30 TALPID^— TALPA 



watched the heaps being thrown up during times of severe 

 frost. Sometimes a mole passes along the surface of the ground 

 beneath the snow, " making a sort of gutter of a run." ^ 



The Mole is a capable, if not a willing,^ swimmer, and it has 

 many times been observed in water, either escaping from a flood, 

 changing its hunting-ground, or even occasionally enjoying 

 the luxury of a bath.* Sometimes it ventures to face a river 

 or lake,* even when of considerable extent ; but examples which 

 have been encountered swimming in the middle of a loch such 

 as Morar ^ in Inverness-shire — traversing an expanse of water a 

 mile and a half wide — must surely have been out of their 

 depth both geographically and hydrographically, or they would 

 never have attempted such a feat. Mr Adams describes a 

 captive as swimming with the entire head and back 

 to within half an inch from the tail high out of the 

 water, and the end of the tail protruding above the surface. 

 The movements of the limbs are very rapid, they work 

 downwards and backwards after the manner of a dog, and 

 the animal attains a fair pace in proportion to its size. Like 

 other voracious feeders, it requires to drink frequently, but the 

 belief that its runs are always connected with the nearest ditch 

 or pond for that purpose, is only in part founded on fact, so 

 that it must obtain sufficient water with its food, or, perhaps, 

 by night from the dewy herbage. 



There can be no doubt that the Mole feeds almost exclusively 

 on invertebrates, and that the principal objects of its search 

 are earthworms. It will consume, however, practically anything 

 living that may come in its way, and mice, birds, lizards, frogs, 

 or snails, if placed within its reach, become speedy victims to 

 its voracity. But it is absurd to think that an animal of 



' Owen Jones, The Scout, 25th February igii, 488. 



^ A. H. Cocks found one with which he experimented only a very poor performer, 



3 Bell, ed. 2, 130-131 ; Thomas Southwell, Zoologist, 1888, 22. 



* E. Parfitt, Zoologist, i860, 7169 ; S. D. Hine, Field, 24th June, 1876, 729 ; George 

 Hales, Journ. cit., 4th September 1880, 360 ; James Ciiner,Joum. cit., i6th April 1892, 

 545 ; Riley Fortune,/<9ar«. czV., 23rd April 1892, 585 ; G. Hill and B. F. Edyvean,/o«w. 

 cit., 30th April 1892, 625 ; W. Soundy, /oa^w. cit, 14th May 1892, 704 ; Max Peacock, 

 Naturalist, 1901, 44 ; W. A. Dutt, The Norfolk Broads, 127 (see Zoologist, l6th May 

 1904, 186-187) ; G. C. Williams, i^fV/rf, 29th July 1905, 200, and many other references. 



s A. P. Morres, Zoologist, 1877, 440-441 ; G. Hill, Field, 30th April 1892, 

 625. 



