The Mole 



the game preserver often rears his pheasants, and when 

 Moles gain a footing in such localities they often upset 

 the calculations of the gamekeeper. The richness of 

 the soil, caused by the operations on the ground, tends 

 to an increase of worms and grubs, and, as taught by 

 Nature, the Mole goes in pursuit. In its perambu- 

 lations it is liable to burrow underneath the hen-coops, 

 and the hollows formed by its tunnellings cause the 

 nest and eggs to sink underground, and thus become 

 unproductive. Unless the fowl be a very close sitter she 

 will usually desert her eggs when thus disturbed. For 

 these and other reasons Moles are considered vermin 

 in many rural parts, and the picturesque Mole-catcher 

 of the shires is the direct result of this belief. It is, 

 however, a problem as to whether the Mole does not 

 in its lifetime do quite as much good as harm. It 

 has, at any rate, to be noted that the business of Mole- 

 catching is a decaying branch of rural industry in the 

 twentieth century. 



In trapping Moles the Mole-catcher does not, as 

 might naturally be supposed, place his trap in or 

 around any of the rather unsightly heaps of earth the 

 Mole casts up. The trapper looks for the " run " 

 between these places, and throws out a tiny spadeful 

 of soil where this mark is noted on the soil. This is a 

 simple crack in the earth denoting a minor upheaval. 

 On clearing away the soil the "run" may then be 

 seen, and in this the Mole-catcher places his trap, 

 covering all carefully to exclude the light from above. 



IS 



