Death in Nature, Squirrel and Mole

Please look away if you can't stand the site of death. I debated whether to post these images but reality in nature is both life and death and I learn so much by observation. Natural occurrences evoke emotions in me, curiosity and questions, especially for death. I wondered why a baby squirrel, his body about eight inches long, would be born so late in the season. I read squirrels have two litters a year one later in the summer. Since this squirrel has fur he wasn't a new born. He must have fallen from the nest and washed down the hill. I don't think Barney got him because he didn't have a mark on him. Later Gary brought him to a better resting place.

A day or two later I was picking what I thought might be the last of the tomatoes and noticed this mole, his body about six inches long, lying on top of the ground. The mole was a great curiosity to me because of his silver fur. I couldn't find any references for moles with a silver color in this country. They're supposed to have brown fur. His plump body is not bloated, that's a normal body shape for this animal. Moles spend almost all of their lives underground and can dig a tunnel 13 feet long in an hour. Moles eat earthworms and insect larvae but not plants. They can paralyze a worm with a toxin and save the worm to eat later. I suspect all the rain caused this guy to come up to the surface due to a flooded den. I returned the next day to show Gary and the mole was gone. We don't know if he was playing dead or if a buzzard found him. I like to think he made it back to his home. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.