270 



THE NATURE BOOK 



mediate neighbourhood of one or more 

 winter fortresses, and may sometimes 

 be distinguished by its relatively small 

 size and freshly worked appearance. The 

 distinction, however, is not invariable. 

 I have taken young Moles from a fortress 

 whose well-turfed surface presented quite 

 a venerable appearance. In such the 

 most frequent nest to be encountered is 

 that of the Humble Bee. I have never 



THE MOLE. 



The normal radiation of the fur round the minute, dull-coloured eye can be seen 



in the photograph. 



found, either in the case of the winter 

 fortress or in that of the breeding fortress. 

 the slightest attempt at concealment of 

 the site, and, with the reservation that 

 my experience has been confined to 

 fortresses situated in soft, swampy ground, 

 I have no hesitation in saying that it is 

 the rule to find Mole fortresses stark in 

 the middle of the meadow, and the 

 exception to find them cloaked in the 

 hedgerow. 



It has been asserted that the female 

 alone is responsible for the breeding 

 fortress, and also for the short, winding 

 runs, while the male makes the winter 

 fortress and the long, straight runs. I 

 think, however, that some better evidence 

 than trapping is required to justify these 

 theories, and, until such evidence is forth- 



coming, the question of their truth should 

 be left open. I have not been able 

 to satisfy myself that either the breeding 

 fortress or the breeding nest present any 

 marked peculiarities of structure. Moles' 

 nests are composed of the most easily 

 gathered material. Should the ground 

 above be carpeted with leaves, the nest 

 will consist largely of leaves ; should there 

 be little but grass, the nest will be grass. 



A grass nest 

 looks as if the 

 a n i m a 1 ha d 

 simply rolled 

 the material 

 round himself ; 

 and a fair imi- 

 tation of one 

 can be made by 

 holding the two 

 ends of a bundle 

 of coarse grass 

 and circhng the 

 hands round 

 each other. 



Some inter- 

 esting informa- 

 tion as to the 

 method of the 

 Mole in collect- 

 ing leaves was 

 recently p u b- 

 lished in the 

 "Country Side." 

 The author, 

 who has adopt- 

 ed the noni-de- 

 giierrc of " Gamekeeper," writes : — " It 

 came along one of its shallow runs, 

 through the toj) of which it would 

 thrust its nose at a likely spot and 

 feel around till it came in contact 

 with a dry leaf — this it would at once 

 detect and seize with its teeth, carting it 

 off, I presume, to the nest-site. Each 

 interval between the seizing of the leaf 

 and the energetic little beast's reappear- 

 ance was about ten seconds .... it 

 never came out further than to show its 

 head and neck." 



I lia\'c most often found litters of young 

 Moles in May. The young are usually 

 four in numl)er, and the most remark- 

 able feature about them is the extremely 

 large size to which they attain before 

 there is a vestige of fur on their bodies. 



