Funny chippy. Love the stink eye!
Shrews are very, VERY fast. And I like them as they eat slugs. They're small, moles are substantially larger I think, at least, out here they are. They'll leave mounds here and there too, but voles and shrews don't.
Here's a decent size comparison:
I don't like voles as they will eat all my bulbs. They seem particularly fond of tulips, lilies and daffodils, which narrows it down to almost everything in my tiny garden. Grrrrr...
Voles will typically leave snaking tunnels close to but above the ground through the undergrowth. Thanks to Rj for pointing me in the right direction when I had a problem with them a year or so ago.
https://www.almanac.com/pest/v....
So, , Nancy, without getting a good look at that little speedy critter in your yard, if you don't have mounds, it's probably not a mole--also, moles aren't super speedy. Here's a video of one running:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
If you don't have tunnels in the grass, it's probably not a vole. So I guess that narrows it down to a mouse or a shrew!
IMHO, mouse? Cute, but no thanks as they like to get into homes and are very good at doing so (and can carry ticks...yuck!)
Shrew? YES! Friend of the gardner, at least, this gardner
. But watch out because some of them have venomous bites.
Apologies if I'm telling you stuff you already know. I was gardening when the landscapers came and I had to put everything away so they could do their lawn-grooming thing. I'm waiting for them to finish so I can go plant my new bulbs in the hopes that I won't actually be planting vole-snacks.
