Taking my own advice yesterday, I went out in the back yard to enjoy the sunshine for a few minutes. I noticed something unusual near the lawn, and when I moved clearer it looked like a gray, furry ball. At first I thought it was a dead mouse or baby rabbit, but then I saw that its head, which was buried in the grass stubble, was moving. I also saw a short tail, so I knew it was a vole.

Here's the picture I took after it moved to the lawn. It seemed to be having trouble digging into it; I suspect the ground is frozen.



When I came back in and told Phil about it, he said I should have killed it. There's no way I could have! I'm sorry, but it looks cuddly to me. (Do I miss our dogs that much?)

We've had voles here for years, and we've never had much damage other than their tunnels on the lawn. It's the moles that have done all the damage. But I couldn't kill a mole in cold blood, either.

Natural vole predators include snakes, raccoons, and cats, all of which we have here if you count the feral cats. If they want to take advantage of a vole's lack of caution when I'm not around, I'm OK with that. I just can't do it myself.