28 THE BRITISH NATURE BOOK 



are splayed outwards from the body in what appears to be a most ungainly 

 position, but is peculiarly convenient for the mole's underground work. 



The fur is also a remarkable feature, the hair being set vertically in the 

 skin, so that there is no right or wrong way of stroking it. This enables the 

 animal to pass backwards or forwards through its passages without getting 

 its coat caked with mud. The colour is not a real black, but a very dark 

 brown ; occasionally I have seen specimens with a light patch on the chest. 

 The nose is long and extremely sensitive, a very slight blow upon it being fatal. 

 The young are born in June, and number generally four or five. They are 

 born devoid of fur and quite helpless, but rapidly attain maturity, being 

 three parts grown in a few weeks. 



Most of the tunnels which a mole excavates are made in the search for worms 

 and grubs ; but in addition, the creature excavates a regular fortress, very often 

 at the root of a tree, complete with bolt holes, and chamber lined with dead 

 leaves and grass. The female constructs her own fortress for her young, and 

 permits no male to approach it. In making the heaps of earth which so often 



*' **&&., -m 



mark the windings of the tunnels, the mole pushes the earth forward with 

 forehead and nose ; and it is remarkable to notice the rapidity with which it 

 works. If a mole is observed during the day and I have on several occasions 

 seen them above ground in daylight it immediately attempts to burrow. 

 If the ground is too hard, it can only move over the surface very slowly and 

 clumsily ; but should the ground be favourable, the mole will sink out of 

 sight with astonishing speed, and without, apparently, much disturbance of 

 the soil. Generally, however, the animal only comes to the surface during the 

 night. 



During the winter moles are just as active as in the summer, except that 

 they have to sink their shafts and borings rather deeper, as the worms retire 

 from the frozen surface of the ground. They are very voracious, and will eat 

 their weight of worms in a very short time ; on the other hand, they quickly 

 die of starvation. One such mole which I had in my possession, and which lived 

 in a tub of earth, would actually sit up to eat worms, holding them very awk- 

 wardly in its " hands " whilst it chewed its victims with a very audible crunch- 

 ing sound. In addition to worms, its chief article of diet, the mole does not 



