664 The Common Mole. [Oct., 



left it, and turned about to find another. He was given 

 another large lobworm, which he treated in exactly the same 

 way, thrusting it into the same hole, which he immediately 

 covered up by scraping the earth over it with his paws. On 

 two other occasions the writer has seen a captive bury worms 

 and also a dead mouse in this manner. The moles would eat 

 dead mice, but preferred worms and slugs. 



Moles have been accused by gamekeepers of eating the eggs 

 of pheasants and partridges, but it is doubtful whether this 

 accusation is altogether justified. Tt is possible that if an egg 

 were to fall into the mole's tunnel as he was operating beneath 

 the nest. He described the mass as " three spadefuls." This, 

 but the writer has evidence of eggs being ignored by the mole. 



There is an old story of moles storing worms, which appears 

 to have some foundation. A farmer on whose land the writer 

 was trapping moles told him that on digging out a fortress he 

 came across a mass of worms in the nest cavity close beside 

 the nest. He described the mass as " three spadefuls." This 

 taken in conjunction with the writer's own observations of their 

 burying habit, removed his 'previous scepticism on this point. 



The mole does not hibernate, but wakes up in his warm nest 

 in the fortress about every four hours, when he goes in search 

 of food. His tracks have often been found in the snow. 



Is the Mole blind? — Observations seem to point conclusively 

 to the fact that the mole is practically blind. 



When a worm is placed near a mole the latter immediately, 

 shows signs of excitement, being aware of its proximity by 

 smell or hearing, but it is only after poking about with his 

 snout that, haphazardly, he comes upon it. He never goes 

 straight for a worm, and when a half-eaten worm is dropped 

 iind has crawled away a little, the same hunt for it is repeated. 



The test of waving a lighted candle before captive moles has 

 been tried, and it was found that the animals took no notice of 

 the light. Moles met with casually in a country lane also 

 have never endeavoured to get out of the way so long as they 

 were not actually touched. 



It is remarkable how soon captives become tame, or rather, 

 indifferent to being handled. When first caught they squeak 

 rnd bite viciously, but half an hour afterwards they have 

 allowed themselves to be taken up by the skin of the back 

 without any resistance. The writer has- frequently stroked 

 and: tickled his captives while they were engaged in eating, 

 .and has held them up by the tail while they lapped water. He 



