Our local power utility, which provides us with both electricity and natural gas, has a “Call Before You Dig” program. This is entirely admirable: you call 811 before you plant trees or build a deck or whatever, and a crew comes out and marks all the gas, water, sewer and other buried utility lines so you don’t blow yourself up or flood the neighborhood. (This is a positive social good; carry on.)
This weekend at our local street festival, I was amused to find that Call Before You Dig now has a costumed mascot: the Call 811 Mole. I photographed him giving a safety lecture to some passers by while wearing full on mole working gear: hard hat, protective goggles, and high-visibility vest. I’m not sure how effective the last would be for a mole digging underground (not to mention hiding from predators), but I suppose he is setting a good example. I just enjoy meeting mascots– bigger than life cartoon characters don’t wander through your life every day.
a cartoonist in Kekionga 
Looks like a great mascot! 🙂
He really is!
A mole that size would do a lot of damage to one’s lawn… on the other hand, it’d also be easy for him to find things like damaged water mains.
He’s definitely burrowing for the public good.