By Elizabeth Zeng, Concord 6th Grader
On a normal day at a normal time, I was discussing normal things with a friend. When my mother came to pick me up, I begged to stay longer, as usual. "We have a surprise animal at home; you don't want to miss it, do you?" she asked me.
"At least let Kate come too," I pleaded. "Please?"
"All right," consented Mom. So, from then, we knew of the mystery creature at home, and Mom told me it was a menagerie. When we arrived at home, my little sister told us that she found the mystery creature in a wastebasket swimming in rainwater. We don't know exactly how he arrived into the wastebasket, but we think that he fell in since the wastebasket was backed against a rock wall, so we think he climbed the wall and fell in.
My dad helped my little sister empty the bucket of water and fill the bucket with dirt and worms for the mole, which was the mystery animal. We put him in the bucket. The mole had little tentacles on his nose, his fur was black and felt like the best Chinese silk, and had tiny, almost invisible eyes which is his most distinguishing feature as a mole. His natural born skill of digging through the dirt was mostly because of his scaly claws that looked like they were meant for clawing at the dirt.
The mole consumed worms aplenty, and as he dived in and out of the earth like water, we wondered about never-asked questions. My father took many photos and three long videos to remember our little black furry friend. While we were watching, we wondered how rare this unusual and unique mole was. So, we asked our friend who lives near by, who is a biologist specializing in animals. He told us that this is a special and rare creature and it is called the star-nosed mole. It is very rare to be seen alive, because of its living underground and its appetite. (I said "rare to be seen alive' because occasionally people have seen a dead star-nosed mole on the road, all dried up and shriveled.) It eats about twice its own body weight daily! It's also rare because of how soft the fur is. People in Russia and other places used to kill moles for the super soft and fine fur.
After that, we took care of the mole, which my sister christened "Moley". We planned to set him free in the state park the next morning. Until then, onnce every hour. we dug up about twenty worms for him. On the day we set him free, our friend, the same friend who told us about the rarity of Moley, told us that star-nosed moles are very skilled swimmers, and they swim in the technique of a seal. So my dad took Moley and us to the state park and set him free in a pond there behind our backyard, and we watched him rapidly swim in circles, and as our friend said, in the technique of a seal.
So long, you precious, digging mole, I thought as I remembered the short time with Moley. Like when my younger sister found him in the waste bucket full of water, and when he was consuming the worms by ripping them up and dragging them down to his home underground, and when he was diving through the dirt with his scaly claws. Then we all said good-bye in our own special way, mine by memorable thoughts and memories.
Learn more about the star nosed mole... see some amazing photos, including video:
LiveScience: Yikes! It's fast, too! (hold onto your hat: the photo is a wow!)
Marsh-dwelling mole gives new meaning to "fast food" (click on "story map" and then choose "star nosed mole theater" to see how fast this animal eats!)
See an amazing closeup of the mole's nose and claws!
Animal Diversity Web/U Michigan
The star-nosed mole entry in Wikipedia
Art Credits: Photos by Dianne Jaio. Backgrounds by Word of Mouth Web Design.
