SENSES OF THE MOLE. 425 
creature ; for on one occasion, a Mole that had been made prisoner turned fiercely on its 
captor, and fixed its teeth into his hand with such pertinacious courage that it would not 
loosen its hold until it had been squeezed nearly to death between the teeth of its 
antagonist, who was obliged to have resort to that unpleasant mode of defence in order 
to free himself from the infuriated little animal. Another of these creatures flung itself 
upon a young lady’s neck, and inflicted a severe wound before its purpose could be 
comprehended or its movements arrested. 
With the exception of sight, the senses of the Mole seem to be remarkably developed. 
The sense of scent is singularly acute, and enables the animal to discover the 
presence of the earthworms on which it feeds, and to chase them successfully through 
their subterranean meanderings,—a kind of terrestrial otter. So acute is the sense of 
smell, that the experienced Mole-catchers are in the habit of keeping a dead Mole at 
hand when they are engaged in their destructive avocation ; and after setting their traps, 
dvaw the dead Mole over every part of the trap or adjoining soil which their hands have 
touched, so as to overpower the taint of human contact. This is an effectual precaution, 
as the Mole is endowed with a powerful, very peculiar, and very unpleasant scent, that 
adheres pertinaciously to the hand, and cannot be entirely removed without repeated 
lavation. 
The hearing of the Mole is proverbially excellent ; and it is probable that the animal 
is aided in its pursuit of worms by the sense of hearing as well as that of smell. 
Much of the Mole’s safety is probably owing to its exquisite hearing, which gives it 
timely notice of the approach of any living being, and enables it to secure itself by 
rapidly sinking below the surface of the earth. To tread so softly that the blind Mole 
may not hear a footfall, is an expression which has become a household word. 
The sense of touch is peculiarly delicate, and seems to be chiefly resident in the long 
and flexible nose, which is employed by the Mole for other purposes than those of scent. 
When the creature is placed upou the surface of the ground, and is about to sink one of 
its far-famed tunnels, it employs its nose for that purpose almost as effectually as its 
armed fore-paws. I have often seen the animal engaged in the process of sinking a pit, 
and have observed that it always begins by running about very rapidly, wr riggling its 
snout backwards and forwards upon the ground, as if to discover a soft spot. “When it 
has fixed upon a suitable locality, it begins its excavation by rooting in the ground with 
its nose, and making a shallow groove in the earth by way of a commencement. Not 
until it has formed this preliminary trench does it bring its digging claws into action ; 
and even while employing its natural spades in the actual digging and casting up of 
loose earth, it still makes use of its nose as a pioneer, so to speak, and seems to learn, by 
means of the delicate sense of touch with which that organ is gifted, the nature of the 
soil through which the animal intends to make its way. 
It seldom happens that all the senses of an animal are developed to an equal extent, 
so that where one or two are singularly acute it is generally at the expense of the others. 
Such is the case with the Mole ; for although the scent, touch, and hearing are remarkable 
for their excellence, the sight is so extremely defective that it may almost be considered 
asa nullity. It is true that the Mole possesses eyes; but those organs of vision are so 
small, and so deeply hidden in the fur, that they can be but of little use to their ow ner, 
except to mark the distinctions between light and darkness. The eyes are so exceedingly 
small that their very existence has been denied, and it is only by a careful search that 
they can be seen at all. 
The simplest mode of observing the Mole’s eyes in perfection is to immerse the 
living animal in water. It fancies that it is in danger of drowning, and therefore exerts 
its power of protruding the eyes from the furry coat, in order to employ every means for 
escaping from the deadly peril. Its eyes are then perceptible, as little, black, beady 
objects that ghtter through the fur, but do not appear to enjoy any great powers of 
vision. This power of protruding and withdrawing the eyes is rendered necessary by the 
subterranean habits of the animal, which require that it should be able to protect its eyes 
from the loose mould through which the creature is constantly passing. 
In order to adapt the Mole to the peculiar life which it leads, the entire framework of 
