33S 



INSECTIVORES. 



Distribution. 



less than a quarter of an inch in length, and is completely concealed among the 

 fur of the body. 



The European mole is remarkable for its wide geographical dis- 

 tribution, ranging from England in the west, through Asia north of 

 the Himalaya to Japan, and extending northwards as far as the Altai Mountains. 

 Like its cousin, the common shrew, it is, however, unknown in Ireland. The " runs " 

 of the European mole are very similar to those of the American moles already 

 referred to, but the central chamber, or dwelling-place, is of a more complex 

 structure. As this dwelling-place will be found described in detail in almost all 

 works treating of the mole, it will suffice to mention here that it is usually placed near 

 a hillock, or between two trees, and is composed of a central chamber with passages 



THE COMMON MOLE ( nat. size). 



conducting to two circular galleries placed one above another. The higher of these 

 two galleries has 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 procuring 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 exclusively of 

 earth-worms, insects, and their larvae, its visits ought to be welcomed alike by the 

 farmer and the gardener. As a matter of fact, however, the mole has an awkward 

 habit of driving its tunnels below the drilled rows of young farm and garden crops, 



