The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1871-02-10

by their hind. feet, head down, and the
whole body carefully wrapped up in
the wide cloak of their wings, they be-
gin their night hunts. A dozen fat
beetles barely suffice for the supper of a
hungry member of one variety, and
sixty to seventy house.fiies for one OF
another kind. All night long they
pursue with indehtigable energy every
variety of beetle and moth, fly and bug
and enjoy most of all those which do
the greatest injury to our fruit-trees
and cereals. Even the only really for
midable member of their race, the vam-
pire, is much maligned; a gigantic bat,
accused of sucking the blood of man
and beast, it is strictly confined to u
small district in the tropics, and even
there occurs but rarely.
AS bats are the indefatigable hunters
of the air, so moles are necessarily at
work underground. AT the first glance
they show their admirable adoption for
life beneath the turf. Their thick,
round body, with its close, silky fur
coat their sharp pointed snout, with
long, exquisitely-sensitive trunk, like
that of a miniature elephant their
broad, spade.like feet their almost in
visible eye, hid under forest of thick
hairs, and the absence of an external
ear-all fit them for their active life
and fierce warfare in utter darkness.
They move in sandy soil at least as
swiftly as fish in water, and they are
true Ishmaelites, having no friends
among other animals, nor, their mates
alone excepted, among their own kin
dred. The common prejudice, howev-
er, that they injure gardens and fields
by gnawing roots, is utterly unfoundcd.
This is easily proved, for, as of men,
Brllat Savarin could say: "Show me
what you eat, and will tell you who
you are!" so Of animals we can say :
"Show Us their teeth, and we will tell
you what they cat - The mole has
not less than twenty-four good sized
teeth; some cyo-teeth, shaped like
sharp daggers :; Others, mular teeth,
resembling combination Of formida-
BILE saws. Such destructive instruments
are not given to vegetarians. Never
theless, farmers and gardeners assert
almost universally that moles are gran
ivorous-another proof of the utter
faIseness of the old saying, "Vor popu-
Ii, roc DEL" For, next, naturalists
have examined the stomachs Of moles,
and what did they find? Not trace
of vegetable food, but an abundance o1
half-digested earth-worms, large quan,
titles of hard, brown scales, and horny
shields, and remnants of caterpillar.
and worms innumerable. In order tc
demonstrate the fallacy Of the common
prejudice beyond all doubt, Flourens
the Secretary of the Academy of Scien
ces, in Paris, put two moles into cage
with an ample supply OF roots and
beets for their food. The next morning
he found the roots untouched, but only
one mole; The other had been devoured
by the survivor! A few hours later
the poor mole showed signs of weak.
ness and exhaustion bird was put
into his cage, and instantly the mole
rushed upon the poor sparrow, disem.
bowlled him, and did not rest until he
had eaten more than half of his body.
After his repast he appeared once more
plump, and became quite lively. The
same experiment was several times re
peated, till one night the mole was left
in its cage with a large supply of let
tuce, cabbage and beet The next
morning it was found dead it had
died Of starvation The only injury
which moles really do is caused by
their long passages and frequent mole
hills, by which roots are loosened and
meadows distigured; but this stands in
no proportion to the incalculable benefi
they bestow upon man by destroying
the numerous enemies of plants in gar
dens and fields, which dwell under
ground, and are invisible to human
eyes, especially worms, maggots, ast
so-called mole. crickets. OF these they
consume daily more than half theil
own weight! Hence it is that skilfu
gardeners, after having overcome the
old'fashioncd prejudice against toads
which now are carefully kept as the
| best protection Of the most valuable
plants, also begin to appreciate the mer
its OF molcs. and actually purchase
them in early spring, to make them
useful in cleaning their gardens ant
fields both thoroughly and promptly.