Animal holes: relief yes or no!

Question:
Some moles were active on our golf course in winter and also in spring.
As long as the molehills, including the loose soil thrown up, can be recognised as being caused by the moles, in my opinion relief without penalty is possible, unless the intended stroke is not feasible due to another circumstance or is absolutely unreasonable. That is clear.

During course maintenance, the greenkeepers regularly level and consolidate the molehills, leaving bare patches where the grass has not yet grown back. As it is no longer known or virtually certain after some time that these patches are due to an animal and a ball now comes to rest on such a bare patch, there are always discussions about whether or not to allow relief without penalty. If I interpret the definition of animal hole correctly, in these cases no non-punishable relief should be taken due to unusual space conditions.
Please give me your take on this issue.

Response.
For the basic question of what animal holes are, see the definition: Animal hole

Any hole dug by an animal, unless the hole was dug by animals that are also considered loose obstructing natural materials (e.g. worms or insects)

The term animal hole includes:

- The material dug out of the hole by the animal,
- Any trampled trail or track leading into the hole, and
- Any area of soil that has been pushed up or altered by the animal digging underground.

Individual animal tracks that are not part of a trampled track or trackway leading into an animal hole are not an animal hole.

Basically, it is like this:
Freshly levelled molehills are still recognisable as such, whether through the animal hole or also through what has been thrown up.

With older levelled mounds it is more difficult, here you have to find the hole by pressing on the ground with your hand. If you find the hole, it is an animal hole. If you don't find it, it's sometimes bad luck and the ball has to be played as it lies.

In the meantime, if you would like to know more about the rules of golf, please contact me directly at hans.kienesberger@golf.at.