22 Notes on the Mule. 



lcte. I placed a 'worm upon the track of the mole, and though 

 his nose came within the tenth of an inch of the worm, he did 

 not seem to be aware of the presence of his prey. I tried this 

 experiment eight or nine times in succession, and always with 

 the same result ; but if the nose or either foot happened to 

 come in contact with the annelid, the mole flew round in a 

 moment, flung himself upon the prey, shook the worm back- 

 wards and forwards with his paws, passed his snout rapidly over 

 it, bit it here and there, and scratched it about until he got one 

 end of it into his mouth; either end answered his purpose 

 equally well. 



He then began to eat it in a most voracious manner, arch- 

 iug his back, sinking his head between his shoulders, keeping- 

 his fore-feet close on either side of his mouth, and using them 

 with great dexterity, just as a Chinese uses his chopsticks, 

 cramming the writhing annelid into his jaws as fast as it was 

 eaten. The crunching sound of his teeth making their way 

 through the tough skin of the worm was audible at a distance 

 of two yards, and a sort of fury seemed to actuate the animal ; 

 it ate as if savage with hunger, and as fast as I could supply it 

 with worms, so fast did it devour them. 



One worm was of huge dimensions, and the mole could 

 make nothing of it for a long time. He trampled over it many 

 times, passing the worm underneath his body from his fore to 

 his hind feet in a very peculiar manner, scuffling it, as it were, 

 backwards and forwards. He bit it in twenty places, left it, 

 came back again, got each end successively into his mouth, and 

 rejected them both, and altogether behaved in a manner that 

 could not have been pleasant to the worm. All this time the 

 mole was full of excitement and fiery activity. 



At last, he sei/.cd the worm about an inch from the head, 

 held it fast with his jaws, and with his feet pulled it asunder. 

 He then dropped the severed piece, searched for its head, found 

 it, and crunched it up. He then scrabbled about until he came 

 upon the rest of the worm, and pouncing upon it, like a cat on 

 a mouse, lie pulled off another piece, ate it, and so proceeded 

 until lie had finished (lie worm in detachments. Whenever he 

 swallowed tin Inst morsel of the worm, he used to potter about 

 the same Bpol for some little time, trying it over and over with 

 and ever and anon burning to it. I fancy that this 

 precaution is taken lor the purpose of securing any fragments 

 of the worm which may have been bitten oil', worms being 

 sometimt \ i ry brittle. 



The creature had now dispose* I of six worms, some of mode- 

 rate size, and one three tunes as long as the molo itself. He 

 seemed as hungry as < vcr, so i set to work and dug up a fresh 

 ■apply. I could still hear the animal seraping about the box, 



