THE WEB-FOOTED MOLES 339 



THE WEB- FOOTED MOLES 

 Genus Scalops 



With the web-footed moles of North America we come to the first representa- 

 tives of the second section of the family, characterized by having the collar bone 

 (clavicle) and the arm bone (humerus) so shortened and widened as to have lost all 

 resemblance to the ordinary form ; and also by the presence of an additional sickle- 

 shaped bone on the inner side of the fore-foot, next to the thumb, both these feat- 

 ures being intimately connected with the purely fossorial habits of all the members 

 of this section of the family. 



All the moles, whether they belong to the New World or the Old 



World group, are characterized by their peculiar form, which, as we 

 shall mention later on, is so admirably adapted for their mode of life. All have the 

 fore-paws naked and of enormous width and strength ; while in all there are no ex- 

 ternal ear-conchs, and the small and useless eyes are deeply buried beneath the fur, 

 and are often further protected by an investing membrane. Then, again, these ani- 

 mals are characterized by the extreme thickness and density of their short velvet- 

 like fur, to which no fragments of the soil through which the burrows are driven 

 ever adheres. L,ike the New World moles, the web-footed moles are distinguished 

 from their cousins of the Old World by the circumstance that the first incisor tooth 

 in the upper jaw is of much larger size than the second. The special characteristics 

 of the web-footed moles are that they have only 36 teeth, of which f are incisors, ^ 

 canines, and cheek-teeth ; and that the hind feet are webbed, and the tail is short 

 and nearly naked. 



The common web-footed mole (Scalops aquaticus) doubtless received 



its specific name on account of its webbed hind feet, which led to the 

 very natural inference that it was a swimming animal. But according to Dr. Hart 

 Merriam, this is a complete misnomer, for not only is this mole " not known volun- 

 tarily to swim, but in the selection of its haunts it shows no preference for the vicin- 

 ity of water, but manifests rather a contrary tendency. Its home is under ground, 

 and its entire life is spent beneath the surface. Its food consists almost wholly of 

 earthworms, grubs, ants, and other insects that live in the earth and under logs 

 and stones. It is almost universally regarded as an enemy to the farmer, and is 

 commonly destroyed whenever opportunity affords ; for, notwithstanding the fact 

 that its subsists upon insects that injure the crops, it is nevertheless true that, in 

 the procurement of these, it disfigures the garden paths and beds by the ridges and 

 little mounds of earth that mark the course of its subterranean galleries, and 

 loosens and injures many choice plants in its probing for grubs amongst their 

 roots." The nest of this mole, " is commonly half a foot or more below the sur- 

 face, and from it several passages lead away in the direction of its favorite foraging- 

 grounds. These primary passages gradually approach the surface, and finally 

 become continuous with, or open into, an ever-increasing multitude of tortuous gal- 

 leries, which wind about in every direction, and sometimes come so near the surface 



