June 11, 2009

Dead Moles in little dresses

artwork at Allenheads,  Exploring Nostalgia

Artwork at Allenheads, “Exploring Nostalgia,” photo by Sharon Bailey

Crazy… Moles are traditionally nailed to fences – it’s a way of counting coupe so the molecatcher gets paid. More on this after I visit Allenheads Contemporary Arts (ACA), an arts centre in the moors of  rural Northumberland.

Just for context, I looked into molecatchers and found this gent “Jeff Nicholls the GRASS SHARK HUNTER. ” Of course he’s in the Guild of British Molecatchers:

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He’s written some eponymous books that have met with rave reviews — “Anyone who suffers from moles will find Jeff Nicholl’s Molecatcher a long awaited lifeline.”

But I haven’t found too many technical pics on his web site, except this one, tugs at the heart strings (especially after petting a very soft, dead mole at the taxidermy studio of Eric Morton):

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But this is what I was looking for:

Dead moles on a barbed wire fence 3 km from Whitley Chapel, Northumberland, Great Britain. Copyright Les Hull
Dead moles on a barbed wire fence 3 km from Whitley Chapel, Northumberland, Great Britain. Copyright Les Hull

I’m of two minds about this – it’s traditional warfare between cultivator and cultivator; and it saddens me, to see them hung by their nosies.