MOLES. 71 



are searching for white slugs and larvae of Tipulce^ &c., in 

 damp places, and this always occurs when the season is dry. 

 Moles pair as early as February and commonly in March, and 

 any mole-catcher will tell you that the latter month is the best 

 time for Moles to run." 



In reference to the number of young produced at a birth, it 

 may be added that four or five is the most usual complement, 

 as few as three or as many as six being rare ; and we are not 

 aware whether more than one instance of the occurrence of as 

 many as seven is on record. The period of gestation is given 

 by Bell at two months or more, while by Jesse it is set down 

 at one month only. Naked, and of course blind, at birth, 

 the young are able to follow their parents in about fiva 

 weeks, when they have attained nearly three-fourths their 

 full dimensions. 



The voracity of Moles almost surpasses belief, their stomachs 

 being frequently found absolutely crammed full of worms, 

 some of which show every appearance of having been swallowed 

 whole. Writing of a captive specimen, Alston states that it 

 would devour an amount of food which he estimated as exceed- 

 ing its own weight in the course of a single day. During the 

 first three days of its captivity it consumed three or four dozen 

 earth-worms, a large frog, a quantity of raw beef, the body of a 

 turkey-poult, and part of a second, as well as one or two black 

 slugs. 



From the testimony of more than one person well acquainted 

 with their habits, it has been thought that, in some cases at 

 least, Moles will accumulate a store of worms for use during 

 those portions of the winter when the ground is too hard for 

 tunnelling, except at great depths. These are said to be kept 

 in a basin-shaped cavity in clayey soil, with the bottom beaten 

 hard so as to prevent the worms from making their escape by 

 boring; while according to one statement the worms themselves 



