Wednesday 16 March 2011
Sad End for Small Creatures
As I drove home yesterday, I caught a glimpse of something at the side of the road. I knew at once what it was but hadn't seen such a thing for many years. I don't like it but felt I should record it. What, you might ask? Well, it is the practice of the mole catcher hanging dead moles on a fence to demonstrate the job has been done. Vermin or not, it seems an unhealthy practice to me. What do you think?
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Horrifying and vomit inducing.
ReplyDeleteMany years ago, at a nearby ranch, they were having trouble with dogs coming onto the property and harming their livestock. This is a leash law county meaning dogs cannot run loose. The rancher killed a dog and hung it on the fence. I never saw it, but heard about it.
Oh, what a sad sight. I understand this kind of thing was done in some of the states with woodchucks/groundhogs when I was a child. I never saw them myself but heard others tell of seeing them on fenceposts. Very sad.
ReplyDeleteUnbelievable, but the photos don't lie...
ReplyDeleteA warning to other moles ?
A descendant of a middle ages executioner who revelled in planting heads on pikes at the gates of a town to warn criminals to stay away ?
And do they just let them rot there ??? Pretty sick, if you ask me. Why don't they just bury them ?
Any lover of The Wind In the Willows (like me) is shivering in horror at the fate of these moles.
A fascinating piece of reporting, Laurie...
Hope you are well...
Very sad, I don't know enough about what problems that moles cause but to leave them hanging there makes no sense.
ReplyDeleteSeems an odd practice to hang them on fence like that, I know that farmers sometimes do this with crows because crows are smart enough to stay away from those fields after seeing their dead comrades. I live in mole country and though they do some good for the soil they can cause lots of damage. Looks like this is a farm, in that case the holes that moles create (tunnels under the mounds they push up) can be the cause of livestock injury, in ranch land they get rid of all prairie dogs and like animals because of broken legs that horses can get by stepping into the holes. Still don't like the sight of any dead animal stuck up on a fence, I would however like to know the method this person used to get rid of so many big moles!
ReplyDeleteTAL, upsetting, I agree.
ReplyDeleteNancy, as you say - sad, very sad!
Owen, thanks for popping by. I sometimes despair of mankind!
CP, thanks. Yes, why leave them there?
Irene, thanks for visiting and for your fascinating insight on mole country and the dangers the holes can cause. But, as you say, hanging dead animals on a fence is not nice! My cousin tells me she uses a mole scarer on her allotment garden which causes the moles to go elsewhere!