SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA 



589 



Where the soil is loose the mole practically 

 swims through it, urged forward by powerful 

 impulses of its "hands" and feet. This is the 

 common mode of travel near the top of the 

 ground, where the course is marked by the 

 lightly upheaved and broken surface. When 

 working at a greater depth and in more com- 

 pact soil the mole must dig its way and dis- 

 pose of the loose earth by pushing it along the 

 tunnel to an outlet at the surface through which 

 it is thrust to 'form a mound similar to the 

 "dumps" of that other great miner, the pocket 

 gopher. 



On account of this similarity in mode of life, 

 moles and pocket gophers are sometimes con- 

 fused by persons not familiar with the two 

 animals. The resemblance ends in this ap- 

 parent likeness, for the pocket gophers belong 

 to the great order Rodentia, or gnawing ani- 

 mals, while the moles are of the Insectivora, 

 or insect-eaters. 



The superbly forested region inhabited by 

 Oregon moles is so well watered that few 

 places, even on high mountain slopes, are too 

 dry for them to occupy. These animals are 

 generally distributed, and their hills may be 

 seen in the midst of the great coniferous forests 

 as well as in the open valleys. 



They are most abundant in open grassy areas, 

 especially in meadows and in the bottoms of 

 canyons and similar places, where the damp 

 rich soil affords a plentiful supply of earth- 

 worms, grubs, and insects on which to feed. 

 Like other moles, they lead lives of great activity 

 and almost constant hard labor. During damp 

 weather they work near the surface, but in 

 dry periods as the upper soil hardens they 

 follow their prey to lower levels. A hard 

 shower, however, always brings an outburst of 

 activit}' as they reoccupy the upper soil and 

 throw up a multitude of new mounds. They 

 have the habit of regularly coming to the sur- 

 face to hunt food during the night. This is 

 no doubt coincident with the swarming up to 

 the surface of earthworms on which the moles 

 feed. At such times many are captured by 

 owls, cats, and other beasts of prey. 



The runways of moles close along the sur- 

 face, shown by well-marked ridges, are for 

 hunting purposes, and the lower tunnels, from 

 which the earth in the mounds is brought, are 

 for traveling and lead to the nest chamber. 

 The deep tunnels of the Oregon mole sometimes 

 extend considerable distances along fences, or 

 other surface cover, which afford more or less 

 protection. Such tunnels are a kind of high- 

 way often used by several moles and also by 

 shrews and field mice. The system of tunnels 

 of the moles over a considerable area often in- 

 tersect and are used more or less in common. 

 As a result more than twenty moles have been 

 trapped at a single point in one of these under- 

 ground roads. 



They make an intricate system of many- 

 branched tunnels, the courses of which are 

 usually marked by series of mounds varying 

 from four to ten inches high and five to twenty 

 inches wide and often scattered over meadows 

 or other fields from two to six feet apart. 



Owing to the persistence with which the moles 

 raise their mounds everywhere in the occupied 

 parts of their territory, they have become a 

 serious and costly pest. In meadows the knives 

 of mowing machines are dulled by them, and 

 in towns lawns are disfigured by their unde^ 

 sirable activities. As a consequence they have 

 now fallen under the ban and are classed with 

 other mammals which have shown their lack 

 of ability to fit in satisfactorily with the changed 

 conditions brought to their ancient territory by 

 civilized man. Under natural conditions their 

 activities were vmdoubtedly entirely beneficial. 



They appear to have but a single litter of 

 young, numbering from one to four, each year. 

 These are born in March and grow so rapidly 

 that by the last of May they are working in 

 the tunnels and are scarcely distinguishable 

 from the adults. 



The recent discovery that the Oregon mole- 

 skin is valuable for its fur will give such an 

 incentive to trapping that there is little doubt 

 the boys of the State within a few years will 

 reduce the numbers of the animal and thus 

 control its injury to agriculture. The market 

 for the skins appears practically unlimited, 

 judging by trade reports, one dealer in Brook- 

 lyn stating that he dressed 4,000,000 imported 

 European moleskins in igi6. 



THE STAR-NOSED MOLE (Condylura 

 cristata) 



{For iUiistratiou, see page 563) 



The star-nosed mole, known in parts of 

 Maine as the "gopher," is peculiar among the 

 moles in having a fringe around the end of its 

 nose formed by twenty-two short fleshy ten- 

 tacles. A less-marked character is in the pro- 

 portionately long tail, which becomes greatly 

 enlarged in fall and remains in this condition 

 during the winter months. Otherwise the ex- 

 ternal appearance of this species is much like 

 that of the common moles of America and the 

 Old World. 



The star-nosed mole is found from southern 

 Labrador, the southern end of Hudson Bay, 

 and southeastern Manitoba south along the 

 Atlantic coast to Georgia and in the interior 

 down the Alleghenies to North Carolina and 

 to Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Min- 

 nesota. Throughout this area it ranges irreg- 

 ularly and much yet remains to be learned 

 about the details of its distribution and habits. 



Ordinarily solitary, these moles at times are 

 so numerous in limited areas that they appear 

 to form colonies. Such gatlierings probably 

 mean an unusually rich feeding ground, which 

 makes it unnecessary for the young to disperse 

 to outlying locations, as is the habit of molea 

 and most other mammals. 



The star-nosed mole has a strong preference 

 for damp and even marshy or swampy loca- 

 tions. It frequents low-lying meadows, the 

 borders of streams, and grassy swamps, where 

 its underground burrows alternate with open 

 surface runways among grass roots and other 

 matted vegetation. It spends far more time 



