Mar., 1912.] 
Ohio Moles and Shrews. 
495 
to be its serious enemies. Hawks and owls as well as various spe- 
cies of snakes are known to feed upon the common shrew occasion- 
ally but it seems that this animal, although so abundant, is not 
used as food by various carniverous animals to the extent that is 
the case with some of the small rodents. 
The least shrew, Blarina parva, appears to be present in most 
parts of Ohio as it has been observed and taken in Ashtabula, 
Summit, Franklin and Hamilton counties. The appearance of 
the species in Ashtubala county is of interest as most authors do 
not record it so far north. R. J. Sim, who lives at Jefferson, 
states that he usually sees three or four each year without making 
special efforts to find them, so it is not particularly rare. In Summit 
county numerous specimens have been taken and some of them 
are in the museum at the University. 
The long-tailed or masked shrew, Sorex personatus, has been 
taken in Mahoning and Ashtabula counties only, but from its 
range in adjoining states, probably exists in other sections but on 
account of its retiring habits and small size has been overlooked. 
The prairie mole, Scalop aquaticus machrinus, is known to be 
distributed quite generally over western Ohio. It is a subspecies 
of the common mole of eastern United States east of the Allegheny 
Mountains. Rhodes studied the fauna of Pennsylvania west 
of the Allegheny Mountains very carefully without finding evi- 
dence of the existence of either the common mole or its subspecies. 
Since the prairie mole is known to be very common in western 
Ohio from Michigan to the Ohio River, the eastern limit of this 
subspecies falls within the state and so we are interested in deter- 
mining the most eastern station where specimens have been 
taken. It is well known from Columbus but in the vicinity of 
Akron where I have collected quite extensively it has not been 
taken. Because one does not take a certain species in a locality 
is not always conclusive proof that it does not occur but on the 
other hand the distribution of animals is stated from the 
actual evidence procured and this evidence points towards the 
conclusion that the mole in question does not appear in Summit 
and Medina counties but is replaced by the two other species of 
Ohio moles, both of which have been taken. It is very desirable 
that persons finding any of the moles and shrews in their localities, 
let the facts be known so that some of these questions of distribu- 
tion may be better understood. 
The very peculiar star-nosed mole, Condvlura cristata, is 
known to be a resident of Ohio by the capture of more than a 
dozen specimens, including one taken as late as 1910. Summit 
county can claim most records, for at least nine specimens have 
been captured in this county as the records kept by Eugene F. 
Cranz, of Ira, show. The species is known from Ashtabula, 
