LESSON XLII.
Reading edition
HOW THE MOLE WORKS AND LIVES.
1. As the mole is not made for the sunlight, it must live below ground. With its strong fore paws it digs into the earth, and it can dig so fast that anywhere in the grass it will get out of sight in about a minute.
2. When it is above ground and it scents any danger, it does not run or climb, but it digs; and, when once under ground, it can keep out of the way of almost any enemy.
3. As it digs forward, it pushes the dirt backward, and it will go a long way in a little while. Its hind legs drag behind, and, as they have little to do, they are weak.
4. It digs along in the dark when its keen little nose scents a worm or a grub; this it pushes into its mouth with its paw, and eats in an instant.
5. The meat which it finds below ground has no bones; so its small teeth are all that it needs to chew with. In some safe place, nearly always at the foot of a tree, the mole throws up a little mound of dirt, and in the middle of it builds its nest of dried grass.
6. Then it makes tunnels all around, not any one leading straight up to the nest. In the picture we see the mole's nest and the tunnels leading to it. The mole drinks a great deal, and in its tunnels it digs wells where it can go down and find water.
7. In the summer it keeps near the top of the ground; but in winter it digs down deeper, to find grubs, and because it is warmer.
8. In digging under ground, the mole destroys the roots of grass and plants, and does some damage; but it does much more good, by destroying the grubs which live on the roots of plants.