The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1892-10-01
LORE OF The MOLE.
The Fierccst Animal In the World In Pro-
portion to Its Size.

The Fierccst Animal In the World In Pro-
portion to Its Size.
"What is the fiercest animal in the
world?" asked a writer of zoologist
1.-THE mole" he replied. "You are sur
prised, but such, in my opinion, is the
fact. People ordinarily look upon the
mole as sluggish and harmless crea-
ture, spending its life in cropping blind
ly underground. As usual, the popular
idea is mistaken one. The mole is In
reality the most ferocious and most
active of animals. Imagine it magnified
| to the size of tiger and you would
have a more terrible beast than the
world has yet seen. Though with de-
fective powers of vision and therefore
incapable of following its prey by sight,
it would be agile beyond conception,
springing this way and that as it went
along, leaping with lightning quickness
upon any creature which it met, rend-
ing it to pieces in moment, devouring
the yet warm and bleeding flesh and in
stantly seeking. with hunger insatia-
BILE, for fresh victim.
This creature would, without hesi-
tation, devour serpent twenty feet In
length, and so tremendous would be
it's voracity that it would eat twenty or
thirty such snakes in the course OF
day. With one grasp of its teeth and a
single clutch of its claws it could dis
ENDOWED an OK, and, if it should happen
to enter fold of sheep or an inclosure
of cattle, it would kill them all for the
mere lust of slaughter. Let two such
animals meet and how terrific would be
the battle! Fear is feeling which the
mole seems never to entertain. In con-
fiict with an adversary of its own kind
its efforts are exclusively directed to in
juring its opponent, without regard for
its own protection. An examination of
the skeleton of mole will repay your
trouble, so wonderful is its adaptation
of structure to its manner OF life. 1t
looks like veritable machine for dig
ging, and it has several accessory bones
which are not found in any other living
beast, being discovered only in certain
fossil forms
1.-THE mole is gifted with incredible
activity. 1t pursues the earth worms
on which it chiefly feeds with an energy
that is untiring, and, when it has
caught one, it devours the prey like a
starving tiger, rending it with its pow
erful claws and teeth. Occasionally II
will capture a bird and tear it to frag-
ments, devouring eagerly the bleeding
flesh. During the latter part OF June
Mr.. Mole falls in love, and in his at
tachments he is as furious as in all
other phases of his nature. At that
period he can not meet another male OF
his kind without fighting, very often to
the death. He constructs bridal
chamber for his chosen spouse at the in
tersection of two of his tunnels, SO thai
there is more than one way of escape
for himself and the young ones in case
danger threatens. This chamber i.
partly filed with dried grass for 9
couch. and it is always at some distances
from Mr.. Mole's dwelling proper.
1.-THE subterranean dwelling of Mr.
Mole is wonderful labyrinth. NJ
human being could very well find hi,
way about in it, supposing that its di
mansions were sufficiently magnified t.
admit his passage through the maze O
|
as complicated as that of the sewers O
a metropolis. 1t must not be imagined
that the animal burrows at random
On the contrary, it works on well-de
fined system, though how it forms it
burrows in such admirable straigh
lines, always laboring in the blackes
darkness, is a mystery. The home o
the beast is in a hillock. under tn,
shelter of some tree or bank, so as to b.
inconspicuous. Here is its center o
operations, from which regular road
lead off in different directions to it
feeding grounds. If you dig into tn
hillock you discover a very elaborat1
and wonderful structure.
''The central apartment of the dwell
ing is a nearly spherical chamber
around which run circular passages
one on level with the ceiling and tn,
other at some height above. The uppe
| circle is much smaller than the lowe
| one. Five short and nearly vertica
passages connect these galleries will
each other When Mr.. Mole enters hi
house from one of the tunnels he ha
first to get into the lower gallery
thence to ascend into the upper CALLER.
and so descend into the chamber. How
ever, there is another entrance to tn
chamber from below by a passage which
dips downward from the middle of tn
spherical room, then curving upwar'
and finally opening into one of the big
, ger tunnels or highroads Of thes
highroads there are seven or eight
. lowing to the peculiar habits of tn
mole comparatively little is know
, about the animal and its ways. Tn
use of this labyrinth and complicate'
system of tunnels, the latter usual,
extending over, or rather under, yer,
, great space of ground, is in some degre
mystery. One object of the arrange
, ment is doubtless that the owner, il
case of alarm, shall be able to make hi
! escape. BY the continual pressure o