274 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW 



surface does not improve the appearance of a beautiful lawn or 

 garden. But let us not judge rashly. Why does the mole build 

 these tunnels, and especially, why does he build them so near the 

 surface ? 



Let us trace the mole to his home and then follow him on his 

 excursions. 



W. F. Homaday reports the observations of a farmboy, who 

 uncovered and closely examined a mole-burrow two feet below 

 the surface of the ground. It was a dome-shaped hole, reached 

 from above by a slanting hole that ran down into its top. The 

 burrow measured a foot in width at the bottom and from this 

 three tunnels each about six inches long extended in different 

 directions. A shelf near the upper portion of the burrow supported 

 a mole on a bed of soft material. 



Other observers have found a series of connecting galleries 

 reaching from the bottom of the chamber. 



His home the mole makes underground, 



With runs and chambers crossed, 

 And galleries circling round and round 



In which you would be lost. 



— Thomas Miller. 



From this mole-burrow the hungry hunter follows regular 

 tunnels which lead to his hunting grounds. 



The strong tough bundles of muscles of his forearms and arms, 

 and the well -braced ribs, greatly aid the work of the broad hands 

 in digging thru the more compact soil to the looser soil near the 

 surface. For the most part he simply crowds the loosened soil 

 beneath him and pushes it behind him as he progresses, for he 

 does not intend to return by the same route. Sometimes, when 

 he finds the hard digging too prolonged, he comes to the surface 

 and starts a new passageway, leaving a pile of loosened soil to 

 mark his course. Since dawdling may prove fatal, he uses, (as 

 recorded by one authority), but three seconds to bury his head, 

 ten seconds to completely hide his body, and within three minutes 

 time has succeeded in digging a tunnel one foot long. 



Another observation recorded by W. T. Homaday, extended 

 over a period of 24 hours, during which time a mole worked un- 

 disturbed in a five-acre clover field. One hundred, four and one 

 half feet of tunnels (68 feet of which were main line and 36->^ 



