The River Falls times. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1894-1933, 1897-10-12
The Mole.

An English paper says: The profess
siOnal mole catcher was quite an in
stitution in my youth. Like rat-catch-
ing, poaching, bird-snaring and fish
netting, nighttime setting, and even
spearing of salmon in the close sea-
son, mole catching iran in families"
and | have known it to run through
several generations. These men
went on circuit" and carried their
implements of destruction with them,
and undertook, for stipulated price
per dozen carcases, to clear the farm
OF moles. On large farm where I was
employed, lengthy stretch of perma-
nent grass and about thirty acres OF
arabic land, lying between a wild moor
and large river, was Infested" with
moles, and many hard days work
nave had in leveling the hillocks and
scattering the soil over the surface OF
the land. The farmer who employed
me was greatly in advance of his
times, and his theories as to the prac-
teal usefulness of moles, weasels, and
almost every kind of wild bird, were
the subject of much bucolic ridicule.
Ihat is nearly forty years ago, and
that farmer is dead, but not his theo-}
rles. These were founded on long and
close personal observations, and their
absolute accuracy has long since been
recognized by all intelligent field nat
uralists and agriculturalists. AS far as
moles were concerned, the land where
they most did congregate" was natur-
ally poor, but in course of time the
moles improved it, and out of cur1os-
lty | visited the old stealing and land
last summer and found it rich, infin-
itely superior in heart to that of many
other holdings where the demon mole
catchers were still employed in the ex-
pensive and destructive work.
The mole, like ourselves, is not per-
fect-it has more than one "redeeming
vice." but, taken as a whole, it is
friend of the farmer. 1t destroys vast
quantity of injurious grubs, and in It's
searchings for these insects, 1t GER
tainly does injury to the roots OF GER
eals and other plants, more particular
seasons. The destructive leather
jacket" is a great source of its subslst-
ence; it destroys mice, and it even does
good as a kind of subsoil drainer OF
the land. | may conclude with an ex-
tract from letter addressed some
years ago by a Yorkshire farmer to
well-known naturalist, a portion of
which appeared some years ago in
work dealing with ornithology, ento-
mology and mammology in relation to
agriculture To kill moles is to leave
the corn and turnip crops upon light
lands, such as sand and deeply-sOiled
void land) to the ravages of the wire
worm, the grub (cockchafer) and other
insects. I farm, and have farmed, from
a thousand to fifteen hundred acres in
different parishes, and have noticed
that when you try to exterminate
moles, rocks, sparrows, etc., you have
far more destruction of crops An old
mole-catcher came to me and asked me
whether I would have the moles killed
on my land l said, mo; if
I had no moles / should have no
crops" He said, "You are the first
man whom I have heard say that, but
you are right He then proceeded to
say: 81 was employed by gentleman,
who had large, sandy field, to kill off
the moles. 1t used to grow nice crops,
though it was so full of moles. I killed
them all, and the field never grew any
thing to speak of afterwards. The
grub, wireworm, etc., used to eat the
roots of everything that was soWn, and
ioJ Ofe