MOLE FAMILY 



lOI 



COMMON MOLE 

 Scalopus aquaticus {Linnaeus) 



Other Names. — Eastern Mole, Naked-tailed Mole. 



General Description. — A thick-set burrowing mam- 

 mal with large and broad fore feet. Head narrow and 

 pointed ; muzzle naked and hog-like ; no noticeable 

 external ear ; eyes minute and not visible e.xternally ; 

 teeth numerous and sharp ; neck very short ; tail short 

 and thick, nearly naked; limbs short; pelage soft and 

 velvety. Strictly subterranean in habit. 



Dental Formula. — Incisors, ti? • Canines, '— ; Pre- 



3—3 I— I 



molars, ^^ : Molars,^^^4.o. 

 3—3 3—3 ^ 



Pelage. — Adults: Sexes identical, no noticeable 

 seasonal variation. A uniform lead color tinged with 

 brown, in some lights appearing dark, in others silvery- 

 gray ; under parts like upper part ; feet and tail white. 

 Molt twice a year, in spring and fall. Young : Closely 

 resembling adults. 



Measurements. — Total length, 6 inches ; tail ver- 

 tebrae, I inch ; hind foot, .8 inch. 



Range. — Eastern United States south to Florida, 

 westward to Mississippi. 



Food. — Insects, largely beetles, and angle-worms. 



Remarks. — Marked differences are noted in various 

 species. The group to which the Eastern Mole belongs, 

 Scalopus, with seven species and subspecies, is quite 

 closely related to the Western Mole group, Scapanus, 

 with eight species and subspecies, the latter differing 

 mainly in cranial characters such as the possession of 

 four more teeth. In separate groups we have the Star- 

 nosed Mole. Brewer's Mole, and the Shrew Mole further 

 described below. 



Rel.\ted Species 



Common, or Eastern Mole. — Scalopus aquaticus 

 aquaticus (Linnaeus). Typical animal of the above 

 description. Eastern United States south to Florida, 

 westward to Mississippi.. 



Prairie Mole. — Scalopus aquaticus tiiaclirintis (Rafin- 

 esque). Size large, slaty-brown. Mississippi Valley 

 northward to Wisconsin and Minnesota, southward to 

 Tennessee and Missouri, westward to Kansas, Nebraska 

 and .South Dakota. 



Texas Mole. — Scalopus aquaticus tcxanus (Allen). 

 .Size small ; pale chestnut-brown. Coast of Te.xas. 



Copper-colored Mole. — Scalopus aquaticus acreus 

 (Bangs). Larger than Texan Mole; color rich cop- 

 pery-chestnut. Oklahoma. 



Western Mole, or Townsend Mole. — Scapanus 

 ton'iisciidii (Bachman). Largest of the Moles; blackish 

 with purplish reflections. Coast range to Cascade 

 Mountains of Washington and Oregon. 



California Mole. — Scapanus latimanus latimanus 

 (Bachman). Size moderate; grayish-brown. All 

 California west of the Coast range, north to Oregon. 



Anthony's Mole. — Scapanus aiithonyi (Allen). 

 Smallest of the true Moles ; coloration silvery-gray. 

 Southern California into lower California. 



Star-nosed Mole. — Condylura cristata (Linnaeus). 

 See s|)fcial syno])sis. 



Brewer's Mole, or Hairy-tailed Mole. — Parascai'ps 

 /'rr;ii-;i (Bachman). See special synopsis. 



Shrew Mole. — Ncurotrichus yibbsii yibbsii (Baird). 

 See special synopsis. 



It has been aptly remarked that there is no 

 common animal less common that the Common 

 Mole. The (iisfiguring results of its labors are 

 prominent on the lawns and in the fields ; but the 

 animal itself is seldom seen, and its habits are 

 comparatively little known. It is most plentiful 

 in meadows, gardens, and similar habitats, but is 

 by no means confined to them, and frequently is 

 found in open woodland, along the banks of 

 streams, and in other environments. 



The little mounds and ridges of vipturned earth 

 seen on our lawns are not true molehills, but 

 merely the soil thrown up to the surface by Aloles 

 in digging their timnels. Few persons have any 

 ' idea of the rapidity with which these passages 

 are excavated. The Mole's fore paws are abotit 

 three-quarters of an inch wide and the palms are 

 turned outward. Mr. Edward T. Martin, who 

 has watched the animal at work, says : " In 

 throwing dirt behind, it uses a motion like a boy 

 in swimming, bringing the hands forward imtil 

 they totich in front of the nose, then thrusting 



them outward and backward to push the soil 

 aside, the body following in the passageway thtis 

 made." 



The quickness with which a Mole works and 

 tlie distance that it can tunnel in a given tiine 

 are almost incredible. In a single night a Mole 

 has been known to tunnel more than seventy- 

 five yards ; Dr. IMerriam traced a fresh tunnel 

 nearly a hundred yards ; and Dr. Hornaday, ob- 

 serving the work of a Mole he had placed in a 

 clover field at eleven o'clock in the morning, 

 found thtt during the first seven hours it had 

 tunneled twenty-three feet, in a zig-zag line. 

 During the next seventeen hours thirty-five feet, 

 and during the next hour ten feet more. The 

 total work consisted of sixty-eight feet of main 

 line and thirty-six and a half feet of branches, 

 making in all one hundred and four and a half 

 feet. 



Proportionately to the animal's body, the arm 

 and forearm are of enormous size : and, as has 

 been seen, tremendously powerful. Sometimes 



