8 Farmers* Bulletin 12^7. 



* 



heavy shoulder muscles the hands are brought forward, palms out- 

 ward, until they almost or quite touch in front of the snout. They 

 are then thrust outward and backward to push the soil aside, while 

 the body follows in the passageway thus created. The snout is a 

 sensitive organ of touch and is not used for rooting. 



ACTIVE PERIODS. 



It is commonly believed that the mole works only at regular periods 

 each day — morning, noon, and evening, as most frequently alleged — 



BI8623: BI3943. 



Fig. 5. — (A) Mound of wesU rn mole contrasted with (B) mound made by pocket gopher. 

 The former is the more symmetrical, being built up volcano fashion by upheavals 

 through the center. The latter is fun shaped, thrown out to one side of the burrow exit. 



but direct observations fail to show that there is any one time of day 

 when it is more active than at others. If an opening is made into a 

 mole's runway the little animal will invariably repair the breach 

 when it next comes that way (fig. 7). By taking advantage of this 

 habit one can gain much information if he will visit, at short in- 

 tervals through the day, each of a number of runs in which a small 

 break has been made. In an experimental way a large number of 



