MOLES, SHREWS AND BATS 195 
which disfigure our lawns and flower-beds. It 
is commonly believed that the mole bites off 
roots and eats such things as lily-bulbs and 
sweet potatoes; but all the harm it does is now 
and then to upset a plant or disarrange a bit 
of grass-plot. It is in search of worms, grubs 
and burrowing insects, that the mole pushes 
his way beneath our feet; and he devours a vast 
number of these, which do prey upon the roots 
and stems of grasses and other plants. The 
real mischief occasionally observed is due to 
the field-mice which sometimes follow his track. 
The mole has become extraordinarily well 
fitted for his underground work. His body is 
a loosely filled sack which will stand a lot of 
bending and squeezing, and his head is like a 
round wedge with a flexible point,—really an 
exquisitely sensitive nose and a mouth filled 
with capable teeth. Within that sack are the 
most massive shoulders and forearms for their 
size in the animal kingdom, the latter terminat- 
ing in broad, strongly webbed hands, armed 
with long, sharp claws, like a shovel ending in 
five pick-blades. These great hands are twisted 
so that their palms are outward, thumbs down, 
