But on to the confession portion of this post.
A few months after we had moved into the house, I was wandering the yard as I still often tend to do. The dog was running around like a crazy thing, as she still often tends to do. But then she stopped and started smelling a small little lump.
That small little lump was a dead animal.
A star-nosed mole, to be exact.
Now, some people think star-nosed moles are disgusting. I happen to think that they are FREAKING AWESOME!
Are you ready for this?
Star-nosed Mole via National Geographic
The thing adaptation dreams are made of.
I had learned a little bit about these guys during my studies, but had never seen anything other than a picture. You have no idea how excited I was to being seeing one in the flesh (never mind that it was dead).
And then a lightbulb went off - how cool would it be for future students to actually be able to see one of these little semi-aquatic mammals in person?
So I grabbed some gloves, scooped him up, plopped him in a bag, and promptly stuck him in the freezer, with the intention of sending him to my alma mater for them to turn into a stuffed star-nosed mole. I even contacted the head lab instructor to see if they wanted it - and they were interested.
But...I never got around to sending the mole-sicle.
So yeah, there's still a frozen star-nosed mole in our freezer. Maybe if I come into some money I can pay to have him taxidermied (that's a verb, right?) myself. I'm only half kidding...
Do you have a favourite animal?
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