THE STORY OF THE MOLE. 263 



The eyes of the mole are very small, in order to prevent them from 

 being injured by the earth through which the animal makes its way; indeed 

 larger eyes would be useless underground. When, however, the mole 

 requires to use its eyes, it can bring them forward from the mass of fur 

 which conceals and protects them when not in use. The acute ears and 

 delicate sense of smell in the meantime supply the place of eyes. Its fur 

 is very fine, soft, capable of turning in any direction, and will not retain 

 a particle of mold. 



But the most extraordinary part of the mole is the paw or hand with 

 which it digs. The two fore-paws are composed of five fingers, armed with 

 sharp, strong nails, in order to scrape up the earth; and to prevent the 

 accumulated mold from impeding the mole's progress, the hands are turned 

 outwardly, so as to throw the earth out of its way. 



Although each mole has its own hunting ground, yet there are mostly 

 high roads which connect the different hunting grounds with each other, 

 and which are used by many individuals in common, the only precaution 

 taken being, that if two moles should happen to meet, the weaker immedi- 

 ately retreats into one of the numerous side galleries which open from the 

 high road, and permits its aristocratical neighbor to pass. 



The common web-footed mole doubtless received its name on account 

 of its webbed hind-feet, which led to the very natural inference that it was 

 a swimming animal. But this is a complete misnomer, for not only is this 

 mole not known voluntarily to swim, but in the selection of its haunts 

 it shows no preference for the vicinity of water, but manifests rather a 

 contrary tendency. Its home is underground, and its entire life is spent 

 beneath the surface. The nest of this mole is commonly half a foot or 

 mere below the surface, and from it several passages lead away in the direc- 

 tion of its favorite foraging-grounds. These primary passages gradually 

 approach the surface, and finally become continuous with, or open into, an 

 ever-increasing multitude of tortuous galleries, which wind about in every 

 direction, and sometimes come so near the surface as barely to escape open- 

 ing upon it, while at other times they are several inches deep. Along the 

 most superficial of these horizontal burrows the earth is actually thrown 

 up in the form of long ridges, by which the animal's progress can be traced. 

 The distance that they can thus travel in a given time is almost incredible. 



The dwelling place is usually placed near a hillock or between trees 

 and consists of a central chamber with passages conducting to two circular 

 galleries placed one above another. The higher of these two galleries has 



