I think I’ve got a mole. :-) I saw little pushed up runs around the orchard the other day. I dug a few up and they were all pretty much on the surface and about the diameter of my thumb which is pretty darn small for a gopher.
When I first saw the tracks I was afraid that the gophers had finally jumped the moat. (Pole vaulted?:-) ) I kept watching the tracks over a couple of days and they would go near a tree but then around it. So it seems to me that this all fits fairly well with mole biology. They are carnivores and searching for grubs, insects, and earthworms. They don’t hurt the trees and seem to be more like little bulldozers instead of digging out a tunnel. With all the compost I put in the orchard I think I have enough earthworms to spare some.:-)
I would bet that they wouldn’t turn down a meal of some fat insect chewing on my tree roots either. So maybe I’ll hire this one to keep tunneling around my orchard checking for ground dwelling insect pests. My own little fur coated security company. Hey! It’s got free range, organically grown, mole food. Maybe it will be like my bobcat and reproduce. Geez thinking about the bobcat…. The bobcat and kittens have devastated the rabbit population. Four years ago I had up to 15 rabbits that I could count around the property and I haven’t seen one in a month.