38 UNDER THE OPEN SKY 



The most remarkable deviation from or- 

 dinary animals is in the arms. These are 

 very short, and the hands are broad, hard, 

 and horny, and have very firm claws. 

 When I catch a good, vigorous mole, I find 

 I scarcely have force enough in my thumb 

 and forefinger to hold his front feet together. 

 He can often separate them in spite of all 

 my straining. His other muscles are com- 

 paratively weak. The hands have been 

 altered into great shovels, and when he tries 

 to walk over smooth, level ground or on a 

 floor he moves with odd, quick steps, rest- 

 ing on the sides and not on the palms of his 

 hands. He reminds one of a wound-up 

 toy that is held in the air and allowed to run 

 down. But when he gets under the sod, 

 the heaving line that forms over him as he 

 digs shows that there he is in his proper 

 element. Most animals would get dirty 

 leading such a life, but you never see a 

 cleaner animal than the mole. He comes 

 out of the loose earth and squirms about a 

 little, and he is clean. His smooth gray 

 fur, shading to a silvery hue when it is 



