1 04 Habits of the Mok. 



seize it, it returned to the hole by which it had emerged, as 

 rapidly and directly as if in possession of perfect sight. 

 When placed in rather hard ground in a garden, it began to 

 burrow horizontally, by thrusting the earth above and at the 

 sides : but the mouth of the adit [run or burrow] was not 

 closed by a heap of earth for more than an hour ; con- 

 sequently, in finally filling the orifice, the earth must have 

 been brought from within. In all these actions, the tail was 

 carried erect. From my general observations, I am led to 

 think that when moles change their quarters, the journey is 

 made above ground, and by night ; and, in this case, the 

 mouth of the underground passage will be found open. 

 With us, the nest of a mole is always in a hedge (which, in 

 Cornwall, is a mound of earth 5 ft. or 6 ft. thick, and as 

 many high), except the field be of unusual size; and the 

 tracks proceed from the hedge across to the middle of the 

 field, or to the opposite side. In severely cold weather, they 

 confine themselves to these hedges, commonly near the 

 centre, where a little fine earth, thrown out on the snow, 

 marks the exact spot. The young do not quit their nests 

 until about half grown. In six winter months, from harvest 

 to the beginning of April, one man caught, in the parishes 

 of Talland, Lansallus, part of Morval, and a small part of 

 Pelynt, one hundred dozen of moles. 



The following will form a proper supplement to my ac- 

 count : it is extracted from the Youth's Instructor and Guardian, 

 for January, 1834, and is signed Samuel Jackson, of Wins- 

 ford, in Cheshire: — " Within the last thirty years, I have 

 read several articles professing to be descriptions of the 

 mole, but each of them has been erroneous and defective ; 

 and, having been trained to the business of a mole-catcher 

 from my youth, and having followed that occupation for 

 about thirty-five years, in which time I have decoyed and 

 taken away the lives of from 40,000 to 50,000 of these crea- 

 tures, perhaps it will not be considered vanity in me, if I 

 attempt to describe that little miner. It is, perhaps, the 

 strongest animal of its size at present known. When at work, 

 the tail stands upright, or inclining on the back. It is re- 

 markable for quickness of hearing. Their smell is very 

 acute; which is one reason why they are not very easily taken 

 in some kinds of traps. It is often said that the mole will 

 die should it lose one drop of blood. This is incorrect. In 

 attempting to throw up a mole with my mole spade, I once 

 cut off one of its hind feet, and yet it escaped. Some months 

 after this, I caught the same mole in a trap, with its stump 

 healed up and sound. In the course of thirty-five years, I 



