The Prescott daily news., 1914-05-25
BY DEPART
 MENT OF AGRICULTURE
Demonstrate American Mole Skins are as Valuable as European Variety. The Mole is Sel-
 dom Seen.

NdludDIS commercially according to Farmers Bulletin 583, Department of Agriculture. It is significant to the lack of attention to small business matters, however, that American mole skins are not quoted or offered on the markets. All the skins used by Amer ican furriers are imported from Flu rope
 Auction lists of fur dealers in Lon don show that more than 3,000,00O moleskins were sold in 1911, 1912, and 1913. A small lot of American mole skins secured by the Biological Sur vey, U. $. Department of Agriculture, was prepared and made up by an ex- pert furrier who pronounced them in every respect equal or superior to Eu- ropean skins. It seems likely, there fore, that new industry amounting to many thousands of dollars annual ly might be developed in this country.
 In this country there are five recog- noized groups of true moles, two of which are confined to the Pacific coast and the other three are distributed over the section east of the one hund- redth meridian extending from Cana da to the Gulf of Mexico. In the lat ter districts and in the greater part of Pennsylvania, New York, and New England the common mole occurs with the star-nosed mole and Brewers mole.
 The mole is so seldom seen, even by those who are familiar with it's work, that it is often confused with other small creatures, particularly the shew, the mole or meadow mouse, and the pocket gopher. However, it can be readily distinguished by it's stout, short front limbs ending in broad, rounded hInds with the palms turned outward It has a rather elongated body, close plushlike fur, a pointed snout, and short tail. Neither eyes nor ears are in evidence It is a creature of strictly subteranean hab- it's.
 It is believed commonly that the mole works only at regular periods each day, but direct observation taken in late summer and fall to substan- tiate the theory. The moles are dis tasteful and seldom eaten by domestic eats and dogs which have learned to catch them. Hawks and owls take small toll from the mole tribe, as an examination of the stomach contents of over 2,000 of these birds disclosed the remains of but 13 moles, of which had been eaten by the red-tailed hawk, 1 by the red-shoulderedy hawk and one each by the broad-winged hawk, the barred owl, the great gray owl, and the sceech owl.
 From an examination of the sto- mach contents of 200 moles taken in all months of the year it was found that earthworms and white grubs con- stitute theb ulk of the food. Beetles and their larvae, spiders, centipedes, cocoons, and puparia also form a part of thed jet. Seed coats of corn, wheat oats, and peanuts have been seldom found in stomachs of the moles.
 Complaints of damage or depreda- tions by moles are frequent and in- sistent. However, in very many cases thorough investigation would show that the smaller rodents which follow the mole's runways are responsible for the damage to corn and other cul- tivated seed products that grow un- der ground.
 When it is desirable to destroy the mole the trap will Def ound to be the most efficient means. So far all ex- periments undertaken with the object of finding an acceptable poison bait have given negative results as the very nature of the animals food makes it difficult to secure a sat isfactory substitute of live worms, grubs, and insects. Moreover the little animal seems to be shrewd and quick to sense the danger in poison ous substances.
 There are number of excellent mole traps on the market, most of which will give good results if proper ly set. There are the harpoon, the scissor-jaw, and the choker types Harpooning traps are designed to im- pale the mole in the ground by spring driven spikes. The scissor-jaw traps