8 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



himself with lying in the high road. Such, at all events, seems 

 to be the opinion of professional mole-catchers, who tell me that 

 the Mole works and rests at regular intervals of three hours, 

 making no distinction whatever between day and night. 



Wonderful as is this subterranean habitation, it is not the 

 only one which is constructed by the animaL It may be well 

 adapted to a solitary individual, but it is not at all siiited for a 

 family, for whom a more extended nursery must be provided. 

 The nursery is much simpler than the habitation, consisting 

 merely of a large chamber, in which is laid a considerable mass of 

 dried grass, the young blades of corn being sometimes employed for 

 that purpose. The Mole chooses for this purpose the spot where 

 two or more passages intersect each other, so that in case of 

 alarm, the mother and young may escape in the direction which 

 seems farthest removed from danger. This nursery is almost 

 invariably placed at some distance from the fortress. 



About the middle of June, or commencement of July, the 

 Moles begin to fall in love, and are as furious in their attach- 

 ments as in all other phases of their nature. At that time, two 

 male Moles cannot meet without a mortal jealousy, and they 

 straightway begin to fight, scratching, tearing, and biting with 

 such insane fury, that they seem to be unconscious of everything 

 but the heat of battle. Not content with fighting in their 

 burrows, they often emerge into the open air, and may then be 

 caught without the least difficulty. A few days before writing 

 this account, I heard that a pair of Moles were thus taken in 

 the fields near Erith, and one of my friends made a similar 

 capture on Shooter's HilL 



Indeed, the whole life of the Mole is one of fury, and he eats 

 like a starving tiger, tearing and rending his prey with claws and 

 teeth, and crunching audibly the body of the wonn between the 

 sharp points. Some writers say that the Mole eats snails and 

 other molluscs, but I am disposed to doubt that assertion. I 

 have kept several Moles and never saw them eat anything but 

 worms. They even rejected the julus millipede, kicking it aside 

 with utter contempt. 



It is also asserted that the Mole skins the worm before he eats 

 it, " stripping the skin from end to end, and squeezing out the 

 contents of the body." To prove a negative is proverbially a 

 difficult task, and therefore I will not venture to say that the 



