Sappers and Miners 



ever on the alert to destroy this our foremost sapper. 

 The mole appears to have no choice as to the kind of 

 soil in which he burrows, and he first digs a round cavity 

 a very little way below the surface, pushing the earth to 

 the surface as he works, through an oblique tunnel. 

 " When this superincumbent earth has reached an in- 

 convenient height another tunnel is made, sometimes 

 from another part of the next cavity, but more often 

 sideways, from the first upward tunnel. All this takes 

 time, and the mole meanwhile makes fresh runs from the 

 fortress, the seat of its labour, in various directions in 

 search of food. Much of the earth displaced in making 

 these fresh runs falls into the nest cavity, and has to be 

 disposed of in the same way as before. Now the tunnel 

 (or tunnels) leading upwards from the nest cavity becomes 

 longer and longer, winding round under the surface of 

 the growing fortress. 



" The tunnels in the fortress are for two distinct purposes : 

 (a) Tunnels to eject earth from the nest cavity and bolt 

 run. These are generally in the shape of a corkscrew 

 ascending from the nest, and often diverging into blind 

 terminals, (b) Tunnels not connected directly with the 

 nest cavity, but traversing the fortress from runs outside 

 it. Through these tunnels the mole has brought the 

 earth to heap over the nest, and they seldom occur except 

 in boggy land, where the nest is of necessity near the 

 surface of the ground, or even in the centre of the piled- 

 up mound. 



"The nest cavity is roughly spherical, about the size 

 of a large cottage loaf, and quite smooth from constant 

 friction and use. The nest, which completely fills the 

 nest cavity, is a ball of grass or leaves, or a mixture of 

 both. I have found a nest made entirely of dead beech 

 leaves, others entirely of dead oak leaves, and when it is 

 remembered that the material must all be brought in by 

 the mouth the amount of labour required can be appreci- 

 ated. When the nest is taken out bodily, it has to be 



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