THE COMMON MOLE, MOLDWARP OR WANT 27 



greater or less depth from the surface, according to the nature 

 of the soil, its humidity and hardness. Thus, where the soil is 

 soft, it will be found at a depth of about four or five inches ; 

 but where the ground is hard, as under a road or beneath a 

 stream, the earth is left not less than a foot or a foot and a 

 half deep above it. 



" It is truly marvellous," writes Mr Adams, "how runs are 

 made at all in such difficult ground as Bunter sandstone, where 

 the spade will hardly penetrate, yet the Mole will make his 

 accustomed runs, and turn out among the heaps of sand stones 

 weio-hing over 4 oz., which is the maximum weight of a mole. 

 Worms in this ground must be comparatively scarce, and, one 

 would think, mostly found at the roots of the grass at the 



/'I 





Fig. 21.— Mole heaving up Loose Earth (diagrammatic; after Adams). 



surface, yet in this formation the runs are always very deep, 

 often nearly a foot below the surface, and very wide."^ 



It is not quite clear how the soil is pushed out of the 

 ground in making a heap. Mr F. R. Rodd ' described the heap 

 as rising very gradually with a motion from the centre exactly 

 as flour does in a pan with yeast, a puzzling process which led 

 him to suppose that the only way the work can be done is 

 either by the animal standing almost on its head, or else throw- 

 ing the earth up with its hands. So far, neither method has 



1 R. Kearton's IVzld Life at Home, 1899, 128, contains some remarkable state- 

 ments as to the great strength of the animal. 



- Zoologist, 1872, 3182. 



