264 



THE STORY OF THE MOLE. 



a smaller diameter than the lower one. From the larger lower gallery there 

 are given off several diverging runs, one of which is larger than either 

 of the others, and is known as the main run, being the one which alone, 

 leads to the burrows driven in various directions for the purpose of procur- 

 ing food. These burrows, or runs, except when so close to the surface as to 

 allow of the earth being raised directly upwards in the form of a ridge 

 showing their course, are marked at intervals by the well-known "mole- 

 hills," which are mounds of loose earth pushed up from below, and not 

 containing any internal chamber or passages. 



Since the voracity of the mole is proverbial, and its food consists exclu- 



THE MOLE AND ITS BURROW. 



sively of earth-worms, insects, and their larvae, its visits ought to be wel- 

 comed alike by the farmer and the gardener. As a matter of fact, how- 

 ever, the mole has an awkward habit of driving its tunnels below the drilled 

 rows of young farm and garden crops, by which not only are the roots of 

 the plants disturbed, but the whole row may be dried up. Moreover, it 

 appears pretty certain that field moles will take advantage of runs driven 

 in such localities as convenient points from which to make inroads on the 

 sprouting seeds or the roots of the young plants. Then, again, in addition 

 to the unsightliness of a host of mole-hills in a garden, such elevations are 



