The national forum., 1910-07-30
LIFE OF THE MOLE.
One OF the Most Common But Oh
SCuTest of Animals

Co naturalists, The commonest of al
animal, however, often protects Il
from expert study. 1t is more eXcit
Ing and wins more fame to investigate
the habits of denizen of centra,
Africa or Borneo than to watch the
doings of familiar creature from
ones own doorstep. So it comes
about, as we are assured by Lionel e
Adams, in Nature, that the life stories
OF some common animals remain to
be written; and that of the mole Ia
yet rather obscure. He says.
"The difficulties of observnh the
habits of subterranean dweller Of a
most retiring disposition are patent
but not altogether insuperabie, and
the wonder is that field naturalsts
have been content to read and take
for granted the information handed
down for the last century without
any attempt to confirm it.
During the winter months one
cannot help noticing IN the open
fields here and there mole-heap
conspicuously larger than the rest.
This is a male mole's winter habita-
ton; but at present we do not know
whether he lives alone or with his
wife, or if the female ever constructs
these fortresses, as they are called
Probably he lives alone, and probably
females make 'fortresses' slightly
more simple in construction and
smaller in size than those of the
males. If we take spade and care
fully slice away the top of fortress
we shall find several hollow tunnels
or runs, which may be opened up and
followed to the base of the fortress,
whence they lead away in the field.
J Slicing further under these into the
fortress, and just below the ground
level, we come upon large, circular
cavity filled with a bundle of grass
Or dead leaves; this is the mole's
/ nest, in which he sleeps.
IF he has lately quilted it, the in-
terror will be quite warm to the hand;
the mole himself, however will never
be caught in the nest When the
nest is removed and the cavity exam
lned it will be found about foot in
diameter and worn smooth by the
mole wriggling about as he wraps his
nest round him, for that is his meth
cd of arranging himself within it,
Two or more tunnels will be found
leading away from the nest cavity
into the field. One of these is par
ticularly noteworthy, as it is found
In nearly every fortress; this exit
leads from the bottom of the nest per-
pendicularly downward for about a
foot, then, turning upward, it joins
another run. Its origin and use are
uncertain, but it is usually regarded
as a sort of sallyport, and is known
IS the 'bolt-run.'
: 1T is extremely unlikely that the
mole deliberately selects the site of
his fortress, as he is practically blind;
probably he sets to work whenever
The impulse seizes him and proceeds
In the Mffowing manner: He COM
mences to enlarge nest-cavity, eject
Ing the earth which he has loosened
with his powerful claws out of hole
in the roof; this he does with the top
Of his head in little jerks. The quiet
observer may see sausage-shaped
mass OF earth issue from below with
four or five sudden jerks; then, after
one or two minutes interval, when
the mole is collecting more loose
earth, another sausage will appear
as before, ind so on until the work
is complete. After the nest-cavity
comes the excavation of the bolt-run,
and finally, to make all safe and
waterproof, the mole piles up a mass
of earth, often amounting to a large
barrow load, by means of tunnels
around the base of the existing heap.
These tunnels sometimes break into
one another, and sometimes into the
nest-cavity, and so cause labyrinth
which has given rise to much errone-
GUS speculation in the past.
"a fortress is often completed in
single night The young are not
born in the winter fortress, but in a
separate habitation made by the fe-
| male alone. 1t is built on the same
plan as the fortress, but usually sim
pier in construction and without the
bolt-run. The female produces only
! one litter a year, and the young.
| which are born from the end of April
to the end OF May, vary in number
from two to six, Naked, blind and
pink, they turn lead-color in ten days;
after fortnight a gray velvet pelage
is visible, which becomes black at the
end of three weeks, when the eyes
open. The ears are opened on the
seventeenth day Attempts to rear
the young by hand have hitherto
proved futile, for, though they will
suck freely from flannel or cotton
wool soaked in warm milk, they pine
and die on the third or fourth day.
There has always been much dis
cussion as to the mole's power of
| sight. Dissection has shown that the
size of the eye is greater in the EN-
bryo than in the adults, indicating
that the sight of the race has deteri-
Grated From numerous experiments
the writer is convinced that the adult
mole is practically blind. Moes en-
countered in the daytime have taken
no notice of a human being waving
hand close in front, nor at night do
| they show signs OF consciousness of
a light waved before their noses; but,
If the slightest sound is made the
greatest excitement is instantly
showR"
The writer tells US further that ne
has often thrown down worms be-
fore captive mole. The animal