While out explovering in the forest yesterday we made an AWESOME discovery! It was laying in the leaf litter on the path.
I love that our friends are always thinking...they had many guesses as to its identity - mouse, rat, badger, rabbit. In fact, it wasn't any of those - it was a mole!
I picked it up so we could take a closer look because moles have some very cool characteristics and adaptations. We looked at its very sharp rodent teeth, its pointed nose and its super cool little claws that are perfect for digging.
I was hoping we would get the question "How did it die?" and I wasn't disappointed. I asked them for their suggestions and we collected a variety of answers..."It froze to death.", "It got squashed.", "It got lost.", An animal killed it." Through a series of questions we got closer to a plausible answer. Due to its condition it's very likely it was caught by a raptor bird like an owl or hawk and then accidently dropped. Once dropped (and dead) it is almost impossible for the raptor to locate it as they hunt by movement.
We decided to move it off the path and placed it at the bottom of a maple tree. A few students asked what would happen to it. I mentioned that there are a variety of animals that make the forest their home that eat dead stuff like raccoons, skunks & possums.
A few minutes later an SK friend came up and told me he covered the mole with a huge pile of leaves "so the night creatures wouldn't come and eat him". I mused that dead things start to smell and those 'night creatures' have an excellent sense of smell. He replied "the leaves will cover the smell". "What a great experiment!" I said. "Yup!" was his enthusiastic reply. He landmarked the tree and ran off.
