Actually, the term moldywarp is from the UK--here in the US we call it a mole. A bit of movement caught my eye last night as Patches and I were exploring the area around our campsite at the state park. Patches is in seventh heaven as currently we're the only campers on the hub, so there's no one around to intimidate her on our evening meanderings.
This sleek little fellow was very busy burrowing around looking for something to eat and Patches was actually able to paw at him gently as he appeared to be blind or near-blind. The tiny creature did squeak a bit in surprise when gently touched by the cat, but continued his search for dinner when Patches sat back down to observe him. Only about two and a half inches long, the mole was difficult to photograph because he burrowed so easily under the thick grass. Since the mole didn't panic or scuttle off after being touched by the cat, Patches quickly lost interest and moved off to explore the rest of the area. She found the poison ivy and some wonderful smell right in the heart of it all. Great.
3 comments:
Patches is a nice cat NOT to eat the mole. How neat that you SAW one!!
When we first moved to our house (many years ago) we had raised mole tunnels throughout our front yard.. but never actually spotted a real live one. How lucky for Patches to discover the little guy. And how sweet that the encounter was a friendly one.
Any problems with the poison ivy contact? Is there a danger of the irritant being transferred from pet to owner? I have never experienced it.. but I have heard that poison ivy is not a good time.
Coll-yes, you can get poison ivy from the fur of a dog or cat who has been walking through it. I have also gotten it in the winter when I've carried in firewood that had poison ivy vines (dead) on it. I can basically just LOOK at poison ivy and get it and believe me, it's no fun. Poor Darby had it so bad one summer the dermatologist said it was the worst case she had ever seen. The treatment involved shots of cortisone, soaking cloths in Domeboro solution and wrapping him from head to toe, long tub soaks in Domeboro solution and lots of Calamine lotion. That's something neither of us will ever forget.
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