Conflict

In Aurora we have a problem - the dune mole-rats, that make gardening almost impossible and safety on the local airstrip a matter of constant and extreme vigilance. They are the size of fat rabbits and have huge appetites - and they store what they don't eat in underground chambers. I've actually watched a small sapling disappear into the ground as the creatures pulled it down...! Unfortunately the locals' fear of snakes has severely reduced the numbers of the non-poisonous mole snakes that are their natural predators, so we get the situation seen here - mole-heaps in abundance, and tunnels linking them, which can collapse without warning, underfoot.