Ruth Mottram

I have noticed and incredible number of #MoleHills in the UK while I've been on holiday this week: I'm unsure if this indicates a population explosion in #EuropeanMoles #TalpaEuropea (perhaps due to the mild winter?) Or if I've just not really noticed them before.
Anyway, on searching the scholar archive I came across this delightful paper mapping urban moles + which deserves an award for the title alone..

#Science #scienceCuriosity

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7341262/

Map-A-Mole: Greenspace Area Influences the Presence and Abundance of the European Mole Talpa europaea in Urban Habitats

The European mole is a burrowing mammal which is widely distributed across Britain and much of continental Europe. Its presence is readily confirmed by the presence of molehills, which contain the spoil heaps left behind as the mole digs its underground ...

PubMed Central (PMC)
Feb 17, 2023 at 7:57amWeb
Show threadszescstopniFeb 17, 2023
@Ruth_Mottram The number of mole hills in my wetlands is astonishing this year. They obviously move to higher ground as ground water levels rise, so maybe I didn't notice them before, when they were more evenly spread.
Show threadRuth MottramFeb 17, 2023
@szescstopni that's interesting - not just the UK then!