196 



THE MOLE EAT. 



leads to these chambers is only just large enough to admit the body of 

 the animal, and is about six feet in length. 



To these burrows the Marmots retire about the middle of September, 

 and after closing the entrance with grass and earth enter into the lethar- 

 gic hibernating state, and do not emerge until the beginning of April. 

 Like other hibernating animals, they are very fat just before they take 

 up their winter quarters, and, as their fur is then in the best condition, 

 they are eagerly sought after by the human inhabitants of the same 

 country. The burrow of the Marmot is always dug in dry soil, and is 

 seldom known to be at all above, or very much below, the line of per- 

 petual snow. 



At the end of the rodents are placed the singular animals which 

 are grouped together under the title of Aspalacidse, or Mole Rats, 

 the word Aspalax, or Spalax, being the Greek term for a mole. 

 The incisor teeth of these animals are extremely large, and project 

 beyond the lips. The external ears are either wholly wanting or are 

 of very small dimensions. The eyes are small, and in some species 

 are concealed by the skin. The body is heavily and clumsily made, 

 the tail is either very short or entirely absent, and the head is large 

 and rounded. 



The common Mole Eat, which is also known by its Kussian name of 

 Slepez, is a native of Southern Russia, Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, and 

 Syria. Like the ordinary mole, to which it bears no little external re- 

 semblance, it passes its existence in the subterranean tunnels which it 

 excavates by means of its powerful claws. As it but seldom ventures 

 into the light of day, it stands in no need of visual organs, but is com- 



^ — ...^.-^^^-..-^^^^.^^ :^ .,- pensated for their absence 



by the very large develop- 

 ment of the organs of 

 hearing. The place of 

 the eyes is taken by two 

 little round black specks, 

 which lie under the fur- 

 covered skin, so that even 

 if they were sensitive to 

 light, they would be un- 

 able to perceive the 



T^TTT, ■»T^ T» /oi ^t, X bris^htestraysof the 



The Mole Eat (Spahx Typhlus). ^,. . ^r^^ 



•^^ ^ noontide sun. Ihe ears, 



however, are extremely large, and the hearing is exceedingly sensitive, 



so that the animal receives earlier information of danger through its 



sense of hearing than through that of sight, which latter faculty would 



indeed be useless in its dark abode. Sometimes the Slepez leaves the 



burrow and lies basking in the warm sunshine, but upon the least alarm 



