62 Talpid^. MAMMALIA. Talpid^. 
quarries, as tliey have been termed, in constructing 
which the earth is removed out of the way to the 
surface. Sometimes a mole will lay out a second or 
even a third road, in order to the extension of its 
operations. Sometimes several individuals use one 
road in common, though they never trespass on each 
other’s hunting grounds. In the event of common 
usage, if two moles should happen to meet, one must 
retreat into the nearest alley, unless both should be 
pugnacious; in which case the weakest is often slain. 
In forming this tunnel, the mole’s instinct supplies the 
place of science, for he drives it at a greater or less depth, 
according to the quality of the soil or concurrent cir- 
cumstances. When there is nothing superincumbent 
threatening a disturbance of its security, it is often 
excavated at a depth of some four or five inches ; but 
if it is carried under a road or a stream, a foot and a 
half of earth, sometimes more, is left above it. Thus 
does the little animal carry on the subterraneous works 
necessary for his support, travelling, and comfort; and 
his tunnels never fall in. The alleys opening out from 
the sides of the high road have generally a somewhat 
downward inclination, from their commencement 
towards their end. It has been observed, that when 
on opening one of these alleys, a plentiful supply of 
food is found, the mole proceeds to work out branch- 
alleys from its termination, upheaving new molehills 
as it advances in quest of prey. Should, however, the 
soil be barren of the means of existence, the animal 
commences another alley at a different part of the high 
road. The quality and humidity of the soil, which 
regulate the abundance of earthworms, determine the 
greater or less depth of the alleys. The mainroad 
being the highway of communication to its different 
hunting grounds, it is necessarily passed through regu- 
larl}' in the course of the day, and it is in this road that 
the molecatcher sets his traps, or practises his devices 
to intercept the animal between its habitation and tlie 
alley where it is carrying on its labours. Some mole- 
catchers will tell you that the hours when the moles 
move are influenced by the tides; to which statement 
the reader is at liberty to give as much credence as 
he chooses. Besides the various traps which are set 
for them, there is, or very lately was, a man who 
travelled the country with a dog, and destroyed them 
without any trap at all, b}' the following process : — 
Taking his station at the proper time and place, 
attended by his dog, and armed with a spear or spud, 
he waits till the dog indicates the presence of the mole, 
and then spears or spuds the animal out as it moves in 
its run. Pointers will stop at moles as steadily as at 
game, when the former are straying on the surface.” 
So much for the observations of Le Court, quoted bj^ 
Ogilby, whose description appears to have been 
borrowed from Geolfroy St. Hilaire’s abridged account 
of the original discoveries, as recorded in his “ Cours 
d’ Histoire Naturelle des Mammiferes.” The mole is 
an extremely voracious animal, and it would further 
appear from Le Court’s investigations, that its appe- 
tite is exalted into a regular passion, which occasionally 
rises to such a pitch that the desire is accompanied 
M'ith violent excitement. A species of madness seems 
to take possession of the entire frame, as it furiously 
rushes upon its prey. Its food is exclusively animal. 
It is true, and worthy of remark, that this point has 
been a subject of dispute, but the united testimony 
of several distinguished naturalists, has conclusively 
shown that the vegetable debris sometimes found in 
its stomach, must be regarded as mere accidental 
accumulations, consisting of fragments of roots and 
other vegetable matters, which have been swallowed 
along with its appropriate insect food After advanc- 
ing some very acute reasonings on this subject, Mr. Bell 
remarks, that “ the principal object of its search is the 
earthworm. In pursuit of this, its favourite food, it 
occasionally follows it towards the surface with such 
eagerness, that it actually throws itself out of its burrow 
upon the ground. It has been stated that the mole 
will not eat the larv® of the Scarabseidse and other 
coleopterous insects that live under the ground; but 
this is certainly a mistake, as these larvae have 
been found in their stomach. It is not, however, 
to these and similar kinds of food that the mole 
is necessarily restricted ; a mouse or a bird, a lizard 
or a frog, if placed within its reach, becomes a speedy 
victim to its voracity. Toads, however, it rejects even 
when famishing with hunger, probably on account of the 
acrid secretion of the skin, first noticed by Dr. Davy. 
Geoffrey gives a curious picture of the manner in which 
it will approach, seize, and devour a small bird — ex- 
hibiting, in the first place, a considerable exercise of 
stratagem to get within reach of its victim, and chang- 
ing on an instant this mode of approach for the most 
sudden and impetuous attack ; seizing the hapless bird 
by the belly, tearing it open, thrusting its muzzle 
amongst the entrails, where it appears to luxuriate on 
its bloody repast. Even the weaker of its own species, 
under particular circumstances, are not exempted from 
this promiscuous ferocity ; for if two moles be placed 
together in a box without a very plentiful supply of 
food, the weaker certainly falls a prey to the stronger. 
No thorough-hred bulldog keeps a firmer hold of the 
object of its attack than the mole. Mr. Jackson, a 
very intelligent molecatcher, says that, when a bojq 
“ his hand was so severely and firmly laid hold of by 
one, that he was obliged to use his teeth in order to 
loosen its hold. It is not only in the warm and tem- 
perate seasons of the year, when the food of the mole 
is of comparatively easy access and exists in great 
plenty, that its labours are steadily and regularl}’’ fol- 
lowed; in the winter, when the frost has penetrated 
deeply into the soil, and the ordinary hunting grounds 
are rendered useless and impracticable, it descends to 
a considerable depth by a perpendicular shaft, till it 
arrives at the part to which the earthworms have 
been driven by the cold. Here its labours must be 
even more toilsome and less productive than ordinary ; 
but the voracity of this indefatigable gourmand must 
still be appeased : and as it lays up no store for the 
winter, and cannot fast with impunity for more than 
a few hours, it may well be imagined how incessantly 
and laboriously it must work in such a season, and at 
so great a depth, to obtain a sufficient supply of worms 
to satisfy its insatiable craving. This rage of liunger 
alternates with the most profound repose, which the 
animal enjoys either within its fortress, during the sea- 
