Finding the grave, and a bonus dead mole

ONE OF THE many things I like about Woodland Cemetery Superintendent Eric Bruns is that he is very hands-on. I walk early in the morning and he is almost always on the grounds and doing something.

No more cemetery digging for you, pal.

This morning he was literally digging a grave, getting it ready for an afternoon funeral service. It's near the John Wood site and it belongs to a longtime Quincy family. Eric said he had trouble finding the stone, put in place two years ago, because it wasn't registered in the official books. A little help from the local monument companies and he was able to track it down, no easy feat considering there are 60-plus acres and more than 60,000 burial sites.

As we were talking the dogs were up ahead and barking. I pointed to them and said, "You are welcome." There, clutched in the jaws of a very excited Border Collie, was a nearly dead mole. They've been catching a lot of them lately.

There are many different ways to catch moles - bait, traps, etc. Emily's grandfather, the late and great Charles Hook, used to grab a bucket and sit on by the mole tracks with a pitchfork. He'd see the ground move and then strike. I'm not sure how many he nabbed over the years.

Angus and Genie usually dig up big holes and miss the mark (I always patch the holes back up). Tucker, the Border Collie, sneaks up on the moles because I think he can actually see the ground moving, or maybe he can hear them. One swoop of his paw in the soggy dirt and boom, the mole is exposed and a new play toy for the dogs.

Sorry, PETA, no headstone for the mole, and no feeling sorry for a disgusting creature which does a lot of damage.

BTW .... Woodland Cemetery looks fantastic. Eric and his small staff have worked very hard and it's beautiful right now.