Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1871-02-17
90 Alexandria Gazette: 3
NlOIIES.

fr0f. ScHelc &c ere HIS puDiiSicu FCiS
interesting article in Appleton Journal ouwhat
he calls Our Slandered Neghbors. He
tells Us ut the start that animals, like men, are
sadly misjudged. We crown domestic animals
with all the virtues, and look upon the others
as useless, in fact, us enemies Often we
slaughter birds and animals without knowing
that We are putting some of our own best friends
out of the woy. Of m0|es, Prot Schele de
We're writes: AS bats are the indefatlgable
hunters Of the air, So molcs are necessarily ut
work underground AT the first glance they
.how their admirable adaptation for Il life be
meath the turf Their thick, round body, with
it, close, silky, fur coat; their harp-polnted
suout with Il long, exqulsltcly sensitive trunk,
like that of a miniature elephant; their broad
SPADE like feet; their almost Invisible eye, hid
under forest of stout 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! rs ilsll
in water, and they are true Ishmaelites having
no friends among other animals nor their mates
alone excepted3 Among their own kindred The
common prejudice, however, that they lnjure
gardens aud fields by gnawiug roots, Is utterly
nntoundod This easily proved, for, as OF men,
blillat Savarin could say: t
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 eat The mole has not less than twenty
four good sized teeth; some, eye-teeth, shaped
like sharp daggers; others, molar teeth, re-
sembng combination OF formidable saws.
Such destructive Instruments are not gwen to
vegetarians Nevertheless, farmers and gar
deners assert almost universally that mOles are
granivorous, another proof Of the utter false
ness of the old saying, voX populi, vox del !; tor,
navt ,,ot,,ralistS hovn examined the StomachS
of moles, and what did they find? Not trace
of vegetable food, but an abundance of halt
digested earth worms, large quantities OF hard,
brown scales, and horny shields, and remnants
of catcrpillars and worms innumerable In Or
der to demonstrate the tallacy of the common
prejudice beyond all doubt Flourens, the Sc
cretary Of the Academy of Sciences, in Paris,
put two moles into cage, with an ample sup
ply of roots and bects 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 weakness and exhaustion;
il bird was put into his cage, and instantly the
mole rushed upon the poor sparrow, disem,
boweled him, and did not rest until he had
eaten more than half of his body. After his
rcpast, he appeared once more plump, and be-
came quite lively.
The same experiment was several times repeat
ed, till one night the mole was lett III ITS cage
with large supply of lettuce, cabbage and beet
roots. 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 dishgured; but
this stands in no proportion to the lncalculabe
benefit they bestow upon man by destroying
the numerous enemies Of plants in gardens and
fields which dwell underground and arc lnvlsl-
lle to human eyes, especially worms paggots,
and so-called mole -crickets. OF these they con
sumo daily more than half their own weight
Hence it is that skillful gardeners, after having
overcome the old-fashioned prejudice against
toads, which now are carefully kept as the best
protection of the most valuable plants, also be-
pin to appreciate the merits OF moes, and ac-
tually purchase them in early Spring, to make
them useful in cleaning their gardens and fields
both thoroughly and promptly"
The Professor is 50 eloquent in his defence OF
the mole, that we could not resist the tempta-
tion to give it entire. We trust that his words
will influence those who stubbOmly adhere to the
policy of destroying moes whenever aud wher-
ever they find them. Such useful servant of
man deserves better fate: protect him in his
work and he will protect your interests. There
are other animals prosecuted by uswhich deserve
better treatment, among them the hedge hog.
1t is harmless, and lives upon insects, snals,
beetles and field mice 1t robs the orchard of 4
little fruit now and then, but upon the whole
does much more good than harm. In our ig-
noruuce of the habits Of the animal world, We
form violent preudices against some OF our
best servants, and persecutc and destroy them
with cruelty and rank injustice. Let sinquire
into the ways of al! living things, for when We
shall learn true knowledge of them possibly We
will look upon them with greater favor. lgno-
rance is narrow and selfish in its views, while
knowledge is broad and generous.