94 Wild Life in Wales 



My informant had cut open a great many gravid females, 

 and had found them to contain as few as two young, fre- 

 quently only three, but never more than six. The males 

 make sleeping chambers for themselves in the vicinity of, 

 but quite apart from, the hill occupied by their wives. 

 These sleeping apartments branch directly off the main run, 

 and are bedded with grass and other soft vegetable matter. 

 The nests for the young are very carefully prepared in a 

 large chamber, the roof and sides of which are pressed and 

 padded until they become quite firm and practically proof 

 against water. The materials used in the construction of 

 the bed, intended for the young, are grass, usually followed 

 by an outer lining of tree leaves, after which follows fine 

 grass, and upon that the mother adds a warm lining of fur 

 from her own body. For this purpose she will divest 

 herself of almost her entire coat, so that by the time she 

 begins to move about again she is found covered with new 

 fur, short and thick, and of a uniform length, which is very 

 soon in its best condition, commercially, as "a skin." 

 Males, on the other hand, shed their coats in an irregular 

 manner, and are often very ragged when killed, their skins, 

 in such circumstances, being practically valueless. Such of 

 the animals as are worth it are taken home and skinned, 

 when the trapper is in regular work, the pelts being pegged 

 out and dried in the sun with little further attempt at 

 curing. For such skins the present price obtained from 

 dealers is about three-and-sixpence a dozen, and ladies may 

 be interested to know that it takes from 600 to 700 skins to 

 make an ordinary jacket. 



Most of the carnivorous animals prey upon the Mole : 

 Foxes are very fond of it, and its scent has a strong attrac- 

 tion for dogs, Setters or Pointers often standing to it as 

 though they were upon game. When caught, it gives vent 

 to a shrill squeak. On the Welsh hills it is a favourite 

 prey of the Buzzard, and I have frequently found its 

 remains in the castings of Ravens and Owls. Weasels and 

 Stoats make free use of its tunnels, and, no doubt, the 

 rightful owner often falls a victim to them. In Wales the 

 Mole is known by a variety of names, Man-gem^ Man- 



