IS THE MOLE INJURIOUS* 269 



According to the old traditional belief, the mole feeds upon 

 roots. From time immemorial, it has been looked upon as 

 an animal so destructive, that, in every country, its destruc- 

 tion has been encouraged by large rewards. Well, this belief, 



transmitted from generation to generation, owes, like so many 







other traditions, its authority to its antiquity, and is devoid of 

 foundation. 



The mole is an essentially carnivorous animal, and no 

 more lives upon roots than the dog or the cat. He is pre- 

 eminently the hunter of the white-worm and beetle ; and 

 therefore, instead of vowing its extermination, we ought to 

 take every possible means to preserve and multiply his race. 

 These absurd traditions and credulous notions, wholly with- 

 out any experimental confirmation, frequently lead us to take 

 steps in diametrical opposition to our own interests. 



Moles are particularly partial to meadows which are some- 

 what damp, as, for instance, those where the leafless colchicum 

 displays, in autumn, its pale-rose flowers. In summer, the 

 fields are covered with mole-hills. It will be said, perhaps, 

 that these conical heaps of earth are injurious to vegetation. 

 But that will be an error, contradicted by observation. Mea- 

 dows besprinkled with mole-hills grow excellent hay, if care 

 be taken to level them ; for the earth thus distributed serves 

 as manure. If they are visited by the moles, it is because 

 these animals find there a plentiful supply of the rhizofhagous 

 (root-eating) insects, on which they feed. 



The forest is also a favourite haunt of the moles. Apparently 

 they find, under the layers of leaves and roots, so rich in larvae 



