Mole in one

ER nurse: So, Mr. Phong (not my real name) (but you knew that)...when was the last time you had a tetanus booster?

me: I'm gonna need one today.

ER nurse: (obviously reading from a list of questions) so, was the method of laceration from a clean source?

me: It was a tree trimmer. Very dirty (I thought about using "skanky", but she might not have understood the word).

ER nurse: I see. Dirty. Well, I think you should get a booster today.

me: Sounds good.

ER nurse: Which arm would you prefer? Left or right?

me: My left. It's kinda my bad side today.

ER nurse: Alrighty then. Another poke coming your way.

me: (dang)

ER nurse: You may have a sore shoulder for several days.

me: (dang) Ok. Thanks.

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Those of you that are PETA members, please ignore the following.

Before I whacked my finger, I was actually doing some useful yard work. There was a mole terrorizing my yard the last several weeks. You've seen Caddyshack, right? Anyways, the little bugger was digging tunnels all throughout the garden area in the front yard, and occasionally foraging under the lawn. I hate those tunnels under the lawn because the mole pushes the dirt mounds up through the lawn and makes a mess and ruins the "even-ness" of the lawn.

So I picked up a mole trap at the local lawn and garden store. The one I've had success with in the past is the Victor brand "The Blackhole" for gophers. (I don't know why they call it "for gophers" because size-wise, it's more in line for moles instead of gophers.) So I find the main tunnel and dig out enough dirt to fit the trap into. I set the trap for "hair trigger" since it was the main tunnel thinking that the mole would not have been pushing dirt along in front of it...it's just the highway and not a new arterial.

Returning home from dinner on Sunday (no one wanted to cook, my finger was wrapped up like a mummy, I didn't want to stay around the house looking at the half-trimmed tree, etc.), I noticed that the trap was "sprung" (not like Sir-Mix-Alot "sprung", but like something was trapped in the trap) (but you knew that). We pulled up the trap and was then staring at the butt end of an adult mole.

Of course, the boys wanted pictures. I'll just link to it...I don't know if y'all want to see the critter or not. This first pic just shows the mole on it's back. There's a Sears Craftsman screwdriver next to for size comparison. This second pic, one of the boys was holding it like it was some sort of Ty Beanie Baby. Note the safety gloves, of course. The critter must've been "just trapped" because rigor mortis had not set in yet and it was quite pliable.

Life and times of lawn and garden care with the Phong family.