234 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



I Moles. 



size ; 2, 2, magnified. (Brandt.) Fig. 1048, a, the 

 fore-foot of sotenodon, upper surface ; b, hind-foot, 

 upper surface. 



Of the habits of the solenodon little is known : its 

 strong claws and pointed snout, the base of which is 

 supported by a stylet of bone, denote it to be a bur- 

 rowing animal. An imperfect skin, in the museum 

 of the'Zoological Society, was sent by Mr. Hearne 

 from Hayti, who thus writes respecting it: — " The 

 only quadruped, I believe, found on the island on 

 the landing of Columbus was the agouta, a little 

 larger than, and somewhat resembling a rat, with 

 an equally long tail and a longer snout, whose food 

 is chiefly grain, although the animal is carnivorous 

 also : its hair is red. I had one alive, intended for 

 the Society, but it received a wound from a cat, of 

 which it died." (' Zool. Proceeds.,' 1835, p. 105.) 



1049.— The Shrew-Mole 



(Scalops canadensis, Desm.) ; Sorex aquaticus, 

 Linn. ; Scalops aquaticus, Fischer. The animals of 

 this genus are peculiar to North America. Their 

 form is mole-like ; the eyes are minute in the ex- 

 treme, and scarcely to be discovered ; there are no 

 external ears ; the fur is velvety ; the fore-paws, 

 like those of the mole, are adapted for burrowing ; 



2 

 the tail is short : the teeth are — incisors, - ; molars, 



~ ^ , or, according to F. Cuvier, g— -. See Fig. 



1050. The snout is long, tapering, flexible, and 

 with a terminal disc. 



The Canada shrew-mole measures about seven 

 inches and a half long, exclusive of the tail, which 

 is one inch and a half. The general colour is 

 brownish- black. It inhabits the banks of the Co- 

 lumbia and the adjoining coasts of the Pacific. 



According to Dr. Richardson, the shrew-mole re- 

 sembles the common European mole as much in 

 habits as in form, forming galleries, throwing up 

 mounds, and feeding on worms and grubs. Dr. 

 Godman states that these animals are most active in 

 the morning, at midday, and in the evening, coming 

 daily to the surface, when in their natural state, at 

 noon, at which time they may be taken by driving 

 a spade beneath them and throwing them on the 

 ground ; but they are not easily taken at any other 

 part of the day. They burrow in a variety of soils, 

 but in wet seasons retire to the high grounds. An 

 individual kept in confinement by Mr. T. Peale, fed 

 largely on fresh meat, cooked or raw ; drank freely, 

 was lively and playful, and would follow the hand 

 of its feeder by scent ; it would then burrow for a 

 short distance in loose earth, and after driving a 

 circle, return for more food. It employed its flex- 

 ible snout in a singular manner whilst it was eating, 

 doubling it down, like a proboscis, upon its food, so 

 -as to direct and force it into the mouth. An allied 

 species (Scalops Townsendii) is a native of Cali- 

 fornia, and another (Scalops Pennsylvanicus, Har- 

 lan) is found in Pennsylvania. 



1051, 1052.— The Common Mole 



-■{Talpa Ewopcea). Mouldwarp and Mouldiwarp ; 

 Want in Dorsetshire and Devonshire ; Wand, Old 

 Danish; Vond, Norwegian; Maulwerf, German; 

 Mol, Dutch ; Muldvarp, modern Danish ; Mulvard 

 and Surk, Swedish; La Taupe, French; Talpa, 

 Latin and modern Italian ; Topo, Spanish ; Tou- 

 peiro, Portuguese; Gwadd and Twrch daear, an- 

 cient British. 



We need not say that the mole is a miner, living 

 an almost exclusively subterranean life, ever pursu- 

 ing its prey through the soil, and working out long 

 galleries in the chace. In accordance with its 

 destined habits is the whole of its structural deve- 

 lopment. The body is cylindrical and compact ; 

 the snout prolonged and pointed; the limbs very 

 short ; the anterior pair present a thick, contracted 

 arm, terminating in broad solid paws, with five 

 fingers scarcely divided, and armed with strong flat 

 nails. The tournure of these scrapers, for such they 

 are, gives them an obliquely outward position, and 

 facilitates their use as scooping instruments, by 

 which the soil is not only dug up, but thrown back- 

 wards at each stroke, and that with great energy. 

 The hinder limbs are small, and the feet feeble in 

 comparison with the anterior scrapers; while the 

 body tapers to them from the chest and shoulders, 

 so the hinder quarters offer no impediment to the 

 animals progress through its narrow galleries. The 

 fur, moreover, is such as best befits a subterranean 

 dweller— it is extremely close, fine, short, and 

 smooth, and resembles the nap of black velvet. 

 There is no external conch to the organs of hear- 

 ing, the sense of which is acute in the extreme ; a 

 simple auditory opening, capable of being closed 

 or dilated at pleasure, leads to the internal appa- 

 ratus, which is effectually defended from the intru- 

 sion of particles of earth or sand. At a cursory 

 glance the mole appears to be destitute of eyes ; 

 they are however not wanting, though very small, 



and buried in the fur. A limited power of vision is 

 sufficient for this dweller in the dark; the mole, 

 however, can see better than might be imagined. 

 By a peculiar muscular contrivance it is capable of 

 bringing forward, or of drawing in, the eye— and 

 this, when withdrawn, is enveloped in and defended 

 by the close fur ; so that, as is the case with the ear, 

 no particles of earth can injure it. We have said 

 that the sense of hearing is exquisite ; and to it the 

 mole trusts for warning on the approach of 

 danger : — 



" Pray you, tread softly, that tlie blind mole may not 

 Hear a foot fall." — Shakspeke. 



But the sense of smell is equally delicate ; and by 

 this it is guided in its search for food. It bores its 

 long sharp nose in the earth as it traverses its gal- 

 leries, and immediately detects worms and the larvae 

 of insects, which constitute its chief food. Nor is 

 the feeling of this part at a low ratio ; it is, on the 

 contrary, very acute and susceptible, and aids the 

 sense of smell in the procuring of food. The 

 pointed snout is, indeed, a flnger-like organ of 

 prehension, as well as a boring instrument. The 

 general skin of the body is strong and tough, and 

 not easily torn or lacerated. 



The osseous and muscular development of the 

 mole exhibits a perfect correspondence with its ex- 

 ternal characters and the perfection of its senses. 

 The great development of the skeleton (Fig. 1053) is 

 anteriorly, namely, in the bones of the shoulders, 

 arms, and chest. The skull (Fig. 1054) is depressed 

 above, elongated, and pointed; and the snout, con- 

 tinued beyond the maxillary and nasal bones, is sup- 

 ported by a little additional bone, produced by the 

 ossification of the cartilage. Its boring faculties are 

 rendered still more effective by the ossified condi- 

 tion of the ligament of the neck, which passes from 

 the back of the skull, down the cervical vertebrae, 

 and which in other animals is elastic. The teeth 

 are small, exhibiting a decidedly insectivorous cha- 

 racter, the molars being crowned with sharp-pointed 

 tubercles or eminences. (See Fig. 1055.) 



It would appear that the subterranean labours of 

 the mole are exerted in the accomplishment of very 

 different objects. Each mole may be said to have 

 its own district, or manor, its hunting-ground, and 

 its lodges ; and this ground is traversed by high- 

 road tunnels, through which it travels from, one 

 part to another, all branching off from a central 

 fortress— its ordinary residence, which is, however, 

 not only distinct, but often remote from the chamber 

 in which the nest is made and the young reared. 

 We will begin by describing the fortress or ordinary 

 domicile (Fig. 1056).— This fortress is constructed 

 under a hillock of considerable size (not one of 

 those ordinarily thrown up every night, indicating 

 its hunting excursions), and raised in some secure 

 place, where a high bank, the roots of a tree, or the 

 base of a wall, afford protection. The earth forming 

 this mound is well compacted together, and made 

 solid by the labours of the architect ; and within 

 this firm-set mound is a complex arrangement of 

 galleries and passages of communication. First, a 

 circular gallery occupies the upper portion of the 

 mound, and this communicates by means of five 

 descending passages with another gallery at the base 

 of the mound, enclosing a larger area. These pas- 

 sages are nearly at equal distances. Within the 

 area of this lower gallery is a chamber, not imme- 

 diately communicating with it, but with the upper 

 gallery, by three abruptly descending tunnels. 

 This chamber is the dormitory of the mole. From 

 the basal gallery opens a high-road tunnel, which is 

 carried out in a direct line to the extent of the manor 

 over which the individual presides, and from the bot- 

 tom of the central chamber a passage descends, and 

 then sweeping upwards joins this main road at a little 

 distance from the hillock; so that the mole can 

 enter the high-road either from its dormitory or 

 from the basal gallery. Besides the high-road, eight 

 or nine other tunnels are carried out from the basal 

 gallery; they are of greater or less extent, and 

 wind round more or less irregularly, opening into 

 the high-road at various distances from the hillock : 

 these irregular tunnels the mole is continually ex- 

 tending in quest of prey ; throwing up the soil 

 above the turf, through holes which it makes lor 

 the purpose, and which form the ordinary mole- 

 hills which we often see crowded thickly together. 

 The high or main road exceeds in diameter the 

 body of the mole, and is solid and well-trodden, 

 with smooth sides ; its depth varies, according to 

 the quality of the soil, instinct directing the little 

 excavator in his work. Ordinarily it is five or six 

 inches below the surface, but when carried under a 

 streamlet or pathway it is often a foot and a half 

 beneath. It sometimes happens that the mole will 

 drive two or more additional high-roads in order to 

 the extention of its operations ; and one high-road 

 occasionally serves several moles, which, however, 

 never trespass on each other's preserves. They 

 often meet in these roads, which will not admit of 

 two passing at the same time ; one therefore must 



retreat, but when two males thus come into collision 

 they frequently attack each other, the weaker fall- 

 ing a victim in the combat. The alleys opening 

 from the sides of the high-road are generally in- 

 clined downwards with a gradual slope, and then 

 at the termination of these the mole excavates 

 branch alleys, upheaving mole-hills, as it works on- 

 wards in pursuit of prey. This, however, is not 

 invariably the case, but rather where prey is abun- 

 dant in rich soils: where the soil is barren, the mole 

 is constantly driving fresh alleys; these in winter 

 are carried deep down to where the worms have 

 pierced their way beyond the line to which the 

 frost penetrates ; for, be it observed, the mole does 

 not. hybernate, but is as active during winter as in 

 spring or summer, though the results of his opera- 

 tions are less manifest. In soft rich soils, where 

 the worms are among the roots of the turf, the mole, 

 as may be often noticed, drives very superficial runs 

 in the pursuit of them ; these runs are to be seen 

 where a thin layer of richly manured soil overlays 

 a stratum of gravel: in fact, the depth of these 

 alleys is always determined by the quality of the 

 soil and consequent situation of the worms. With 

 respect to the nest of the female, it is generally con- 

 structed at a distance from the fortress, where, at 

 some convenient part, three or four passages inter- 

 sect each other : this point of convergence is en- 

 larged and rendered commodious, and fitted to re- 

 ceive a bed made of dry herbage, fibrous roots, &c. 

 The chamber is generally beneath a large hillock, 

 but not always; and the surrounding soil is usually 

 such as to afford abundant food to the female with 

 little trouble on her part. The mole breeds in the 

 spring, mostly in April, and brings forth four or five 

 young at a birth. These are supposed to remain 

 under the mother's care till about half-grown, when 

 they commence an independent existence. 



Such is the constitution of the molethatashort fast 

 proves fatal. It would appear that all its animal 

 appetites are in excess ; its hunger is voracity 

 amounting to rage, under the influence of which it 

 fastens on its prey with intense eagerness. Earth- 

 worms are its favourite food, and these it skins with 

 great address, squeezing out the earthy contents of 

 the body before swallowing it. It is not, however, 

 exclusively upon earthworms and the Jarvge of in- 

 sects that the mole feeds ; during the months of 

 June and July it is in the habit of leaving its runs 

 under the turf, and of wandering during the night 

 (and occasionally even during the day) on the 

 surface, in quest of prey, such as birds, mice, 

 frogs, lizards, snails, &c. ; but it refuses to touch 

 the toad, in consequence no doubt of the acrid 

 exudation from that reptile's skin. During these 

 nocturnal excursions it often falls a prey to the 

 owl ; and we have seen it in the day-time caught 

 and killed by dogs. 



The voracity of the mole and its perpetually re- 

 curring repasts upon animal food render water not 

 only a welcome refreshment, but necessary to its 

 existence. A run, sometimes used by many indi- 

 viduals, always leads to a ditch, stream, or pond, if 

 such be within a moderate distance. If these natu- 

 ral supplies be not at hand, the mole sinks little 

 wells, in the shape of perpendicular shafts, which 

 become filled with the rain, and retain the water; 

 and they have sometimes been found brimfull. 

 Scarcity of water, or a drought, as well as a scarcity 

 of worms, often obliges the mole to shift its quarters, 

 and locate upon other grounds. In its migration it 

 will cross brooks or rivers, swimming admirably; 

 and when spring or autumn floods inundate the 

 fields, it easily saves itself by these means. It is 

 moreover affirmed that in this peril the male and 

 female brave the waters together, and expose them- 

 selves to the utmost danger in order to save their 

 young, in which office of parental devotion they 

 mutually assist and protect each other. 



The disposition of this animal is fierce and com- 

 bative. If several moles be kept in a box of earth, 

 and not supplied with an abundance of food, they 

 attack each other, and the weaker falls a prey to the 

 stronger ; when the mole seizes, it holds like a 

 bull-dog, with a tenacious gripe, and is not 

 easily disengaged. M. Geoffroy St. Hilaire de- 

 scribes the manner in which the mole approaches 

 and seizes a bird : it exerts several stratagems to 

 get within reach of its victim, employing the ut- 

 most address and caution; but when this is ac- 

 complished, it suddenly changes its plan, and 

 makes an instantaneous and impetuous attack, 

 fastens on the hapless bird, tears open the abdomen, 

 thrusts its snout among the viscera, and revels in 

 its sanguinary repast. After satiating its ravenous 

 appetite, it sinks into a profound repose: in the 

 winter it slumbers in its fortress; but in the 

 summer, beneath some ordinary mole-hill in one of 

 its alleys. This sleep endures lor about four hours, 

 or perhaps longer, in the middle of the day, when it 

 awakes with a renovated appetite. Its busiest time 

 is in the evening, during the night, and early in the 

 morning. It might be supposed from the figure of 



