Mancliester Memoirs, Vol. xlvii. (1903), No- 4- 35 



through the winter it is active, and fresh heaps may 

 commonly be seen pushed through the snow. Of course, 

 when the ground is frozen sohd for some inches below 

 the surface the mole does not so often struggle through, 

 but has perforce to confine himself to a deeper level. 

 I have, moreover, occasionally seen moles' tracks in the 

 snow. They resemble the impression that might be 

 made by a. 2^ inch rope flung down on the snow. 

 At the edges of the track marks of the front claws were 

 sometimes visible, and indicated the direction of the 

 wanderings. It puzzled me to guess what the mole 

 wanted above ground where food was not, and I could 

 discover no track of pursuing weasel or other enemy. 



The time when the mole is least in evidence is June, 

 July, and August, presumably because worms are busiest 

 at this time of year, and he finds plenty of food in the 

 tunnels he has already made, and perhaps he comes to 

 the surface of the ground where the worms are pairing in 

 multitudes. It is curious that moles' bones are not more 

 frequently found in owls' pellets, when we consider that 

 they have to come to the surface for the material for their 

 nests, and also frequently to drink. 



The accounts ofthe short periods ofstarvation necessary 

 to kill a mole are borne out by my observations. On one 

 occasion I caught a vigorous mole, quite unhurt, and fed 

 him at intervals during the day with about a third of 

 a pint of worms, besides which he had several drinks of 

 water. At night, about eight o'clock, I dug about a 

 third of a pint of worms, and put them into his den (a 

 packing case with earth at the bottom) and left him. In 

 the morning I found him very feeble, thin and cold. I 

 took him up in my hand and put his nose to some water, 

 which he seemed to enjo)', but he was too feeble to tackle 

 a worm, and presently, after a gentle convulsion, he died 



