119 

 FEEDING HABITS. 



The mole, like the shrew, has often been charged with eat- 

 ing vegetation of various kinds. Investigations have shown 

 that the common mole does swallow a very little of such material 

 but it is a question if this vegetable matter is not usually intro- 

 duced into the stomach accidentally with animal food, or by 

 swallowing the stomachs of herbivorous insects. Probably very- 

 few stomach examinations of Brewer's mole have been made. 

 In several instances, however, the stomach contents of the com- 

 mon mole have been determined and the results published. The 

 common mole and Brewer's mole are very similar in habits and 

 since data as to stomach examinations of Brewer's mole are 

 wanting it may not be out of place to give here some accounts 

 of what has been found in the stomachs of the nearly related 

 species. 



In 1894, Prof. H. Garman, of the Kentucky Experiment 

 Station, examined the stomach contents of fourteen common 

 moles, caught in the vicinity of Lexington, Ky. He found that 

 1 ' every one of the fourteen moles had eaten animal food. Eleven 

 of the fourteen had eaten earthworms and insects. Three had 

 eaten insects alone. "In the stomach of seven, traces of vege- 

 table tissue were found." (7th Annual E/ept. Ky. Exp. Sta. 

 pp. 41-45, 1894.) 



Two years later (1896) Mr. Harry Wilson collected thirty- 

 six stomachs of the same species in Pennsylvania. In deter- 

 mining the contents of these stomachs, the collector was assisted 

 by competent experts. 



Of these thirty-six stomachs, one was empty, 27 contained 

 earthworms in connection with other material, 7 contained earth- 

 worms alone, 27 contained insects, 9 contained insects alone, 10 

 contained traces of vegetable matter and none contained vege- 

 table matter alone. One mole had eaten six small fragments of 

 green leaf, and another had eaten pieces of a grain of corn. 

 (Bull. 31, Pa. State Dept. of Agr., 1898.) 



Prof. L. D. Dyche, of the University of Kansas, examined 

 the stomachs of sixty-seven specimens. Food was present in 



