HABITS OF MOLES 
naturally prefers the looser sort near the surface, and on this 
account, as well as because such places are richer in worms, 
it infests gardens and lawns, where its course is marked by the 
heaved-up soil beneath which it has passed, and by the hillocks 
of earth which it now and then comes to the surface to throw 
out. For the most part, however, it simply loosens the soil 
with its powerful diggers, crowds it beneath and behind it, 
and glides on, leav- 
ing no proper tunnel, 
since it does not mean 
to go back that way, 
but is merely wan- 
dering about in 
search of the earth- 
worms, grubs, and 
other flesh to which 
it is guided by its ; s 
delicate scent. In : } 
winter the moles dig Beta atge eae 
below the frost line and do not hibernate. Each family has, how- 
ever, a central home, or burrow, which is the true ‘‘ mole hill,” and 
here are a series of connecting galleries, a living chamber with an 
opening to the surface, and regular tunnels leading off toward 
the customary hunting grounds. Wood® and Bell® have 
pictured this as a complicated “fortress,” said to show very 
high engineering intelligence; but this seems exaggerated, and 
certainly is not true of the American mole, which, also, does not 
gather in colonies as do those of Europe. <n interesting fact 
is mentioned of the latter by Beddard, namely, that a German 
naturalist believes he has evidence that it stores up worms for 
consumption during the winter, biting off their heads to prevent 
their crawling away. 
Our common mole has webbed hind feet as if aquatic, as also 
have the eastern hairy-tailed mole and Townsend’s mole of the 
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