OEDEE OF INSECTIVOEA. 507 



IS impelled by a greater desire to destroy and feast upon 

 living prey. " The Mole," says Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 

 " does not experience a sense of hunger like other animals ; with 

 it this want is of the most powerful description : it is an ex- 

 haustion which is felt as a kind of frenzy." It first attacks the 

 belly of its victim, plunges the whole of its head into the pal- 

 pitating entrails, and gloats with rapture over its carnage. 

 Take two Moles of the same sex, place them before each other 

 in a room, and in a very short time the strongest will have 

 devoured the weakest. 



Moles rarely come to the surface of the ground, except when 

 changing their residence, or when the two sexes are seeking each 

 other. 



During the rainy period they take refuge in elevated places, 

 but descend to the valleys when the dry weather arrives. Not- 

 withstanding these precautions, they are at times sufi'erers from 

 inundation. When the rivers overflow their banks, numbers may 

 be seen flying from the flood, and trying to reach ground that 

 the waters will not cover. 



Although Moles destroy an enormous quantity of larvae and 

 perfect insects, they are none the less looked upon as very preju- 

 dicial to agriculture, because of the mischief they commit in 

 digging their galleries among cultivated plants. Although they 

 do not feed on the roots of vegetables, as has often been sup- 

 posed, they cut them in making their passages. In addition to 

 this, when they are preparing their nest, they seize the plants 

 by the root and gradually drag them underground, with the 

 intention of converting them into a bed for t leir progeny. 

 There have been found in the nest of one Mole qo fewer than 

 402 leaved stalks of barley, which had been withdrawn from the 

 surface of the ground in this way. Finally, the Mole-hills that 

 stud the fields prove troublesome to the mower, and prevent him 

 cutting the plants as close as desirable. 



Such are the complaints that agriculturists bring against this 

 excavator. Certainly they are not altogether unfounded ; but 

 then we respond by pointing out, on the other hand, the services 

 the Mole renders as an insectivorous animal ; and again, in show- 

 ing that these galleries, which are declared to be injurious, con- 

 stitute so many natural drainage canals, incontestably useful. 



