121 



eral potatoes were kept in the box during most of the period 

 but the mole did not once sample them. In the space of twenty- 

 four hours, beginning at noon, June 12th, this mole ate 50 

 large, white grubs, (Allorhina and Lachnosterna) one "chest- 

 nut worm" (B. proboscideus} , one wire worm, one cicada 

 nymph, 45 larvse of ''rose bugs," (M. subspinosus} and 13 earth- 

 worms. The insects eaten weighed 42 grams and the earthworms 

 24 grams, making a total of 66 grams. The mole itself weighed 

 50 grams, or about four-fifths as much as the food taken. It 

 should be mentioned here that it was the custom of this mole 

 in eating earthworms to take one end of the worm in its mouth 

 and then draw the body between its claws in such a way as to 

 force out all the earthy matter from the digestive organs. The 

 weight, therefore, given for the earthworms, is likely a little 

 too great, as this discarded portion would have weighed a few 

 grams. However, after Deducting it from the quantity given, 

 that remaining would still weigh more than the mole itself. 



The mole had been well supplied with food up to the time 

 the test began, and I believe that the figures given represent a 

 fair daily average of the food consumed by the mole. If cor- 

 rect, a single mole would eat in the course of a year something 

 like 40,000 insects and worms, which would weigh over 50 

 pounds. 



At noon, on June 14th, I caught a mole and confined it in 

 a box similar to the one in which the mole just described was 

 kept. The mole was caught by hand and was not injured in 

 any way. Water, but no food except potatoes, was given it. 

 Early on the following morning it died of starvation. One of 

 the potatoes was found to be slightly scratched as by the mole's 

 teeth or claws, but, if any had been eaten, the amount was very 

 small. No trace of potato was found in the stomach. Later, 

 another mole in captivity died in a similar manner when given 

 nothing but potatoes. 



The results of these experiments agree with what economic 

 zoologists long ago found out, that the accusations made against 

 moles of eating potatoes and other vegetables in the field, are 



