' LITTLE GENTLEMAN IN BLACK VELVET COAT ' 



Moles in a wild state make wonderful sleeping 

 places, throwing up large heaps of soil, some- 

 times as much as a barrowful, to protect the 

 nest, which is in a central chamber. These 

 large hillocks, often called ' fortresses,' or 

 ' palaces,' are merely living places, being chiefly 

 used in the winter, and are never nurseries. 

 Sometimes they are under bushes, or in a wood, 

 but quite as often you may see them out in the 

 open. No two have the tunnels inside arranged 

 quite the same, though in old books on birds 

 and beasts it was always said that the mole 

 made its home according to one fixed plan. 

 However, this was a mistake. I have opened 

 many fortresses, and each one has been quite 

 different from the last. There are but two 

 points in which all agree, the first being the 

 central living chamber, which is about the size 

 of a football and situated on the ground level ; 

 and the second the bolt hole which leads from 

 the sleeping place down into the ground. This 

 tunnel goes straight into the ground for eight 

 or nine inches, then curves up again and joins 

 the main run. It serves two purposes, the 

 one to enable the owner to slip out of the 

 bottom of his nest when danger threatens, the 

 other to drain off any water that may soak 



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