1 06 Habits of the Mole. 



" In the month of June, the mole leaves its burrows, and 

 runs on the surface of the earth in the night, in search of 

 food. It is commonly said, that it thus runs for one month ; 

 but that depends much on the season, whether it be dry or 

 wet. 



" Few animals will bite more savagely than the mole, espe- 

 cially at a certain time of the year. When fighting with each 

 other, they will hold like the bull-dog. When a boy, I was 

 mischievous enough to save the moles alive, for the purpose 

 of entertaining myself by seeing them fight. For this bar- 

 barous work my fingers suffered greatly. At one time I was 

 obliged to use my teeth in order to loose the hold of one of 

 them from my hand, the other not being sufficient for that 

 purpose. I have frequently caught them with their flesh torn 

 in various parts with fighting." So far Mr. Jackson. Op- 

 pian represents the mole as exceedingly voracious. — J. Couch. 

 Polperro, Cornwall, May 29. 1834. 



[Mr. Hawkins, a correspondent of the earlier volumes of 

 this Magazine, has described, in the Gardener's Magazine 

 (ix. 80.), a fall-trap for catching moles, which is in use near 

 Monmouth ; but he objects to the great cruelty induced by 

 this trap, " as, when the traps remain for some length of 

 time uninspected, the moles devour each other." For other 

 notes on the mole, see II. 420.; V. 78. 298. 571. 765.; VII. 

 143. 



A correspondent has somewhere remarked, that an old 

 mole-catcher had observed to him that the flesh of the mole 

 is good eating; that he was in the habit of eating moles, 

 dressed ; and that, if folks generally knew how good they are, 

 many fewer would fall to his share. The skin of the mole is, 

 it is known, manufactured into pouches, and other articles.] 



Facts on the Mole (103.). — As some men were removing, 

 on June 15. 1833, a " windrow," that is, a bank of earth by 

 the sides of fields, which is afterwards carried on the land, 

 they discovered a mole's nest. It was made of small roots, 

 leaves, grass, &c, and contained seven young ones, most 

 odd-looking little things, covered with a fine down, like young 

 rats. It is a vulgar error that the mole has no eye [and an 

 ancient one, " Aut oculis capti fodere cubilia talpae"]. This 

 organ, it is true, is very imperfectly developed ; but it does 

 exist. A slight depression serves as an orbit. There is no 

 optic nerve ; but its place is supplied by a branch from the 

 superior maxillary nerve. It is very certain this animal pos- 

 sesses some of the senses acutely enough ; for if a person 

 approaches one which happens to be out of the ground, it will 

 make its escape, with astonishing rapidity, beneath the sur- 



