There is a tribe of animals constantly around our country habitations,
of underground and nocturnal habits, some of which become torpid in
winter. All are timid and unobtrusive, and yet have great influence upon
our welfare; for they check the rapid increase of those worms and
insects which live and breed beneath the soil, and would destroy the
crops which are necessary to our existence. There are certain and
constant characters in their formation, which bring them all under one
group, called Insectivora, or Insect-eating Mammalia, by naturalists;
but among them are smaller groups of individuals, with peculiar
characters, adapted to their different habits.
The mole is an instance of one of these minor groups; which, with one
exception, has a portion of sight in spite of its reputation for being
blind. Its smell and hearing, however, are so acute, that they make up
for the deficiency in the other sense, a highly developed organ for
which, would be very much in the way of an animal which makes its
habitation within the earth, and which rarely comes to the surface in
the day time. Its fore-feet are largest, and powerful muscles enable it
to dig up the soil and roots which oppose the formation of its
galleries, and which are thrown up as they become loosened. The nose,
or snout, is furnished with a bone at the end, with which it pierces the
earth, and in one genus this bone has twenty-two small, cartilaginous
points attached to it, which can be extended into a star. A vein lies
behind the ear of all, the smallest puncture of which causes instant
death.
The food of moles chiefly consists of worms, and the larvæ, or grubs of
insects, of which they eat enormous quantities. They are extremely
voracious, and the slightest privation of food drives them to frenzy, or
kills them. They will all eat flesh, and when shut up in a cage without
nourishment, have been known to devour each other. There is a remarkable
instance of a mole, when in confinement, having a viper and a toad given
to it, both of which it killed and devoured. All squeeze out the earthy
matter which is inside worms, before eating them, which they do with the
most eager rapidity. In June and July, they prowl upon the surface of
the ground, generally at night, but they have been seen by day, and this
is the time in which they indulge in fleshy food, for then they catch
small birds, mice, frogs, lizards, and snails; but although when in
confinement one was known to eat a toad, they generally refuse these
reptiles, probably from the acrid humour which exudes from their skin.
They, on these occasions of open marauding, are often caught and
devoured in their turn by owls at night, and dogs by day. They have a
remarkable power of eating the roots of the colchicum, or meadow
saffron, which takes such powerful effect on other animals, and which
they probably swallow for the sake of the larvæ or worms upon them. Such
is their antipathy to garlic, that a few cloves put into their runs,
will cause their destruction.
A French naturalist, of the name of Henri Lecourt, devoted a great part
of his life to the study of the habits and structure of moles, and he
tells us, that they will run as fast as a horse will gallop. By his
observations he rendered essential service to a large district in
France, for he discovered that numbers of moles had undermined the banks
of a canal, and that, unless means were taken to prevent the
catastrophe, these banks would give way, and inundation would ensue. By
his ingenious contrivances and accurate knowledge of their habits, he
contrived to extirpate them before the occurrence of further mischief.
Moles, however, are said to be excellent drainers of land, and Mr. Hogg,
the Ettrick Shepherd, used to declare, that if a hundred men and horses
were employed to dress a pasture farm of 1,500 or 2,000 acres, they
would not do it as effectually as moles would do if left to themselves.
The late Earl of Derby possessed a small deserted island, in the Loch of
Clunie, 180 yards from the main land, and as proof that moles swim well,
a number of them crossed the water, and took possession of this place.
They are said to be dragged, as beavers are, by their companions, who
lay hold of their tail, and pull them along while they lie on their
backs, embracing a quantity of soil dug out in forming their runs. The
fur of the mole is very short, fine, and close, and is as smooth and
soft as Genoa velvet.
Moles display a high degree of instinct in the skilful construction of
their subterranean fortresses. Their site is not indicated by those
little mounds of loose earth, which we see raised up at night, and which
mark their hunting excursions, but under a hillock reared by themselves,
and protected by a wall, bank, or roots of a tree. The earth is well
worked, so as to make it compact and hard, and galleries are formed
which communicate with each other. A circular gallery is placed at the
upper part of the mound, and five descending passages lead from this to
a gallery below, which is of larger circumference. Within this lower
gallery is a chamber, which communicates with the upper gallery by three
descending tunnels. This chamber is, as it were, the citadel of the
mole, in which it sleeps.
A principal gallery goes from the lower gallery, in a direct line to the
utmost extent of the ground through which the mole hunts, and from the
bottom of this dormitory is another, which descends farther into the
earth, and joins this great or principal road. Eight or nine other
tunnels run round the hillock at irregular distances, leading from the
lower gallery, through which the mole hunts its prey, and which it
constantly enlarges. During this process it throws up the hillocks which
betray its vicinity to us. The great road is of various depths,
according to the quality of the soil in which it is excavated; it is
generally five or six inches below the surface, but if carried under a
stream, or pathway, it will be occasionally sunk a foot and a half. If
the hillock be very extensive there will be several high-roads, and they
will serve for several moles, but they never trespass on each other's
hunting grounds. If they happen to meet in a road, one is obliged to
retreat, or they have a battle, in which the weakest always comes off
the worst. In a barren soil, the searching galleries are the most
numerous, and those made in winter are the deepest, because the worms
penetrate beyond the line of frost, and the mole is as active in winter
as in warm weather.
The females have a separate chamber made for them, in which they bring
forth their young. This is situated at some distance from the citadel,
and placed where three or four galleries intersect each other. There
they have a bed made of dry grass, or fibres of roots, and four or five
young are born at the same time, which begin to get their own food when
they are half grown.
Like all voracious animals, moles require a large quantity of water,
consequently their run, or fortress, generally communicates with a ditch
or pond. Should these dry up, or the situation be without such
resources, the little architect sinks perpendicular wells, which retain
the water as it drains from the soil.
Moles shift their quarters according to circumstances, and as they swim
well, they migrate across rivers; and in sudden inundations are able,
not to save themselves alone, but their young, to which they are much
attached. The stratagem and caution which they practise in order to
secure a bird are highly curious: they approach without seeming to do
so, but as soon as they are within reach of their prey, they rush upon
it, tear open its body, thrust their snout into the intestines, and
revel in their sanguinary feast. They then sleep for three or four
hours, and awake with renewed appetite.
All mole-catchers will bear testimony to the rapid movements and
consequent difficulty of catching these animals. I have watched a
gardener stand for half an hour by one of the little hillocks of loose
earth, which, from its movement, showed that the mole was there at work,
and remain motionless, spade in hand, and when he saw the earth shake,
dash his weapon into the heap. The mere uplifting of his arm was
sufficient, and before the spade could reach the ground the mole was
gone. He could scarcely reckon on securing his victim once out of
twenty efforts.
No moles are found in the north of Scotland, or in Ireland, which some
attribute to soil and climate; but they exist in other parts of Europe
under similar circumstances.