Vole Number 3

Pictured at the end of this blog is Vole Number 3. As the name implies, this is the third vole I captured in my live trap. The conservationist in me found Vole Number 3 rather handsome, especially for a rodent.

Nice hair, actually.

Vole Number 3 also displayed remarkable calm when I picked up the live trap. Most voles are a bit skittish, and mice tend to absolutely flail about in full panic. In another life, Vole Number 3 and I could possibly be chummy. Maybe we could share a Scotch and talk (in vole-speak) about how rude Mouse Number 2 can be.

But in this particular life, Vole Number 3 is in a bit of trouble for eating the swath of purple whatever-you-call-ems from our flower bed. He attacked from below ground, which is especially nefarious.

Bad vole.

So, down the road we went, on our way to be released among the juniper and sage in a gully twisting through the ranchlands.

In addition to sharing a photograph of Vole Number 3, I am featuring a photograph of Mouse Number 5 for comparison.

Vole Number 3

Mouse Number 5

—Mitchell Hegman