The common mole is a dark slate color, often 

 tinged with brown. The fur has a silvery sheen in sun- 

 light. The under parts are almost as dark as the back. 

 The mole is a thick set burrowing animal with an 

 arched spine. The fore feet are large and broad, and 

 somewhat paddle-shaped for digging. There are five 

 toes on both the fore and hind feet. The head is narrow 

 and pointed; the snout is bare; there is no visible ex- 

 ternal ear; the neck is short; the tail is long, thick and 

 nearly naked; the eyes are extremely small and not 

 visible externally; the feet and tail are whitish to pink- 

 ish; the hair is soft and velvety and is very valuable 

 commercially; the teeth are sharp and numerous (40). 

 The sexes are identical and there is no seasonal varia- 

 tion. The animal is six inches long and the tail, which 

 is sparsely covered with hair, measures one inch. The 

 legs are very short. 



The Star Nosed Mole 



Condylura cristata 



The star nosed mole is easily distinguished from 

 the other moles by the twenty- two fieshy tentacles, 

 arranged radially around the nose. Its color differs 

 slightly from the common mole, being blackish or 

 brownish above, becoming paler beneath. This species 

 is slightly larger than the common mole, measuring 

 seven inches. However, the tail is proportionately 

 longer, totalling almost one-half the body length. In 

 winter the tail becomes very much enlarged. 



While not as common as the preceding species, the 

 star nosed mole is generally distributed over the State, 

 inhabiting low marshy regions or low-lying meadows. 

 In addition to establishing a series of underground tun- 



-*^f 68 >«5.- 



