Utility in a Dog

My lawn was once completely pulverized with mole activity. I tried to trap with little success.

And then I acquired Duke (Yellow Lab). When Duke was six to eight months he would casually walk across the lawn and occasionally would come to a perfect point, often with one foot off the ground.

After holding his point for a few seconds, he would spring forward and quickly dig up a squirming mole which he would then quickily dispatch.

He has become refined in his mole catching to the point that he seldom disturbs the turf while doing his thing.

I have studied his performance carefully, trying to determine which of his senses are utlilzed in pinpointing the precise location of the mole in his underground tunnel. I first thought that he was using his sense of smell. I later decided that he was using his sense of hearing to detect the precise location of the critter.

If he is listening to a very tiny critter as he moves about in his underground tunnel, then this is indeed a tribute to a dog for having such an acute sense of hearing.

Has anyone else observed such a performance??

PS: Duke also delights in finding a wounded deer.

I have a Mountain Cur that will walk right up to a mole tunnel and bite the ground just as casual as you please. You never know that she is after anything. She will chew it up and swallow it if you don't take it from her.

HH: Which of your dogs senses enables him to bite in the proper place to catch the mole??

I have wondered about that myself. I thought about hearing also but I can't see how hearing could tell the dog where to bite the ground. She doesn't have to bite twice. I have always been amazed at scenting dogs and how they work. I have watched scenting hounds drift a track at a dead run, fifteen or twenty feet from the actual track laid by the animal.

Mr. Vernon, I have spent hours observin` my Blue Heeler, Elly, work the tall grass and weeds in the pasture and fenceline for cotton rats and mice. If a dog has "tiptoes", she gets up on em and pinppoints by sound. She will then spring up and all four feet and teeth will hit the ground at the same time. Most of the time she is successful. It`s a lot of fun to watch, and I`ve seen foxes work the same way.

Elly is a versatile dog. She will trail blooded deer, guard the premises, keep varmints out of the garden without gettin` in it herself, and do just about anything I ask of her. A snake is the only thing she won`t eat, after she kills it. Everything else is supper.

If you watch the ground closely you can see the mole pushing the dirt up. You have to be VERY quiet and watch the yard VERY carefully. I imagine it's a little easier for a dog. So I'm guessing sight but I could be wrong, have been before,,,,, according to my wife anyway.....

Wish one of my beagles would start mole huntin!