SENSES OF THE MOLE. 123 



Yet this pity, natural though it be, will be entirely thrown away, for 

 there is scarcely any creature that lives which is better fitted for enjoy- 

 ment, or which is urged by more fiery passions. Dull and harmless as 

 it may appear to be, it is in reality one of the most ferocious animals 

 in ^existence, and will engage in the fiercest combats upon very slight 

 provocation. While thus employed, its whole faculties are so entirely 

 absorbed in its thirst for revenge that it will leave the subterraneous 

 shafts which it has been so busily excavating, and join battle with its 

 foe in the full light of day. Should one of the combatants overpower 

 and kill the other, the victorious Mole springs upon the vanquished 

 enemy, tears its body open, and, eagerly plunging its nose into the 

 wound, drinks the blood of its slaughtered enemy, and feasts richly on 

 the sanguine banquet. 



With the exception of sight, the senses of the Mole seem to be re- 

 markably developed. 



The sense of smell is singularly acute, and enables the animal to dis- 

 cover the presence of the earthworms on which it feeds, and to chase 

 them successfully through their subterrauean meanderings. 



The hearing of the Mole is proverbially excellent ; and it is probable 

 that the animal is aided in its pursuit of worms by the sense of hear- 

 ing as well as by that of smell. Much of the Mole's safety is prob- 

 ably owing to its exquisite hearing, which gives it timely notice of the 

 approach of any living being, and enables it to secure itself by rapidly 

 sinking below the surface of the earth. "To tread so softly that the 

 blind Mole may not hear a footfiill " is an expression which has become 

 a household word. 



The sense of touch is peculiarly delicate, and seems to be chiefly res- 

 ident in the long and flexible nose, which is employed by the Mole for 

 other purposes than that of scent. When the creature is placed upon 

 the surflice of the ground, and is about to sink one of its far-famed tun- 

 nels, it employs its nose for that purpose almost as effectually as its 

 armed fore-paws. 



It seldom happens that all the senses of an animal are developed to 

 an equal extent, so that where one or two are singularly acute, it is 

 generally at the expense of the others. Such is the case with the 

 Mole ; for, although the scent, touch, and hearing are remarkable for 

 their excellence, the sight is so extremely defective that it may almost 

 be considered as a nullity. It is true that the Mole possesses eyes ; but 

 those organs of vision are so small, and so deeply hidden in the fur, that 

 they can be of but little use to the owner, except to mark the distinc- 

 tions between light and darkness. The eyes are so exceedingly small 

 that their very existence has been denied, and it is only by a careful 

 search that they can be seen at all. 



The fore-paws are extremely large, and furnished with strong and 



