CHAPTER III. 
REPORT OF DR. GEO. SUCKLEF, U. S. A., AND GEO. GIBBS, ESO. 
SCALOPS TOWNSENDII, Bach. 
Western Mole. 
Baird, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 65. 
[For Sp. Ch. see chap. 2, p. 88.] 
This animal is quite abundant in the vicinity of Puget Sound, and probably extends 
throughout those portions of Oregon and Washington Territories situated between the Cascade 
range and the coast. I never saw it east of the Cascades. 
It is very common near Puget Sound, where I got a half dozen specimens. One, obtained 
alive at Muckleshoot prairie, I kept for some time in a box, upon the bottom of which was a 
quantity of rich black loam. When disturbed it instinctively endeavored to escape by burrowing 
in the earth of the box, using its long pointed nose as a wedge to pioneer the way. The 
excavation was performed by its broad stout hands, which, surmounted with their long sharp 
claws, seemed admirably adapted for the purpose. The fore paws were worked alternately as 
in swimming, the hind feet acting as propellers. Although the earth in the box was very soft 
and friable, it was nevertheless a matter of astonishment to see how rapidly the little creature 
could travel through it. When he slept it was in a sitting posture, with the body curled 
forward and the neck strongly flexed, so that the nose rested between the hind legs. He thus 
assumed a ball shape, evidently his usual natural position when asleep. 
This mole, being subsequently killed, was duly measured, and the measurements recorded in 
my note book, as follows : 
No. 85. $ . Length from nose to base of tail....... 6. 75 
Length of tail........ 1. 50 
From occiput to tip of nose . • .... 2. 00 
Length of hand, including middle nail. 1.10 
Extreme reach from longest claw of hind foot to ditto of fore foot. 7. 87 
Penis concealed in its sheath. Gians flattened. Eyes scarcely apparent before skinning. 
They live in the more rich and open grounds, making burrows near the surface resembling 
closely those made by the common garden mole in the Atlantic States.—S. 
Note. —During Dr. Suckley’s absence from the United States, chapter 2 of the present section was published. It was 
found afterwards that many notes and memoranda had been mislaid, or had, from some other cause, escaped insertion. It 
was therefore determined to join the unpublished material with a number of valuable notes which had been kindly furnished 
by George Gibbs, esq., and to print the whole, as thus connected, in the present chapter. Care has been taken to avoid 
useless repetition of any of the matter which appears in chapter 2 ; but, when necessary, a reference is made to the page in 
the first report, as well as to that of Professor Baird’s general report on the mammals of the routes of the different surveys.—S. 
