MOLES, SHREWS AND BATS — 197 
Dr. Merriam worked out the dynamics of this 
last: feat, and found it equivalent to a.man’s 
exerting a ‘pressure of 12,000 pounds! 
Methods of the garden mole. In loose old 
cultivated ground, where earthworms and grubs 
are numerous, moles travel in every direc- 
tion just beneath the surface, and often never 
return on their tracks; but many of their sub- 
terranean paths are regular galleries or run- 
ways, intersecting with others and centering in 
a home nest which seems to be occupied year 
after year, and often by several pairs or fam- 
ilies. This nest and the runways are kept in 
excellent repair. ‘‘When the shrew-mole -en- 
counters a rock or an old log, or stump, in the 
course of his subterranean wanderings,’’ re- 
marks Merriam, ‘‘instead of avoiding it he 
takes great pains to burrow beneath, making 
extensive excavations in contact. with its under 
surface. The reason is obvious, for he knows 
that in such places are to be found 
many slugs, ants with their eggs, and. other 
tender insects.’’ 
As winter comes on the mole sinks below the 
frost-line, as do the earthworms, and so pur- 
