MOLES, SHREWS AND BATS 195 



which disfigure our lawns and flower-beds. It 

 is commonly believed that the mole bites off 

 roots and eats such things as lily-bulbs and 

 sweet potatoes; but all the harm it does is now 

 and then to upset a plant or disarrange a bit 

 of grass-plot. It is in search of worms, grubs 

 and burrowing insects, that the mole pushes 

 his way beneath our feet ; and he devours a vast 

 number of these, which do prey upon the roots 

 and stems of grasses and other plants. The 

 real mischief occasionally observed is due to 

 the field-mice which sometimes follow his track. 

 The mole has become extraordinarily well 

 fitted for his underground work. His body is 

 a loosely filled sack which will stand a lot of 

 bending and squeezing, and his head is like a 

 round wedge with a flexible point, really an 

 exquisitely sensitive nose and a mouth filled 

 with capable teeth. Within that sack are the 

 most massive shoulders and forearms for their 

 size in the animal kingdom, the latter terminat- 

 ing in broad, strongly webbed hands, armed 

 with long, sharp claws, like a shovel ending in 

 five pick-blades. These great hands are twisted 

 so that their palms are outward, thumbs down, 



