WILD CREATURES OF GARDEN AND HEDGEROW 



to think of a creature living entirely in the 

 dark, hardly ever coming up to the top of the 

 ground to enjoy the light and air like other 

 animals, indeed actually disliking the light, 

 and going back to its dark tunnels as soon as 

 it can. But the mole is most perfectly fitted 

 for its peculiar life, its body is just the right 

 shape to push through the earth, it has enor- 

 mously strong fore paws like broad hands on 

 short powerful wrists, which, combined with 

 the great muscles in its thick shoulders, enable 

 it to shovel aside the dirt. It has really no 

 neck, its head being sunk into its shoulders, 

 which makes it very strong and able to lift a 

 big weight on its back. It has short, beauti- 

 fully velvet-like fur, that can be rubbed either 

 way, and never gets dirty. It has keen hearing, 

 but no external ears for the soil to drop into ; 

 a very sharp nose, by means of which it finds 

 the worms on which it lives ; and last, but not 

 least, eyes being no use to it in unlit tunnels, 

 it is blind. Its eyes are so very small that 

 they are no good, it is even doubtful if they 

 serve to tell light from darkness. Certainly 

 it cannot distinguish one object from another. 

 These minute eyes are difficult to find ; they are 

 buried in its fur, so one cannot see them except 

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