MOLE 



3877 



MOLE CRICKET 



mold and green cheese mold are its most fa- 

 miliar forms. The germs of mold, as of other 

 fungous growths, may cause disease if taken 

 into the body. 



MOLE, a muscular little animal, a builder of 

 underground homes, and the farmers' friend be- 

 cause of its destruction of grubs and worms. 



THE MOLE 



A cross section of his underground home is 

 shown. Chambers may extend many feet in vari- 

 ous directions. 



Though it sometimes damages crops through 

 the disturbance of delicate roots, it never eats 

 vegetable matter. Little surface hills of earth 

 which have been thrown up in the process of 

 tunneling disclose the presence of moles under- 

 neath. 



Common moles are found from Canada to 

 Florida and throughout Central Europe. They 

 are thickset, five or six inches long, with nar- 

 row, slender muzzles, small, fur-hidden eyes, no 

 exterior ears, short, naked tails and short, pow- 

 erful legs. The commercially valuable fur is 

 thick and soft, and the hairs may lie either for- 

 ward or backward. Bluish-gray moleskin is most 

 in demand by furriers, but black, brownish- 

 black and pale shades are not rejected by gar- 

 ment makers. Undressed pelts are valued at 

 only a few pennies, but the expense of working 

 them brings the price of a small moleskin cap 

 to $15 or $25. Moleskin is light in weight, yet 

 warm, but its wearing qualities are poor. 



Going down to the homes of these greedy, 

 insect-eating animals, wonderful structures are 

 found. Loose earth is fashioned into such hard 

 central chambers and tunnels in all directions 

 that heavy rainstorms do not destroy them. 

 In the winter the little animal avoids the frost 

 by tunneling deep down into the earth, some- 

 times four feet below the surface. In early 

 spring four or five baby moles are produced at 

 a birth, and are housed in a warmly-lined cen- 

 tral chamber. Sometimes a second brood ap- 

 pears in autumn. Young moles quickly reach 



their full size. These animals like water, and 

 they swim well. They are always hungry, and 

 if deprived of food for ten or twelve hours will 

 die. 



One American species of mole is called the 

 star-nosed mole (see subhead below). Other 

 burrowing, insect-eating animals are sometimes 

 called moles, such as the shrews and the golden 

 moles of South Africa, See SHREW. 



Star-Nosed Mole. This little creature, which 

 is not quite nine inches long, is so called be- 

 cause it has a starlike fringe of cartilage about 

 the nose. It is dark brownish-gray, paler be- 

 neath, and has a long hairy tail which is some- 

 times thickened at the base. It ranges through- 

 out Northern North America as far south as 

 the Southern United States. The star-nosed 

 mole is fond of life near and in the water, so 

 one may look for its tunneled home in the soil 

 of swamps and along the borders of brooks and 

 ponds. The opening -of its burrow is often be- 

 neath the water. In the winter it burrows deep 

 down in swampy places," out of the reach of 

 frosts, and sometimes swims beneath the ice of 

 frozen brooks in search of water insects. It is 

 a true night prowler, and in the daytime pre- 

 fers its underground dwelling to the sunlight, 

 for it does not even emerge at noon for a sun 

 bath. M.S. 



MOLE CRICKET, a large insect belonging to 

 the family of crickets, but which combines some 

 of the habits of the mole with its own special 

 traits. The crickets are the most musical of 



THE MOLE CRICKET 

 Showing underground home and egg chamber. 



all the families of insects, and even the mole 

 cricket "plays a tune" with its wings, although 

 the sounds are not usually considered cheerful. 

 The insect is about one and a half inches long, 

 of a velvety-brown color, with short front legs. 



