What Does “A Labour of Moles” Mean?
“Labour” is a fitting, almost literal description of mole life, few animals are as relentlessly associated with hard physical work as the mole, whose entire existence revolves around near-constant digging. A mole’s tunnel system can extend for a genuinely impressive distance, and maintaining, expanding, and patrolling that network is a full-time job that never really stops.
That workload is driven by biological necessity rather than choice. Moles have an extremely fast metabolism and can starve within hours without eating, so the constant digging isn’t just territory maintenance, it’s active, essential foraging, since their tunnels function as passive worm traps, catching invertebrates that fall in as moles patrol the network checking for food. “Labour” captures this relentless, physically demanding lifestyle better than almost any other word could.
Example: “The labour of moles had left the meadow riddled with tunnels, evidence of just how much ground a single busy mole can cover.”
Related: Collective Nouns for Mammals