jokes that ensued ("you must really be enjoying that digging" etc. etc.) but we all thought she'd gone a bit bonkers.

A little while later, another volunteer noticed the same thing and called us all over to have a look. Again, we all felt that perhaps someone had slipped something into the coffee that morning as there was no sign at that moment of any movement.

Then all of a sudden, there it was, quite like a mini-earthquake and terrifyingly fast, bubbling up from underneath the freshly dug earth - A MOLE! So soft and beautiful and incredibly busy. We think we must have disturbed it's tunnel, but it was certainly well on the way to building itself another.

I'm sure that many people regard these creatures as a pest but for us it was just another example of the fascinating wildlife that can live in a garden.

 

Posted by Julia Makin at 13:42 on 3 November 2008.  2 comments

Comments

theoloyla
Posted on Monday, 10 November 2008 at 12:08
I've never had a mole in the garden and whilst they are fascinating creatures I am not sure one would be welcome here either. What we do have is a big rat who is eating food off our bird table and he is definately not welcome. We also have loads of mice too which we love (as does the hawk who pops in every now and then for one). Our problem is how to deal with our unwelcome visitor without hurting the mice and continuing to feed and welcome the big variety of birds our garden attracts.
Julia Makin
Posted on Friday, 14 November 2008 at 13:04

Dear theoloya,

So glad you're enjoying the Blog!

I'm afraid rats can be a problem where food is left out, it is essential that you don't use poison where there are predatory birds around. I would suggest consulting a pest control agency before you do anything. Kind regards, Julia.

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