MOLES AND THEIR RELATION TO AGRICULTURE 



193 



and gardener in the Northern and Mid- 

 dle States are more or less familiar with 

 them, and, as a rule, they destroy them 

 whenever opportunity offers. When 



asked why they do this, the usual answer 

 is that moles disfigure the lawns and 

 grass-plots with their long burrows ; 

 that they uproot plants and feed upon 

 garden vegetables. How true all this 

 may be will be discussed further on in 

 the present article. 



The entire structure of a mole fits it for 

 the life it leads, that is, underground, in 

 the long passages it digs, and in the sub- 

 terranean nest it constructs, as a home in 

 which to rear its young, these latter rang- 

 ing in numbers from two to nine. Bur- 

 rows dug by these animals have often 

 been found to be upwards of one hundred 

 and fifty yards in length, and may, in 

 some instances, even far exceed that, as 

 it has been so stated by writers on the 

 subject. 



They rarely come out in winter, unless 

 the weather be very mild, as they do not 

 endure cold well, notwithstanding the 

 thick coat of close fur they have. On one 

 occasion, however, during a thaw in Jan- 

 uary, I saw a mole scamper over the snow 

 and disappear into one of its burrows be- 

 fore I could overtake him. At this sea- 

 son their passages are much further be- 

 neath the surface of the ground than 

 they are during the summer months, 

 which is the season of their greatest ac- 

 tivity. 



Moles live almost entirely upon vari- 

 ous kinds of insects and their larvae, 

 which they come across while making 

 their burrows. They also partake very 

 largely of angling worms ; and one that 

 I had a short time in captivity appeared 

 to be very fond of raw beef. They are 

 in no sense of the word vegetable-feed- 

 ers or seed-eaters, as the agriculturists 

 usually say they are ; depredations of 

 that sort are now readily traced to those 

 field mice which make use of the gal- 

 leries of the moles in getting about un- 

 derground. 



It is truly astounding what a number 

 of angling worms a mole will eat in the 

 course of twenty-four hours, and few 

 animals are more dependent on their 

 food than moles. If one be kept in a big 

 box with a foot of clean earth in it, the 

 animal will not live over fifty-six hours, 

 if it is not regularly fed on worms, meat, 

 or such insects as it feeds upon in nature. 

 Should another mole be placed in the 



box to keep the first one company, the 

 stronger animal will, if very hungry, kill 

 and devour the weaker one. In other 

 words, under certain conditions, moles 

 are cannibals, killing and eating their 

 own kind. 



Most of the insects which moles con- 

 sume in great quantities feed upon the 

 roots, leaves, and other parts of garden 



A DETAILED MOLE STUDY. 



vegetables, or, in some instances, upon 

 the vegetables themselves. In this par- 

 ticular, then, these little animals are of 

 decided benefit to the gardener, the agri- 

 culturist, and the farmer. Occasionally, 

 in their search for food, they will uproot 

 a plant or two, or rip up the lawn with 

 a superficial burrow ; but such slight of- 

 fences are as nothing compared with 

 their most useful services in destroying 

 the insect enemies of sfarden and farm. 



Throw open the casements and fling wide 

 the doors, 

 Let in all the sunshine and air; 

 'Tis better by far than your potions and 

 pills. 

 And the M. D.'s most vigilant care. 

 — Emma Peirce 



