22S 



underground, and it took the shortest road. 



For the last three years I have noticed the 

 tracks of moles on a piece of pasture land, 

 that is frequently covered for a longer or 

 shorter period with water, sometimes re- 

 maining so for several days. Where they go 

 when this occurs has puzzled me very 

 much. I cannot imagine that any portion 

 of their underground retreat is water proof, 

 nor have I seen any suggestion in books to 

 explain how it is, that even where the ground 

 is not- covered with water, their runs and 

 galleries do not fill during very heavy rains. 

 It is true that the mole is said to swim well 

 and to be fond of the water, but it would 

 drown for all that if kept in it or under it for 

 a short time, f have been puzzled, too, to 

 understand how it is, that the soil of a Mole 

 hill is thrown out at such a very small hole. 

 The orifice is scarcely ever larger than a 

 man's finger. The mole appears able to 

 penetrate, the surface for the purpose of 

 throwing out the soil, even when it is frozen 

 quite hard. In fact I believe the. winter is 

 the time when most of the mole hills are 

 thrown up, and I always noticed fresh <>nrs 

 during and after frosts, as though the tor- 

 pidity then of the animals furnishing its food 

 supplies made it necessary for ir to seek 



" Fresh fields and pastures new.' 

 if such an expression can be applied to the 

 subterranean burrows of the mole. 



I have nothing further to add of my own 

 observation. The mole is about 5 inches 

 long, with a short tail. It is generally black 

 in colour, but I have read of spotted and 

 cream coloured specimens, the latter being 

 said to frequent dryer lands. The nose is 

 long and very slender, keen of scent, and 

 small enough to penetrate the burrows of the 

 earth worm. The skin as already said, is 

 very compact and covered with dense short 

 hairs, very bright and glossy. The fore legs 

 are short and very powerful, and though 

 they appear exceedingly awkward and 

 clumsy when compared with those of other 

 mammals, they are well adapted for digging. 



The eyes are very small and scarcely visible. 

 I have seen it said that these small eyes are 

 an advantage, " a small degree of vision being 

 sufficient for an animal ever destined to . live 

 underground." This does not seem to me 

 to be in accordance with the fact that most 

 of nocturnal animals have large eyes. I 

 would rather incline to believe that the eyes 

 are gradually becoming smaller from disuse; 

 as the eyes of the blind fish in the cave of 

 Ken tuckw- have done. 



The mole is said to form itself a habitation 

 from which its runs and galleries may all be 

 entered. It sleeps five or six hours at a time, 

 in warm weather, and is most active at night 

 and early in the morning. It leaves this 

 shelter in spring, and constructs another the 

 following autumn. This domicile has an 

 arched roof of soil, well cemented or pressed 

 together. Its nest is generally built where 

 three or four of its galleries converge, and 

 is said to be principally formed of the blades 

 of young corn. This it may prefer, but as it 

 abounds in places where corn is not grown, 

 no doulit am tender grass blades will answer 

 its purpose. It often leaves its burrows in 

 the early part of summer, and seeks its food 

 on the surface of the ground, when it will be 

 abb- to get a change from the earth worms 

 and underground larvae, tnat form its food 

 during the greater part of the year. Its food 

 is not confined to such things as these, for it 

 w ill devour a mouse or bird if it can obtain 

 one, and is even suspected of being a 

 cannibal. 



Some farmers wage unending war on the 

 mole, and there is a class of men who make 

 their living as ;> mole catchers." Whether it 

 really does more harm than good seems very 

 doubtful. It unquestionably brings up to the 

 surface, soil that has not been exhausted, 

 and which when spread over serves almost 

 as well as manure. It also destroys immense 

 numbers of earth-worms and other things, 

 which perhaps do as much or more harm 

 than the mole among the roots of grass or 

 growing crops. 



