American Moles. 



15 



in these hi^rlnvays, particularly when they run along fence lines or 

 ridges in the open fields, or cross from sod into cultivated ground. 

 In such situations a dozen to twenty or more moles are not infre- 

 quently taken in the course of a few weeks by resetting the trap 

 day after day at the same spot (fig. 10). While moles are not con- 

 sidered colonial in their habits, an individual will follow any run- 

 way that opens up to him, regardless of whether it or another mole 

 has dug the passage. It is therefore sometimes possible to rid the 

 entire premises of moles by trapping at one spot, and thus to avoid 

 disfiguring lawns and garden beds in the operation. 



It will pay to set traps on ridges over temporary hunting paths 

 only when these have been constructed recently in damp soil, or have 



B 1 8645. 



Fig. 10. — One iiiorniiig's catch oif Townsend moles, near Puyallup, Wash. The broad 

 hands and pointed snouts of these little fur bearers distinguish them from members 

 of the rat and mouse tribe. 



not become so dry that the mole would no longer find profit in using 

 them in search of food. Since the ridges usually have many turns 

 and windings, it is well to set the traps on a part of the path that 

 takes a straight course for some distance or seems to be a connecting 

 road betAveen two sets of workings. The same plan should be fol- 

 lowed with a line of mounds. Clusters of mounds are associated with 

 numerous cross runs, thus lessening the chances of successful 

 trapping. 



It is seldom worth while to set traps in a dry place. The mole 

 generally works in" a moist, rich soil, for there the digging is easy, 

 and there its food abounds. Then, too, a satisfactory adjustment of 

 the working parts of a trap can not be made in dry dirt. The more 

 recent the signs of mole activity at any particular spot, the sooner a 

 catch may be expected. It will pay to visit all traps twice a da}^, 

 morning and evening. In the summer season they should be visited 

 also in the middle of the day, for the hair on a mole pelt soon becomes 



