June, 1912 
wide. At a distance 
of half an inch from 
each end of the cylin- 
der a groove is made 
inside of the tube for 
the purpose of hold- 
ing the wire nooses. 
These nooses are ad- 
mitted through holes 
in the top of the cen- 
ter of the trap and 
joined outside of the 
trap to a piece of 
strong cord, which in 
turn is fastened to a 
strong spring at one 
end, and at the other 
end through another 
hole to a trigger in- 
side the tube. This 
trigger is a triangu- 
lar piece of wood, 
the thin end of which 
is pushed up into the same hole that the cord comes down 
and the thick end of the triangle partly fills the diameter 
of the hole. The run of the mole is then opened for a sufh- 
cient length to let in the trap; the spring is lightly set, and 
the tube placed so that the hollow of the trap corresponds 
to the mole’s run, and all is in readiness. When he gets 
hungry he starts down his run, and entering the trap, 
finds an obstruction which he proceeds to remove. That 
releases the trigger, which in turn frees the spring. The 
spring then tightens the wire loop which catches him round 
the body. An illustration of the captured mole shows that 
in this instance the noose girdled him round the neck—the 
trigger had responded very quickly. The wire noose at the 
other end of the trap has gone off without a victim, but had 
the mole entered at that end, the catch would have been 
reversed. Both nooses are set so that the trapper may 
get him coming or going. Like most other things, it is easy 
enough to do it when you know how, but in cases where 
moles are plentiful, my advice is to call in a professional and 
let him clear the way. One can then attend to the few 
stragglers who may venture to bother the grounds after 
that. It is in the placing of the traps that the secret of 
success depends. A spot must be chosen through which the 
mole will pass to get to his nest, or I should say their nest, 
for moles usually travel in pairs. 
Moles build remarkable nests or homes. These are 
formed of two circular galleries, one a large excavation, 
with a smaller one above it. [hey are connected by pas- 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
Taking the set-trap out of the ground after a catch 
PENS | 
sages and in the cen- 
ter of these galleries 
is a chamber which 
seems to form the 
main entrance, for 
all the moles’ work- 
ing runways connect 
with it. The gal- 
leries are what might 
be termed the living- 
rooms, for it is here 
that tae young are 
bred. 
A mole will not 
eat anything it does 
not catch alive and 
for that reason it 
cannot easily be pois- 
oned. But notwith- 
standing this, they 
are cannibals, for 
often the body of a 
mole taken from a 
trap will be partly eaten; strange to say, however, the vic- 
tim is always a male. I have heard the late Mr. Wegner 
(who was official mole trapper for the New York city 
parks) say, that of all the thousands of moles he had taken, 
he had never found the body of a trapped female that had 
been carnivorously mangled. 
During the early Spring, Summer and Autumn, moles 
bore their neatly cut holes about four to five inches beneath 
the surface, and about an inch and a half in circumference, 
but during the Winter when the ground is frozen, they make 
their runs below the frost line. 
Although the mole has no eye visible, there is evidently 
an indentation where the organ of sight should be located. 
Hence the conclusion is that the animals’ existence under 
the clod has rendered an optic nerve unnecessary; a con- 
dition somewhat different (although the same in the matter 
of sightlessness) from that of the fully formed eyes of the 
fish of the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, that are by disuse 
now entirely rudimentary and worthless. 
If through accident or any other cause moles are unable 
to find a runway they are known to take to the water, and 
this readily. They swim well, often crossing streams of 
considerable size. An old observer, writing in 1793, says 
that he saw one paddling towards a small island in the Loch 
of Clunie, one hundred and eighty yards from land, on 
which he noticed molehills. 
Besides being a habitat of North America, the geograph- 
ical range of this burrower, is from England to Japan. 
ype aires vemos sa tET IS 
Set-trap showing manner in which mole is caught 
Showing an ugly run-way made in a lawn by moles 
