66 THE MOLE, 
to bite, after the manner of puppies and kittens. It is very susceptible to 
kindness, and is fond of the caresses which are offered by its friends. In its 
wild state, however, it is a rather fierce animal, and, when assaulted, offers 
such a spirited resistance, evento human foes, that it will beat off any but a 
determined man, supposing him to be unarmed and unassisted, ~ 
INSECTIVORA. 
THE animals which are comprised in the Insect-eating eating group are 
well represented in England, in which country we find the Mole, the various 
Shrews, and the Hedgehog, as examples of the TALPIDA, or the family of 
the MOLEs. 
Some of these creatures, such as the shrew, present so close an external 
resemblance to the common mice, that they are popularly supposed to belong 
to the same class, and are called by the same general name. Many species 
live beneath the surface of the earth, and seek in that dark hunting-ground 
the prey which cannot be enticed to the surface in sufficient numbers to supply 
adequate nourishment for the ever-hungry worm-devourers. ; 
Of aJl the insect-eating animals, there is none which is better known by 
name than the common MOLE, and very few which are less known by their 
true character. 
On inspecting a living Mole that 
has been captured on the surface of 
earth, and comparing it with the 
multitudinous creatures that find 
their subsistence on the earth’s sur- 
face, rejoicing in the full light of day, 
and free to wander as they please, 
we cannot but feel some emotions of 
surprise at the sight of a creature 
which is naturally debarred from all 
these sources of gratification, and 
which passes its life in darkness below the surface of the ground. 
Yet this pity, natural though it be, will be entirely thrown away, for there is 
scarcely any creature that lives which is better fitted for enjoyment, or which 
is urged by more fiery passions. Dull and harmless as it may appear to be, 
it is in reality one of the most ferocious animals in existence, and will engage 
in the fiercest combats upon very slight provocation. While thus employed, 
its whole faculties are so entirely absorbed in its thirst for revenge, that it will 
leave the subterraneous shafts which it has been so busily excavating, and 
join battle with its foe in the full light of day. Should one of the combatants 
overpower and kill the other, the victorious Mole springs upon the vanquished 
enemy, tears its body open, and eagerly plunging its nose into the wound, 
drinks the blood of its slaughtered enemy, and feasts richly on the sanguine 
banquet. 
With the exception of sight, the senses of the Mole seem to be remarkably’ 
developed. 
qr lie sence of smell is singularly acute, and enables the animal to discover 
the presence of the earthworms on which it feeds, and to chase them success- 
fully through their subterranean meanderings. 
The hearing of the Mole is proverbially excellent ; and it is probable that 
the animal is aided in its pursuit of worms by the sense of hearing as well as 
that of smell. Much of the Mole’s safety is probably owing to its exquisite 
hearing, which gives it timely notice of the approach of any living being, and 
MOLE. —( Talpa Europea.) 
