The Mole. 



311 



excavating and enlarging the point of intersection of three 

 or four passages, is generally lined with dry grass or dead 

 leaves, sometimes with moss and even fur. The young ones, 

 which are naked and blind at birth, begin to run in about five 

 weeks when they are about three parts grown. They follow 

 their mother for some time. Mr. W. Evans, of Edinburgh, 

 who has obtained the young when about ten days to a fort- 

 night old during the third week of May, states that they were 

 then of a bluish- grey colour, very silky in appearance, and 

 without fur. 



Contrary to what might be expected from the nature ot 

 their haunts. Moles are fond of water. One kept in confine- 

 ment was supplied with a vessel of water, and drank fre- 

 quently. Sometimes it was seen to rush through the water 

 and splash about in it. More than this, moles have been 

 observed to swim well and voluntarily. They will not only 

 cross ditches of running water and still pools, but have been 

 found boldly swimming across rivers of considerable width. 



Whether the Mole is injurious or not from an agricul- 

 turist's point of view is a question upon which, probably, 

 there will be always some difference of opinion. Many 

 farmers maintain that mole-hills are not only very unsightly, 

 but that they prevent the mowing grass from being properly 

 cut. They overlook the fact that if the hillocks were 

 knocked about in the spring, and the fine soil of which they 

 are composed were spread over the surface, they would have 

 an excellent and inexpensive top dressing for their fields. 



Another recommendation lies in the system of surface 

 drainage which is effected by the Mole's " runs " ; while a 

 third, and perhaps the most important, consideration is the 

 fact that the Mole preys not only upon earthworms and field 

 slugs, but also upon the larvae of many coleopterous and 

 dipterous insects which are very destructive to the roots of 

 grasses and other field crops. The late Mr. Henry Reeks 

 of Thruxton, near Andover, who was a practical farmer 

 as well as a good naturalist, was strongly in favour of 

 sparing the Moles upon agricultural land. 



If the natural enemies of the Mole were not destroyed, there 

 would be much less need for trapping their velvet-coated prey. 



