36 



NORTH AMERICANi FAUNA 66 



Mating occurs in March or April, and four to five young are 

 produced in late April or May after a gestation period of probably a 

 month. The young moles develop rapidly and are able to shift for 

 themselves within a month. They are sexually mature and able to 

 breed the following spring. 



The primary foods of this species are earthworms, insects, insect 

 larvae, and other arthropods. They are very voracious eaters, and 

 Hamilton (1943, p. 27) reports that a captive mole of this species 

 weighing 50 grams consumed 66 grams of earthworms and insect 

 larvae within a 24-hour period. 



Specimens examined. — Allegany County: Mount Savage, 1. (Coll. 

 U. Md.) ; Yale Summit Road, between Clarysville and Vale Summit, 

 1 (ColL U.Md.). 



Other records and reports. — Allegany County : Warrior Moimtain 

 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service files). Garrett County : Grantsville, 

 near (Coll. U. Mich.). 



Remarks. — Two specimens of this species from Grantsville, Garrett 

 County, collected 28-29 August 1949 by J. A. King, and now stored in 

 the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, are the first actually 

 taken in this State. The species, however, is probably not as rare in 

 western Maryland as the few trapping records and reports would 

 indicate. 



EASTERN MOLE 

 Scalopus aquaticus aquaticus (Linnaeus) 



(Sorex) aquaticus Limiaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 1 : 53, 1758. 



Type locality. — Philadelphia, Pa. (Fixed by Jackson, N. Amer. Fauna 38, p. 33, 

 30 September 1915). 



General distri'butio7i. — Eastern United States, from southern New England, 

 and New York State, south to Virginia, and in the Appalachian Mountains 

 south to Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina. 



Distribution in Maryland. — Eastern Shore, Western Shore, and 

 Piedmont sections and at lower elevations in the Ridge and Valley 

 and Allegheny Mountain sections. Rare or absent apparently in the 

 Ridge and Valley, and Allegheny Mountain sections at elevations over 

 2,000 feet. 



Distinguishing characteristics. — Teeth 3/2, 1/0, 3/8, 3/3, = 36; fore- 

 feet broad and greatly enlarged, adapted for digging; body stout and 

 cyclindrical ; pelage soft and velvety, black to brownish black in 

 coloration; tail short and naked; eyes and ears small and not visible 

 on superficial examination. 



Differs from the hairy -tailed mole (Parascalops hrew^ri) in that the 

 tail is short and naked, and from the star-nosed mole {Condylura 

 cristata) in that the snout is without fleshy projections. 



