156 The Mole. [Sess. 
insects such as the Pulicide. It is also known that they are 
troubled with the cystic form of a tape-worm, which you are 
aware requires two hosts. 
There are three ways of destroying moles: by strychnine, 
by laudanum, and by traps. The strychnine method is to 
apply it to a worm and then to insert the worm into a run. 
That by means of laudanum is to pour laudanum into the run 
and cover the orifice quickly. The common way is by a trap, 
which usually strangulates the mole when caught. Sometimes 
the mole will not enter a trap, but will dig a run immediately 
round it. When it is difficult to catch, the strychnine worm 
is more generally resorted to. 
The fur of the mole is peculiar, inasmuch as, from its in- 
sertion in the skin, it can le in any direction. Thus it is 
very useful to the animal in its runs. Whether moving 
forward or backward, the fur assumes the direction in which 
it is stroked. 
The skin of the mole is not in great demand commercially, 
and consequently the mole-catcher throws the skins away, as 
they are hardly saleable at a halfpenny each. 
I have had the privilege of attending the burial of a mole. 
In my wanderings with the mole-catcher I have come across 
moles which, as I have remarked, are just dropped out of the 
traps and left to rot. In one case I remember we found that — 
very interesting insect, the sexton beetle (ecrophorus vespillo), — 
at work. It is perhaps not pertinent to the subject, but the 
mode of operation of this beetle might be mentioned. The 
burying beetles, having by their sense of smell located the 
carcass of a mole, rat, bird, or other small animal, proceed to 
scrape the soil at the side of the dead animal, which falls 
down as the earth is removed. The female beetle then lays 
her eggs in the body, where the grubs are hatched and live on 
the carrion. 
The description and habits of the mole I have described are — 
those of the common species, Talpa europea, in which consider- 
able variation in colouring is found to occur, such as sandy- 
brown, creamy-white, iron-grey, green-black, otherwise called 
mossy, blue-black, which is most common, piebald or black- 
and-white, black tipped with white hairs, and black with 
white belly, which colour points to its being a surface animal 
~ Oa 
= ps ad 
2 
