The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1919-07-22
misunderstood MOLE
Is REALLY A BLESSING
WITH SHOUT AND FEET HE BUR-
ROWS FOR THE WHITE GRUBS.
BIRDS, TOO, HUNT PESTS.

much abused He is innocent Of the
charge of gnawing the roots of fruit
trees and garden crops, and he should
not be made to suffer for what is the
work of field mice. The mole has diff
ferent work to do. 1t is his mission
to search for worms and insects, and
he is compelled to burrow through
the soft earth to secure them. He
digs with his snout and feet, and in
this way forms subterranean apart
ments, says the Philadelphia Record.
In length the mole measures about
a half foot, and is without tail. The
body is large and cylindrical, and the
snout is strong and cartilagenous. He
is of an extremely voracious and
fierce nature and swift swimmer.
His SENSE of hearing is acute, and
he has the power to withdraw or pro-
ject his eyes at will.
Whatever damage the mole might
do is more than offset by its war on
white grubs, one of the most expen-
sive and destructive pests. These
grubs will take possession of strip
of ground and destroy everything on.
it. Frequently large patches of corn
in the richest ground will be Destroy
ed and sod lands and lawns are not
spared Where moles abound the
white grubs soon become extinct. The
mole prefers the white grub to any
other worms or insects, and the angle
worm is his second choice. 1t must
be said to the credit of the mole that
he never goes where there are no
grubs or worms. What birds are above
ground to insect pests the mole is to
the hidden enemies in the earth.
Winter Birds Insect Hunters.
Some of our winter birds are very
valuable insect hunters. Every effort
should be made to encourage their
presence. Probably the most useful
is the chickadee or black-capped tit
mouse. This bird will busy itself all
through the winter months cleaning
the bark in the woods, in the orchards
and in the evergreen hedges, to de-
stroy the larvae of the codling-moth
or apple worm, the little grubs of
the fruit bark beetles or shot-hole
borer, and more notably the eggs of
plant lice, tent caterpillars, fall can
ker worms and like insects remain
ing on the bark over winter. A sin
gle bird has been reported to have
eaten in one day more than $50
black eggs laid by plant lice. For de-
stroying the female canker-worm
moths and their eggs no bird can
equal the chickadee. 1t is reported
| that fully $500 canker worms have
been killed in a day by single bird,
and during the twenty-five days re-
| quired for a canker worm to crawl
up the tree a chickadee has been
known to have consumed 1880
eggs.
The tufted titmouse or crested
tomtit, the white-breasted nuthatch
and the little brown creeper are with
us the entire winter and are valuable
foragers in the orchard. The last
named usually begins work at the
base of rough barked tree and
quickly ascends by a spiral, creeping
movement, picking up the tiniest of
eggs and insects, some of them so
minute that they would hardly be
noticed by any creature.
Other valuable aids in the orchard
are the golden-crowned kinglet OF
fiery-crowned wren and the Carolina
wren. The bluebird devotes its time
to catching cutWorms, army worms
and similar caterpillars. The wood
pecker is more active in winter than
in summer, searching for wood-bor-
iDg larvae and wood burrowing ants,
insects eggs and bark lice or scale
insects. The hairy woodpecker does
not consume as many ants as do the
downy species, preferring to feed on
beetle larvae and caterpillars. The
flicker eats more ants and fewer Dor
ers and caterpillars than the species
preceding, many of the ants being
picked from the ground.
Hawks and Owls Are Also Useful.
Hawks and owls destroy rats, mice
anu SllIIlldl N6IiIllIl. L ne SldI p-SIllIII-
ed hawk, the CoOper's hawk and the
American Gashawk, however, are de-
structive rather than beneficial, as
they destroy more valuable birds
than rabbits, rats or mice. The red
tailed hawk, on the other hand, is a
great friend of the farmer, as about
IS per cent. of its food consists of
rodents ard injurious insects. The
red-shouldered hawk has similar
record, about IS per cent of its food
consisting of rodents. The American
sparrow hawk consumes meadow
mice and like rodents, and also large
numbers of dormant grasshoppers
when the ground is not covered with
snow.
The American long-eared owl, the
short-eared owl or meadow owl, the
barred owl or boot owl, and the small
scheech owl are all destroyers of
mice and rabbits. The great horned
owl, however, is detrimental to poul-
/ try, game and insectivorous birds,
and destroys very few rodents and
/ injurious creatures