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moose eater

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That's a snowy owl, pop. But they do, in fact, rely heavily on voles. In fact, in arctic biology 40-some years ago at UAF, we learned that snowy owls would regulate the number of eggs they lay based on vole population in a given area.

The voles, while a pain in my ass where potato and carrot growing are concerned, are literally a primary linchpin in the food chain up here for an amazing number of critters, little, big, and in between.

I saw one of the little grayish buggers running between my spruce pole raised beds in the primary veggie garden the other day, and I swear he was as big around as he was long. Maybe a trophy. :)

If you get a couple hundred of the little buggers, maybe a thousand, even, you might be able to make a nice quilt... Though tanning them would be a pain.

Out in the spud field we frequently come across little caverns carved into the dirt under the hilled rows, and they're typically lined with pieces about 2" to 4" long of dandelion roots, and MY baby potatoes!! Winter dens for the little thieving bastards!

Got the heating oil transferred, and the trailer prepped for the town trip tomorrow, then harvested the remainder of the German Butterball spuds, and my back and legs held up!!

 

therevverend

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Veteran
Out in the spud field we frequently come across little caverns carved into the dirt under the hilled rows, and they're typically lined with pieces about 2" to 4" long of dandelion roots, and MY baby potatoes!! Winter dens for the little thieving bastards!I

I don't have them here near the city but my friend that lives in the countrified suburbs near Black Diamond has them. He's always complaining about the moles and the voles. From his description I figured out his mole is actually a shrew mole.

I have awesome tiny shrews (Pacific shrew) here the cat catches from time to time. Last year I noticed he'd always catch them between 3 and 4 pm where he'd lie in the sun by the garden in August. I spent some time watching and for some reason the shrews had a little path from the apple tree through the grass they'd take at that time every day. Shrew rush hour and the cat caught onto it. Otherwise I've never seen them except as cat victims.
 

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