16 



Farmers* Bulletin 12^7. 



loose in even moderately Avarm Aveatlier, and, as described farther on, 

 the value of (he pelts is such as to make trapping Avorth while. 



WHEN TO TRAP. 



Moles may be trapped successfully in 

 the Pacific coast country at any season of 

 the year, and elsewhere when weather con- 

 ditions permit. In the Eastern States 

 trapping will be more or less hindered in 

 winter by snows and severe freezing. 

 Moles are active all winter, however, and. 

 frequently have been caught along grass- 

 grown fence rows and even in the deeper 

 runways of open fields when the ground 

 was frozen so hard as to necessitate the use 

 of a pick in setting traps. 



If trapping is undertaken chiefly with 

 a view to gathering a harvest of fur, the 

 best time of year for the operations is when 

 the skins are prime. The fur of the mole 

 is perhaps at its best in the winter season, 

 but it is also classed as prime in midsum- 

 mer, though it is somewhat shorter then. 

 Less seasonal variation is found in the 

 pelage condition of this burrowing mam- 

 mal than in that of the fur-bearing animals 

 that live mainly above ground. NeA^er- 

 theless, during the molting periods in 

 spring and in fall there is a deterioration 

 in the value of the mole's fur (fig. 11). 

 The spring pelage change is less marked 

 than the fall and is more irregular in its 



molting varying 



Fig. 11. — Example of unprime 

 pelt of the eastern mole, 

 trapped near Fort Myer, 

 A"a., in the month of April. 

 (The shape of the feet 

 shown in the. picture indi- 

 cates the difference lietween 

 moles and mice.) 



occurrence, the time of 

 Avith the individual, Avith sex, and with 

 Aveather conditions. In a collection of more than 600 skins of the 

 ToAvnsend mole, taken in Avestern Washington in all Aveeks of the 

 3"ear, the percentages of prime skins for the several months ran as 

 shoAvn in Table I. 



Tablp: I. — PerccnicKjcs of 'prime skins of moles taken in different months. 



Month. 



January . 

 February 

 March . . . 

 April 



Prime 

 skins. 



Per cent. 

 100 

 75 

 75 

 50 



Month. 



May.... 

 June... 

 July.... 



August 



Prime 

 skins. 



Per cent. 

 80 

 90 

 80 

 95 



Month. 



September 

 October... 

 November 

 December. 



Prime 

 skins. 



Per cent. 

 65 

 10 

 15 

 95 



