Sunday, April 26, 2009

MOLE DOG

Some people have guard dogs, some have lap dogs, some have hog dogs, while others have herding dogs. Then there are sight hounds, bird dogs, rabbit dogs, coon hounds,lion dogs, rescue dogs, service dogs, and useless pieces of adorable fluff used to accessorize movie stars. All dogs are bred for a particular purpose and serve that purpose well. We have done an excellent job of providing a dog for every occasion or whim through selective breeding.



I have a mole dog. This little terror of a terrier mix has few purposes in life but one is the eradication of moles. No one who has moles, wants moles. If I could persuade the little tunnel makers to move on, I could live and let live. I can not use cruel traps nor resort to poison. However, I feel they have an even chance with Mighty. He does catch some, but many still get away to continue to turn my yard into a series of speed bumps.










When I bought this place and was walking around the property with the Realtor, I asked him why the ground was so soft and sank in when I took a step. He looked me square in the eye and said,"Gee, I don't know." I have known him since I have moved here and I really like the guy. I think that is the only time that I have known him to lie to me.



Moles don't like the sand hills of Florida so this was new to me. However, I have often turned an ankle sinking into a particularly deep tunnel. At my age this is not a good thing. When younger, I shook off such twists, now they can make me limp half a day. Love aging.


Right now the score is Mighty 3 , moles 0. I will give the little guy credit. He dispatches the little tunnelers very quickly with about two quick crunches. He then drops them to dig for more. He won't play with them like a cat. He is a very efficient assassin.


Mighty has another thing he likes to hunt. He is a grubber. He loves to dig up grubs and yuck, he eats them. That is enough to have eliminated kissing from our relationship. What seals that "no kissing deal"(besides his obsession with certain parts of his body to clean or titillate) is that he is also very fond of "worm jerky." I have really BIG worms and it is Robin heaven here. However, I have noticed that Robins must be specialized eaters. They seem to have certain parts of the worm they like the best, leaving the majority of the worm to bake in the sun where the carcass turn into a leather like substance. These are like crack cocaine to my little fellow.


Well another day dawns and there are moles to hunt. Maybe today we can up the score to Mighty 4, moles 0.


Jewels at Shine On has her own specialized hunting dog. Check her out here.

8 comments :

  1. What a cute post, Patti... My youngest son bought a cute little house in Rock Hill, SC several years ago. Little did he know that the back yard was FULL of moles and tunnels.. He had a horrible time--and never did get rid of those pesky things. He finally got transferred to Chattanooga, TN...AND --I think he was thrilled to get away from the moles!!!!!

    About the grubs, I need Mighty here to get rid of them for us. We have trouble with Japanese Beetles on our roses!!!!! We have tried to kill the grubs--but those beetles still come back... Send Mighty to us please!!!!

    Have a wonderful Sunday.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  2. LOL. I love Mighty, the Mole Dog. I don't have moles here, but I had a Schnauzer, Silver, that could catch and quickly dispatch squirrels (which were digging up my pricey herb plants) if they were engaged in their nefarious occupation and not keeping a sharp eye out for him. The down side was that he would always bring his deceased prey into the house for me to admire. Silver was also a worm addict, but he didn't eat the crunchy critters. He'd find a dead, but still relatively fresh one in the grass and joyfully roll on it until it turned to mush. Yuck!

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  3. May I please borrow Mighty Dog for a day or two? In fact, you could probably make a little money on the side renting the mighty mole slayer out to your neighbors. Maybe he could coach Brandy on how to catch them. I have tried to teach her to get the moles by digging one up. When I pointed and told her to ‘get it’, she sat on it. Eventually she did feel it move under her and gobbled it up. It strikes me as funny that neither of us are willing to kill the moles with traps, but are perfectly fine with letting them be horrifyingly crunched on by our dogs. Thank you for the plug (be sure to read the witty comments).

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  4. Betsy,
    Sure know how your son felt. They are everywhere.
    If I could just get Mighty to work on command it would be great. It is pretty much an if he feels like it thing.

    Pat,
    You had one fast pooch for squirrels are quick and very athletic. Mighty loves a good ripe worm to roll in also.

    Jewels,
    Fear he leaves too many of his own trenches to be hirable.
    Mighty is an amazing mole dispacher, very quick. It is two rapid bites and the mole is deceased. He has no desire to eat it, just catch it.
    Peter's comments were a riot.

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  5. I have had some good mole cats in my time here. We had lots of moles when we first moved here, but my cats have just about eradicated them all. Good for Mighty!! (I wouldn't kiss him either) LOL

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  6. kenju
    You mean there actually might be an end to moles some day? I was afraid they could breed faster than he could catch. Thanks for the hope.

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  7. That's quite a pooch, and good to see he's occupied. Dogs need that. (Humans do too!)

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  8. Robert
    You are right. His following me foot for foot daily can't be very stimulating. At least when he goes "moleing" he has a job.

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