Mole catcher at work

Not the dog - he's never caught so much as a mouse.
This field and others adjacent to it have erupted in little hillocks since the winter and today as I wandered through I noticed sticks protruding here and there from the ground. It signifies that traps have been buried in the subterranean runs, cruel devices probably, that will impale the mouldiwarps as they travel through their tunnels.
Or it may be the humane type which allows you capture them alive and release them elsewhere... but who welcomes moles on their land? Like foxes, badgers and squirrels, they are not cuddly companion animals but pests and plagues to farmers and gardeners. Mole catching is an ancient rural custom, the victims traditionally being strung along a fence in rows to advertise the practitioner's skill. Moles are curious and solitary beasts, themselves relentlessly hostile to their own kind if they happen to meet and capable of fighting each other to the death.

I wonder if anyone else watched the TV drama/documentary last week on Kim Philby, the Soviet mole who worked high up within MI6 throughout the Cold War? It was a revelation to me, having heard mention of The Third Man throughout my early life but without ever knowing the complete back story. A committed communist since his youth, Philby spied for the Russians across decades, providing them with secrets from the West wherever he was posted and betraying countless agents in the East to certain death. A traitor to his country, class and colleagues, his family and friends? Or loyal to his ideals unto exile and death? As with any mole it's not so simple to make a judgement. Catching them is not for the squeamish.