1 902 Moles 1 1 1 



Moles. 



By OxLEY Grabham, M.A., M.B.O.U. 



Moles are far from being the uninteresting little creatures 

 that most people consider them, and a great deal of pleasure 

 and instruction is to be derived from a close observance of 

 their habits and structure. Wherever one goes in country 

 districts one soon encounters evidences of moles in the well- 

 known hillocks of soil that these animals cast up, not only 

 on low-lying land, but also on the top of some of our highest 

 hills ; and in every well-regulated locality the familiar figure 

 of the mole-catcher is to be seen, with his spade, bag of 

 traps, and his bundle of hazel or ash sticks. Sometimes he 

 is mounted on a stout rough pony, at others he foots it along 

 from village to village. It is not a very lucrative profession 

 that of the mole-catcher, 3d. per head or so much per acre 

 being the usual price paid ; but it is at least a healthy out- 

 door life, if care be taken — as it usually is — to avoid getting 

 wet from the constant kneeling on the ground. Most mole- 

 catchers guard against this by wearing thick leather knee- 

 pads. It is beyond the scope of this article to describe the 

 various kinds of mole-traps — their name is legion. Some 

 prefer those made of iron, working by springs ; others pin 

 their faith to wooden ones working by a bent ash or hazel 

 rod. Our immediate concern is rather with the habits of 

 the mole. 



As most people are aware, the fortress of the mole is most 

 cunningly constructed, with many passages for escape in 

 case of any danger threatening the owner. From this 

 fortress runs are made in all directions in search of food, 

 and the hillocks or molehills that we see everywhere are the 

 superfluous loose soil thrown out by the little animals en 

 route. This fortress is generally situated at the bottom of a 

 thick fence, or at the foot of a tree. In an old fortress the 

 female generally produces her young, sometime during the 

 month of May, I have dug out many nests, and have found 

 them nearly all to be made from the oak or the beech leaves, 



VOL. L — NO. 2. H 



