XXXI. MAMMALS UNDERGROUND 



The diversity of animal life, its adaptability to varied 

 conditions, is nowhere more interestingly shown than in 

 the milk givers that live underground. In America the 

 common mole is an example of what might be termed ab- 

 solute subterranean life. In all probability no reader of 

 these lines ever saw a mole leave its burrow and take to 

 the open air unless forced. So habituated to its life is the 

 mole that its eyesight has almost disappeared, being, doubt- 

 less, of no use. During its underground life it has de- 

 veloped a remarkable sense of smell and touch, enabHng it 

 to find worms and insects which are not exactly in its line 

 of progress. By continuous digging it has developed 

 enormous claws or pads by which it moves rapidly along 

 under the surface, tossing up the soil in great ridges and 

 only caught by quick work on the part of the gardener, 

 who often believes that the little insect eater is an enemy 

 to his plants. The mole has a wide distribution, and its 

 habits, its tunnels, its nests, are well known. 



In Western America, particularly in California, between 

 the Sierras and the sea, the earth is often completely 

 mined \yith the tunnels of three mammals, — the gopher, 

 the ground squirrel, and the badger. When, in 1885, I first 

 visited the San Gabriel Valley, nine miles from the city of 

 Los Angeles, riding across the country was sometimes a 

 risk, due to the burrows of a large owl, and horsemen 

 sometimes came to grief. 



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