Mar., 1912.] Ohio Moles and Shrews. 495 



to be its serious enemies. Hawks and owls as well as various spe- 

 cies of snakes are known to feed upon the common shrew occasion- 

 ally but it seems that this animal, although so abundant, is not 

 used as food by various camiverous animals to the extent that is 

 the case with some of the small rodents. 



The least shrew, Blarina parva, appears to be present in most 

 parts of Ohio as it has been observed and taken in Ashtabula, 

 Summit, Franklin and Hamilton counties. The appearance of 

 the species in Ashtubala county is of interest as most authors do 

 not record it so far north. R. J. Sim, who lives at Jefferson, 

 states that he usually sees three or four each year without making 

 special efforts to find them, so it is not particularly rare. In Summit 

 county numerous specimens have been taken and some of them 

 are in the museum at the University. 



The long-tailed or masked shrew, Sorex personatus, has been 

 taken in Mahoning and Ashtabula counties only, but from its 

 range in adjoining states, probably exists in other sections but on 

 account of its retiring habits and small size has been overlooked. 



The prairie mole, Scalop aquaticus machrinus, is known to be 

 distributed quite generally over western Ohio. It is a subspecies 

 of the common mole of eastern United States east of the Allegheny 

 Mountains. Rhodes studied the fauna of Pennsylvaina west 

 of the Allegheny Mountains very^ carefully without finding evi- 

 dence of the existence of either the common mole or its subspecies. 

 Since the prairie mole is known to be veiy common in western 

 Ohio from Michigan to the Ohio River, the eastern limit of this 

 subspecies falls within the state and so we are interested in deter- 

 mining the most eastern station where specimens liave been 

 taken. It is well known from Columbus but in the vicinity of 

 Akron where I have collected quite extensively it has not been 

 taken. Because one does not take a certain species in a locality 

 is not always conclusive proof that it docs not occur but on the 

 other hand the distribution of animals is stated from the 

 actual evidence procured and this evidence points towards the 

 conclusion that the mole in question does not appear in Summit 

 and Medina counties but is replaced by the two other species of 

 Ohio moles, both of which have been taken. It is very desirable 

 that persons finding any of the moles and shrews in their localities, 

 let the facts be known so that some of these questions of distribu- 

 tion may be better understood. 



The very peculiar star-nosed mole, Condylura cristata, is 

 known to be a resident of Ohio by the capture of more than a 

 dozen specimens, including one taken as late as 1910. Summit 

 county can claim most records, for at least nine specimens have 

 been captured in this county as the records kept by Eugene F. 

 Cranz, of Ira, show. The species is known from Ashtabula,. 



