The Bats and Insect*eating Mammals 



171 



Photo oy A. IS. liudland tfc {suits. 



COMMON MOLE. 

 Note that this mole is changing its coat. 



)f'". UMiiuu-J^tiit, i-'.4.z>.\ [Croydon. 



COMMON MOLE. 

 The skeleton is here revealed by the Rontgen rays. 



America form a group distinct from those of the Old World, though closely allied thereto. 

 The WEB-FOOTED and the STAR-NOSED MOLES are the most interesting of the American forms. 



Speaking of the prodigious speed with which these animals burrow their way through the 

 ground, Dr. Hart Merriam remarks that in a single night, after rain, they have been known 

 to make a gallery several yards in length, and that he had himself traced a fresh tunnel for 

 nearly a hundred yards. As he says, we can only appreciate the magnitude of this labour 

 by comparison, and " computation shows that, in order to perform equivalent work, a man would 

 have to excavate in a single night a tunnel thirty-seven miles long, and of sufficient size to 

 easily admit of the passage of his body." 



The star-nosed mole is peculiar in that its nose is surrounded by a ring of finger-like 

 processes, forming a kind of rosette, which probably acts as a highly sensitive organ of touch ; 

 furthermore, it differs from other moles in the great length of its tail, which is nearly as long 

 as its body. Like the mole, this species makes its way through the ground with great speed. 

 Beneficial as moles undoubtedly are in destroying worms and obnoxious insects, yet they 

 are regarded as a pest both by the farmer and gardener. That there is some justification for 

 this dislike must be admitted; for the farmer suffers in that, in the search for food, crops are 

 damaged by cutting through the roots of plants the gardener not only for the same reason, 

 but also because the ridges and hillocks which they make in their course disfigure the paths 

 and beds of a well-kept garden. 



The nearest allies of the moles are the curious aquatic DESMANS of Russia, and the SHREWS, 



quite mole-like in 

 having adopted a 

 life. 



ING SHREWS are not 

 great group which 

 mole-like shape, for 

 hog-like TENRECS is 

 animal known as 

 The mole-like shape 

 animal is another 

 tion to a similar 

 fore limb of the 

 provided with huge 

 used for digging 

 is not broadened 

 the common mole, 

 this unnecessary. 



some of which are 

 form, owing to their 

 similar mode of 

 The BURROW- 

 the only forms in the 

 have assumed a 

 allied to the hedge- 

 a r em arkable 

 the GOLDEN MOLE. 

 of the body of this 

 instance of adapta- 

 mode of life. The 

 golden mole is 

 claws, which are 

 purposes; the hand 

 out spade-like, as in 

 the claws rendering 



Photo by A. S. Rudland, <fc Sons. 



GOLDEN MOLE. 



This is found only in South Africa. The name is derived from the wonderful 

 metallic lustre of the fur : the brilliancy of the hues is intensified by immersion 



in spirit. 



