Small Burrowing Mammal

… with short dark fur, popularly supposed (from the smallness of its eyes) to be blind.

Did you guess what it was from the description?

Mole – carved in Soapstone

Of course there is so much more to a Mole than that, not least its huge and powerful front limbs – perfectly designed for digging and moving large quantities of soil.   It even has an extra, single boned thumb on each of its front paws to improve this earth moving efficiency.   It is beautifully adapted to a subterranean life, with its velvety fur and small eyes, and ears, but more remarkably it has the ability to re-use oxygen breathed when above ground to enable it to cope while tunnelling below the surface.

Their diet consists mainly of worms and invertebrates, and a variety of nuts.  The mole’s saliva contains a substance which paralyses its prey, so that its food can remain fresh until eaten.

I’ve loved making this Mole sculpture (and learning about them), it is carved in Soapstone and although in real-life they are solitary creatures, this one is very friendly.