Insectivorous Land Mammals 



but I have seen a whole family of Moles almost pure 

 white in colour. 



Of the Mole's work under the ground it is curious 

 to note that the vertical arrangement of the fur enables 

 the animal to move forward or backward at will. 

 The fine adjustment of the individual hairs offers no 

 hindrance to the animal, whether it be digging its way 

 ahead or retreating from some real or imaginary danger. 

 The subterranean " runs " of the Mole are many and 

 varied. These are of numerous ramifications through- 

 out the area inhabited, but however far-reaching or 

 complicated these arteries may be, there is always one 

 of them at least that has connection with water. This 

 water may be a river, a pond, or merely a ditch, but 

 the creature must drink to live. Moles are voracious 

 feeders, living chiefly on worms, which they hunt for 

 under the soil. Although not always the case, it is 

 usually about fields that are said to be " in good 

 heart " that Moles locate. Fields that have been well 

 matured, and where the mould is rich by continual and 

 well-directed husbandry, are favourite places for the 

 operations of this underground navvy. Hence it 

 follows that the farmer sees his wheat seed turned up 

 to the sun as it has just sent up its green blade, or the 

 gardener finds his pea-row upset by the little Mole's 

 journey underneath. At other times Moles will be 

 found in abundance in old meadow-lands, which in 

 the course of years have proved a harbour for larvas 

 of all sorts of burrowing insects. In such meadows 



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