Sunday, February 13, 2011

There's Moles in Them Thar Hills!


According to the Seattle Times, moles will fill every available piece of likely mole habitat in the Northwest no matter what we do. And that's OK with me.

And more than that, moles are hundreds of times more powerful--relatively speaking--than our ginormous tunnel boring machines we're currently employing here for light rail tunneling and sewer tunneling purposes.

Wow! And, do you know what a group of moles is called? A labor of moles, of course. I posted here a while back about our clever names for various animal groups, and this one is new to that list. As a union organizer, I'm particularly fond of "a labor of moles". Nice ring to it.

For a graphic about moles and how they compare to our massive tunnel boring machines (one of which got stuck and was abandoned by the contractor) check out this link.

Dave Pehling of the Washington State University Extension Office in Everett, is a mole expert. Both photos courtesy of the Seattle Times.

When I was a kid I remember finding a nest of moles in a little crevice up against our foundation wall. Perfect little hairless digging machines. Cute in their laboriously moley way!

Is there an animal counterpart to the bicycle?


Keep it underground,

CurioRando