MOLE WARFARE (5)

It has been all quiet on the western front this winter; I haven't caught a mole since 28 November. Which has irritated me somewhat, since there has been a pesky critter - pesky being exactly the right word to describe him - holed up under the compost heap since the day after. Because of the frozen ground, he has had difficulty doing anything more than sitting there. But he has more than made up for that during the occasional thaws by creating the biggest molehills I have ever seen.

My patience was beginning to wear thin. Until this afternoon, when I finally got him. Bingo. Now all I have to do is demolish his molehills, and wait for the spring offensive. We all know that there will be one, the question is where exactly they will launch an assault.

Walter Blotscher