COMMON MOLE. 



141 



in hilly districts ; but in the cultivated grounds, arid 

 particularly in gardens and nurseries, the injury 

 which it inflicts, by its incessant labours, is more 

 obvious than any benefit that is derived from them, 

 and, in fact, is often very great ; for which reason, 

 it is everywhere an object of persecution, and vast 

 numbers are annually destroyed by means of a kind 

 of springe, generally formed of a twig fixed into the 

 ground by one end, and bent, so that the other touches 

 the surface, while there is appended to it a loop of 

 cord, fastened to another, enclosed in, a tube of 

 wood or iron, introduced into a run or gallery, 

 the animal, in passing through which, displaces 

 the peg, by which the end of the twig is kept down, 

 and the latter springing up, carries with it the Mole 

 suspended and strangled by the cord. 



Another still more efficient trap is 

 represented by the accompanying wood- 

 cut. Between the two handles, A, A, 

 which move on a joint, c, is placed a 

 strong spring, B. The incurved and 

 serrated prongs, D, D, are kept apart by 

 a plate, E, on displacing which, the ani- 

 njal is caught by the spring's violently 

 forcing the prongs against it. 



A vast deal has been said as to the be- 

 nefits conferred by this animal, and the 

 injuries inflicted by it ; but after all, it 

 appears to me that the following account of it by M 

 Valmont-Bomare is as correct as those of the most 

 recent date. " Woods, vineyards, gardens, pastures, 



