Sunday, September 19, 2010

Mole or Vole? We report; you decide.

As will be reported later, in the actual game story, a deceased animal was on the asphalt for today's game.  Discussions ensued, as they always do: "Mole or vole?"

To wit, we quote Wikipedia.

Mole
Moles are the majority of the members of the mammal family Talpidae in the order Soricomorpha. Although moles burrow, some species are semi-aquatic. Moles have cylindrical bodies covered in fur while the ears are generally not visible. They have small or covered eyes and can probably still tell night from day, although they are otherwise blind[2]. Moles eat small invertebrates living underground. Moles can be found in most parts of North America,[3] Asia, and Europe, although there are no moles in Ireland[4].

Vole
A vole is a small rodent resembling a mouse but with a stouter body, a shorter hairy tail, a slightly rounder head, smaller ears and eyes, and differently formed molars (high-crowned and with angular cusps instead of low-crowned and with rounded cusps). There are approximately 155 species of voles. They are sometimes known as meadow mice or field mice in North America. Vole species form the subfamily Arvicolinae with the lemmings and the muskrats.


Armed with this information it is now possible to decide what the carrion on the pavement was.  Therefore please examine the following photo carefully and make your own conclusions.


Unfortunately, the evidence is far from clear - Wikipedia does not provide images of dead moles or voles.  (Yes, that is the doubles line veering around the remains.  Gravel included for scale.)

7 comments:

  1. looks more like Pete and Matt after the game

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  2. My view is: it's a mole. The more important question is, "How do you suppose it got there?!"

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  3. it's clearly a republican

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  4. Answer: Neither.

    How about a Northern Short Tailed Shrew? Trust me, I have a zoology degree from a Holiday Inn Express.

    http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&biw=1157&bih=836&tbs=isch:1&sa=1&q=northern+short+tailed+shrew&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

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  5. Using Google Images one can find a side-by-side comparison of a dead mole and a dead shrew!

    http://www2.brevard.edu/jefrick/assets/mole%20and%20shrew.jpg

    And I think it was a shrew.

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