' LITTLE GENTLEMAN IN BLACK VELVET COAT ' 



a bone. This second mole was not kept in the 

 tub, but in a glass-sided cage that had been an 

 aquarium. He was only given a few inches of 

 soil, so that it was easier to watch him and learn 

 about his ways and habits. He was much 

 bolder than the first, indeed not at all nervous, 

 soon making himself at home, and learning to 

 take worms from my fingers. He was fiercely 

 eager for food, and when engaged in eating a 

 worm would let one take him by his stumpy tail 

 and raise him in the air without letting go of 

 his prey. Indeed once he had hold of a worm 

 it took a great deal to make him let go. You 

 could, if the worm was a big strong one, take 

 it by one end and lift the mole, hanging on 

 like a bull-dog, high over the cage. His fierce 

 quick movements when dealing with a worm 

 always made me think of a terrier killing a rat. 

 This mole preferred to take his prey under- 

 ground, possibly to prevent the slimy thing 

 squirming about and messing his beautifully 

 kept fur. I often noticed him when eating 

 scratching first one side of his body and then 

 the other with his hind feet ; but, at any rate, 

 his custom was to kill his worms first, then 

 leave them, dig a hole, come back, and drag 

 them down. 



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