Talpa europea

Backblip

Not the excellent blipper!

The day started with an hour of trying to free the digger from being bogged down in the marshy ground. We had to carry rubble and wood from one of the other trenches to put under the wheels until a combination of brute strength and cunning managed to get the machine out of its plight...

The day was a lot easier after that, and surprisingly full of wildlife. Nae archaeology, though. Frogs and toads abounded, hundreds of jumping spiders and moths, red deer, voles. The biggest excitement was this mole, who was surprised when part of his tunnel system was machined away.

He was so fast moving that it was almost impossible to get a good shot of him, this is the best of a bad bunch! Incredibly strong, too. We were trying to help him out of the trench as he kept trying to burrow into the bit we were going to dig away next...at one point he tried to get under my boot to escape, and nearly managed to lift my foot up enough to get underneath!

A long day for us, as well. It was great to get back to Casa LefthandRighthand for a beer and an early night.