3io 



The Mole. 



direct experiment as shown by the French naturalist, Geoffory 

 St. Hilaire.* 



Few persons probably have ever had an opportunity 

 of hearing the voice of the Mole, but the animal is not so 

 mute as many suppose. Especially when alarmed or when 

 seized on being taken out of a trap it will utter a loud and 

 shrill squeak. At other times, when undisturbed, and 

 apparently in a state of contentment, according to Mr. W. 

 Evans, it will give vent to a low purring sound which 

 has been likened to the purring of a cat or the distant 

 "jarring" note of a Nightjar, f 



As a rule the Mole is partial to light soils which are 

 easily worked, such as old pasture, park lands, warrens, and 

 downs. During the winter months it feeds almost entirely 

 underground, but on warm summer nights it will run over 

 the surface in search of food, and thus occasionally falls a 

 prey to Owls. It dislikes too much heat and extreme cold, 

 and consequently we find it tunnelling at different dep ths 

 according to the prevailing temperature. In warm weather 

 its runs are usually but a few inches below the surface, some- 

 times, indeed, so near it that the course of the tunnel may be 

 readily traced by the broken surface. In cold and especially 

 in frosty weather the runs are much deeper. Professional 

 mole - catchers aver that during fine weather moles 

 are most active at sunrise, and for a little while at 

 intervals of about four hours until dark. In the winter J:hey 

 get into sheltered places, as under thick hedgerows and into 

 gardens which have fruit walls, where they are often found by 

 gardeners between November and March. The mole-catchers 

 attack them chiefly in the spring when they are much more 

 active, that being the breeding season. 



The Mole usually pairs in March, sometimes as early 

 as February. According to Bell the period of gestation 

 " is supposed to be about two months or upwards," 

 but Jesse more correctly states that the female goes a 

 month with young, and has never more than six or 

 less than two at a birth. The nest, which is formed by 



* " Coins de l'Histoire Naturelle des Mammiferes," 8vo, Paris, 1S29, p. 34. 

 f Evans, "Mammalian Fauna of the Edinburgh District,'" p. 32. 



