THE MOLE FAMILY 



57 



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■>o .frrTi M>Td 



1. COMMON MOLE. 



STAR-NOSED MOLE. 



rat-like feet; there 'is a very small eye, an ex- 

 ternal ear, and a distinct neck. The body is 

 rather slender, and as a whole, the animal looks 

 much like a short-tailed mouse. 



THE MOLE FAMILY. 



Talpidae. 



This Family contains twelve full species, all 

 quite interesting. Their skins and skulls have 

 been studied closely, but our information re- 

 garding their habits is very meagre. As a rule, 

 moles are larger than shrews. The largest of 

 all is an Oregon species, which measures 7 inches 

 in length of head and body, and tail 1J inches, — 

 an unusual size for a mole. 



On all moles the fur is fine, thick, very soft 

 and velvety, and faultlessly smooth and clean. 

 All these creatures love sandy soil, which they 

 can easily burrow. 



The Common Mole 1 is known to the ma- 

 jority of country dwellers by its upheaved 

 tunnels on the surface of the ground. In ap- 

 pearance the animal is a flattened, oblong ball 

 of fine, soft, shimmering gray fur, 6-J- inches long, 



1 Sca'lops a-quat'i-cus. 



to which the naked, little pink-white tail — which 

 looks like a small angle-worm — adds If inches. 

 Its nose projects half an inch beyond its mouth, 

 and on the end it feels as hard as if it contained 

 a bone. It terminates in a broad, flattened 

 point, shaped quite like a rock-drill. 



The fore foot is three-quarters of an inch wide, 

 but less than an inch in length, including the 

 claws, which measure half an inch. In your 

 hand, a Mole is a wriggling, restless creature. 

 Place it upon ground that is not packed hard, and 

 in about one second it has found a suitable spot 

 for an opening. Its nose sinks into the earth as 

 if it were a brad-awl, with a combined pushing and 

 boring motion, and in three seconds your Mole's 

 head is no longer in sight. 



Up comes the powerful right foot, sliding close 

 along the side of his head, edgewise and palm 

 outward, to the end of the nose. The living 

 chisel cuts the earth vertically, and then, with 

 a quick motion it pries the earth sidewise from 

 its nose. Instantly the left foot does the same 

 thing on the other side, while the brad-awl nose 

 goes right on boring. In ten seconds, by the 

 watch, the Mole's body has entirely disappeared, 

 and in three minutes our Mole will tunnel a foot, 

 unless interrupted. 



When skinned for dissection, it is found that 

 the eye is merely a small, dark speck under the 

 skin, suitable only to distinguish light from dark- 

 ness. The eye-ball is about the size of a pin- 

 head. The arm and forearm is a big, hard bun- 

 dle of tough muscles and powerful tendons, 

 shaped like an Indian club, of enormous size in 

 proportion to the creature's body. 



DIGGING MUSCLES OF A MOLE. 



The Mole is a wonderful example of energy 

 and power. Desiring to observe their methods 

 of working when undisturbed, I once placed one 

 in a five-acre clover-field, at 11 o'clock a.m. 

 During the first seven hours it had tunneled 

 twenty-three feet, in a zig-zag line. During the 

 next seventeen hours it dug thirty-five feet, and 



