1 82 ANIMAL ARTISANS 



sensitive to light. In replacing the sod which covers 

 the mole-trap the greatest care has to be taken to fill 

 in any possible chinks where light might penetrate 

 into the earth. 



Either moles are very thirsty creatures, or else 

 they find a specially good store of worms by the 

 margin of water, for their tunnels generally have an 

 adit to the water-level of a wet ditch or of a pond. 

 In the very dry summer of 1899 they could be seen 

 hunting round the edges of the water, the earth 

 moving just above their backs. A half-grown mole 

 captured while thus engaged was let loose in a room. 

 He tried desperately to dig a hole in the carpet, 

 but could not. He then scrambled to the side of 

 the room, turned round, and dug under the edge of 

 the carpet. Under this he disappeared, and his 

 course could be traced as he burrowed, much to his 

 satisfaction, between the floor and the thick Turkey 

 fabric above him, which needed to be taken up before 

 he could be caught. This determination and energy 

 are characteristic of moles. They are dauntless little 

 creatures, and almost the hardest workers in the 

 world. They are said to take five or six hours' 

 sleep in the middle of the day, but the rest of the 

 twenty-four hours they seem to spend in burrowing, 

 eating, and drinking. The desperate struggles of a 

 mole to escape must be felt to be appreciated. If 

 held in the hand behind its fore-legs, it will assuredly 

 struggle out unless it is grasped so hard as to injure 

 its ribs. Once on the ground, it instantly uses its 

 nose as a kind of divining-rod to find a workable 





