SOME INSECT EATERS 



71 



and it burrows so rapidly that it readily escapes. By 

 examining its bare, white feet with their enormous claws, 

 the astonished mole hunter can easily understand how the 

 little animal disappears so quickly. 



The mole is a valuable ally to the farmer, plowing 

 through the soil and eating every insect it meets. It preys 

 especially upon 

 grubs, and it has 

 been estimated that 

 a single mole will 

 eat 20,000 insects 

 a year. A record 

 was kept by a curi- 

 ous naturalist, and 

 the mole under ob- 

 servation devoured 

 432 maggots and 

 250 grubs in four 

 days. Another mole 

 consumed 872 maggots and 540 grubs in twelve days. In 

 still another test, two moles ate 341 grubs, 193 earthworms, 

 25 caterpillars, and a mouse in nine days, — suggestive of 

 the vast numbers of insects injurious to vegetation de- 

 stroyed by these useful creatures. 



It is a popular idea that the mole is bhnd. This is 

 because its eyes are very small and difficult to find. They 

 are perfect, but deeply embedded and easily overlooked. 

 On the surface, the mole is very helpless, but when it is 

 alarmed it rapidly makes an excavation and disappears. 

 The nest (Fig. 51) is a singular and interesting structure, 

 a perfect fortress to facilitate its escape, there being many 





Fig. 50. — The Mole. 

 a, skull ; b, nose. 



