I used to clean pools as a summer job during college. It was a fine job: it got me outdoors, gave me fresh air. Every now and then, however, there’d be a dead animal floating in the pool that I’d have to scoop out. Often a frog, but usually one of these:
This is a star-nosed mole, and they’re everywhere in the parts of Connecticut and New York State where I cleaned pools. What makes the star-nosed mole interesting is, unsurprisingly, the star-nose. Here’s what I gleaned from Wikipedia:

The star of tentacles is formed in a unique way so far not seen other places in the animal world. Instead of growing in the same way fingers grow outward on a hand, they start as swellings on the face around the nose, and some days after birth they break free and move forward in the same way a banana is peeled.

What’s more, the mole’s sense of smell is super-fast. They can identify prey (worms and insects), and whether or not it’s edible, and devour it within less than a quarter of a second. Holy crap, that is fast—faster than any other animal on the planet.

I am bringing you this invaluable information to break up the political, newsy content of Blogtown. You don’t need to thank me. It is also part of my secret plan to slowly turn the Mercury into a science and nature periodical. Be sure to check for my upcoming feature on the reproductive habits of starfish. Did you know that they are actually called sea stars, and they’re not really fish? What a world!