250 SMALL ANI^fALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. 1L 



Tliey breed in April ami May, and generally produce four at a birth. 

 Tlie tunnels that they make are invariably parallel to the surtaee of the 



grouiHl, and about six iuchos decp^ unless they become alarmed, when tliey 

 iiiuiicdiatdy sink to the dt'iitli of fourteen inches, rarely deeper. They have 

 cities under ground, which consist of houses, or nests, wiiere they feed and 

 nurse tlicir young ; communicating with these are wider and more frequented 

 streets, made by the perpetual journeys of the female and male parents, as 

 well as many other less frequented streets, with diverging branches, which 

 they extend daily to collect food for themselves and families. 



Moles are exceedingly active in April and May, during the pairing 

 season, when the tunnels become very numerous, for the purpose of meeting 

 each other. I do not believe tliat they are blind, from the fact that I have 

 never observed that the mole-hills increase except in the day-time, showing 

 that tlicy do not work by night, which they would prol)ably do if deprived 

 of sight. Tlioy commence very early in the morning, wlien you may often 

 see the mold or grass moving over them ; j-ou may then readily cut off 

 their retreat by thrusting in the ground a spade directly behind thcjn, when 

 they may be dug out very easily and killed by the attendant terrier. By 

 jilacing your ear on a newly-raised hill yon may hear them scratching at a 

 cousiilerablo distance, and thus be able to find them. You may always dis- 

 cover the locality of their young by observing the hills, which are larger 

 and the color different, a portion of the subsoil being thrown upon top. If 

 you desire to set traps in their tunnels, it will be necessary to discover which 

 are the frequented streets and which tiie by-roads. 



This may be accomplished by pressing the foot lightly on the hill, and if 

 the mole passes that way he will nearly obliterate the mark. You may then 

 set a subterranean trap, and he will be caught. These may be made from a 

 piece of wood, in a hollow, semi-cylinder form, with grooved rings at each 

 end, in which are placed the nooses of Imrse-hair, one at each end, fastened 

 by a peg in tlie center, and stretched above-ground by a bent stick; when 

 the mole has passed through one of the nooses, and removed the central peg, 

 the bent stick, by its elasticity, rises and strangles the animal. The structure 

 of this quadruped adapts it admirably to the underground life that it leads. 

 Its head is very long, conical in shape, and tapers to the snout, which is 

 much strengthened by a bone, gristle, and ver^' powerful muscles. The 

 body is cylindrical, very thick on the back of the head, from which it dimin- 

 ishes to the tail. It does not appear to have any neck, but where it should 

 be, there is a mass of muscles, all of which appear to act upon tlie fore legs 

 and head. These are the instruments with which he excavates the ground ; 

 tliey are harder, shorter, and -stronger, in proportion to the size of the animal, 

 than in any other of the mammiferous class. I have never destroyed one of 

 tlicse little animals, because I consider the damage they do to a few roots of 

 grass is entirely counterbalanced by their immense destruction of wire- worms, 

 slugs, etc., besides aerifying, disintegrating, and lightening the soil, and thus 

 fitting it admirably for the purposes of top-dressing. 



