CHAPTER XIII 



Mole-trapping Farmers' friends Nature's drainers Habits of the Mole 

 Price of skins Names Varieties Superstitions. 



FAR up amongst the hills I came upon a farmer setting 

 mole traps, a practice followed by nearly all his neighbours 

 in these parts. He told me he had already killed about sixty 

 Moles this year, another man said he killed from eighty to a 

 hundred each season. True, these are mostly killed in the 

 " fields," where their hillocks may interfere a little with hay- 

 cutting, or other agricultural operations, but to a con- 

 siderable extent they are also trapped on the hill beyond the 

 enclosures, a practice so inconsistent with common-sense 

 that it is surprising it should be persisted in. That he 

 follows old customs is the best reason that the farmer can 

 give for his proceeding, and whether the Mole ought to be 

 regarded as a friend or otherwise is a question he hardly 

 thinks it worth while to consider. On land under the 

 plough a Mole is, no doubt, undesirable, his tunnels 

 frequently uprooting corn, and still more often turnips or 

 potatoes ; for, attracted by the worms which follow the 

 dung used, he will often push his way straight down a line 

 of roots, sometimes letting in the drought and so inj uring 

 the young crop. In Merionethshire, however, lack of 

 moisture is not often a cause of complaint ; and when, as is 

 so frequently the case, the land is over-wet, the runs of a 

 Mole furnish a very efficient system of drainage. On the 

 unenclosed hill, which is generally wet, the good done by a 

 mole in this way is difficult to estimate ; and for other 

 reasons besides his labours as a drainer, he ought to be 

 regarded by the farmer as a good friend, rather than as a 



pariah. 



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