The Moles 127
they are not liable to injury. Thus in the Mole we see a highly specialised
mammal.
The Mole is extremely sensitive to sound, and its sense of hearing is acute.
The slightest sound on the surface of the earth near by causes it at once to
suspend operations, when it either retreats or remains perfectly still. Once I was
returning from shooting in St. Leonard’s Forest, w^en, stopping to light my pipe,
I observed the actions of a Mole working a fresh tunnel within a few feet of
me in a hedgerow. The animal must have heard me at the same moment, for
all movement at once ceased. Stepping back a few feet into the field, I waited
for ten minutes before a gentle lifting of the earth was again perceptible, when,
on firing at the spot, the Mole immediately came to the surface dead. The
newly made runs were all within a couple of inches of the top of the ground.
Clever dogs that are able to catch Moles act as if they were aware of the Mole’s
susceptibility to Sound, advancing up wind upon their quarry with the utmost
caution. A fox terrier in the possession of my friend Mr. R. Blake catches
many Moles during the season. Having got the scent of a Mole working near
the surface of the ground, the dog advances practically on tiptoe, and then
makes a rush to the spot where the Mole is concealed. It brushes the earth
aside with its paws and seizes its prey before it has time to retreat. Moles are
not particularly silent animals, but, especially in the spring time, squeak like
shrews, only in louder tones.
Few animals live at higher pressure than the Mole. It spends the greater
part of its life underground ranging along its tunnels and galleries in search of
food. This chiefly consists of worms, and the amount a single Mole will consume
in twenty-four hours is almost incredible. It is difficult to say whether
this extraordinary appetite is created by its remarkable activity or not, but all
observers who have watched this animal or kept it in confinement are .at once
struck by the amount of food it consumes and its restless energy in the pursuit.
At any rate, it seems certain that while young Moles are capable of fasting for
a considerable time, adults soon die when deprived of a regular supply of food.
Mr. Adams, in his interesting paper previously referred to, mentions the case of
a Mole which he fed abundantly on the day of capture, but which succumbed
during the night, although supplied with the third of a pint of worms, all of
which it had eaten. He considers that their powers of resisting starvation vary
inversely to their size. I have found the same thing in trying to keep them
alive.