90 COMMON BIMTISTT ANIMALS 



Adams,"^ who has made a careful study of the mole, 

 the plan of the fortress varies considerably^ accord- 

 ing to the soil and the fancy of the particular builder, 

 but the earthworks, which are 1 foot deep and 3 feet 

 wide, usually consist of a cavity to hold the nest, 

 from which the galleries lead out, and the roof con- 

 sists of a mound of loose earth. In constructing 

 this cavity a gallery is necessary in order to remove 

 the soil, which is pushed along with the nose and 

 finally out on the surface, forming the mole-hill. 

 Other tunnels or galleries are made which serve as 

 bolt runs in case of danger. The nest itself is a 

 small round ball of moss, leaves and grass. 



The mole is truly a giant among dwarfs, for lie 

 will make these earthworks in the hardest soil, where 

 a man finds it heavy woi-k to dig with a sharp tool, 

 and Mr. Adams says he will turn out stones weighing 

 over ^ lb., which is the maximum weight of a mole. 



Male moles are said to be more numerous than 

 females, but this may only be due to the difficulty 

 of identifying the one from the other. It is not known 

 whether the mole, like the hedgehog, has two families 

 in the year, but the young number from two to seven 

 and are born naked and blind. 



Moles usually frequent light soils, old pastures 

 and recently manured, ploughed lands, but they will 

 occasionally penetrate into clayey districts. It is said 

 that they work during the day at certain regular 

 hours. A writer in the ' Field ' has given these 

 times as 7 a.m., 11 a.m., and 3 p.m. During the last 



* "A Contribution to our Knowledge of the Mole/' 'Proc. 

 Manch. Lit. Phil. Soc./ vol. xlvii, pt. ii, 1903. 



