588 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 





2. ivchts 



OSSUITL 



i^#\ 



-1*» ^•'. 



y 



^. 



'>? 



NVi 



\{^lK\^^6 ^-^5- 



TRACK OF THE OPOSSUM 



The liand-like paws are unmistakable. The tail mark appears. The absence of claw on the 

 thumb of the hind foot is usually seen. 



chievous and most attractive to have about the 

 premises. All agreed that it was extremely 

 fond of sugar. 



THE OREGON MOLE (Scapanus town- 

 sendi and its relatives) 



(For illiistratioii, see page 36^) 



The effect on mammals of a narrowly special- 

 ized mode of life is well illustrated in the 

 mole. It is an expertly constructed living mech- 

 anism for tunneling through the earth. The 

 pointed nose, short neck, compactly and power- 

 fully built cylindrical body, with ribs strongly 

 braced to withstand pressure, and the short, 

 paddlelike hands armed with strong claws for 

 digging are all fitted for a single purpose. Eyes 

 and ears are of little service in an luidcrground 

 life, so they have become practically obsolete; 

 the fur has been modified to a compact velvety 

 coat which will lie either front or back with 

 equal facility and thus relieve any friction from 

 the walls of the tunneled roads, no matter 

 which way the animal travels. 



Moles are circumpolar in distribution, being 

 found from England to Japan in the Old 



World and on both the Atlantic and Pacific 

 coasts of the New World, where they occur 

 only in North America. On this continent they 

 are limited mainly to the United States and 

 southern Canada, extending across the Mexi- 

 can border only in two limited areas at the 

 extreme east and west. Their distribution is 

 not continuous across the continent, but is 

 broken by a broad unoccupied belt formed by 

 the arid interior, including the Great Basin. 

 The home of the Oregon mole lies in the humid 

 area west of the Cascade Mountains in Wash- 

 ington, Oregon, and extreme northwestern 

 California. Closely related forms range from 

 eastern Oregon southward through California 

 to the San Pedro Martir Mountains in Lower 

 California, and others north into ]>ritish Co- 

 lumbia. 



The Oregon mole is the largest and hand- 

 somest member of the group in America and 

 perhaps in the world. Its skin, a velvety coat 

 of nearly black fur, often with a purplish sheen, 

 now brings a higher price in the market than 

 that of any other species. Its size and the 

 beauty of its dark coat distinguish it from any 

 other mole. 



