MOLES 



Family Talpida 



Common Mole 



Scalops aquaticus (Linnaeus) 

 Called also Naked-tailed Mole. 



Length. 6.40 inches. 



Description. Hands large and naked with powerful nails, hind 

 feet small and of usual shape, snout long and pointed, tail 

 short and naked. Fur glossy silvery gray, varying in shade 

 when disturbed or placed in different light ; often tinged; 

 rusty. (Tllustrat'ions facing p. 200.) 



Range. Southern Canada, southward in the lowlands to Florida, 

 where it is represented in the southern part of the peninsula 

 by the somewhat smaller Florida mole (S. aquaticus flori- 

 danus). A browner variety also occurs on Anastasia Island, 

 Fla., the island mole (S. anastasce Bangs). 



Our common mole differs but little from the well-known mole 

 of Europe that for centuries has disfigured the rich English lawns 

 to the rage and disgust of the gardener. 



Our species is responsible for the little heaps of new earth 

 which, with each recurring summer, are thrown up to deface 

 our own lawns. Morning after morning new hillocks stand 

 out defiantly, extending the line of diminutive earthworks along 

 the turf. 



These heaps are not true mole-hills, but just the loose earth 

 thrown up by the little miner as the easiest way of being rid 

 of that which he displaces in digging for worms. 



His work being usually carried on at a depth of five or 

 six inches, it is evident that he must dig the earth away with his 

 forepaws until it comes within reach of his hind feet with which 

 he kicks it still further back. 



When a certain amount has gathered behind him, judging 

 from observations, I should say enough to fill the tunnel for a 

 space of five or six inches, he manages, somehow, to push the 

 whole along the narrow passage to the last opening made to 



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