Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 3, 1802).djvu/242

220&#93; '22o] M O L cordials v/bicli are to be mixed with spiceSj it will be preferable to make use of sugar. MOLE, or Talpa, L. a genus of quadrupeds, consisling of seven species, t)f which the Europaciis, or European jVIole, only is found in Briiain. It abounds in all parts of Europe, excepting Ireland. This animal is fioai five to six inches in length : its head is large, without any external ears, and its eyes are so very minute, and con- cealed in the fur. that it is vulgarly believed to be blind. The Mole chieriy I'rcquents me.^- dows, gardens, and moist fields that are exposed to the sun, espe- cially oji the approach of rain ; when it does coni^iderable damage, . by loosening the fibres and roots of vegetables, while construding its subterraneous abode. — The female produces from four to six young at a time, which are deposited in -nests, artfully made with moss, leaves, and dried grass, beneath the largest hillocks of the field. These dwellings aie formed with admirable ingenuity, consisting of an interior hillock, surrounded with .1 d'lvhjthat communicates with se- veral streets, bye-ways, and galle- ries. Various means have been con- trived for extirpating nzo/a?, such as irrigating the fields infested with them, &c. ; but the most effedual is that described by Dr. Darwin, in his Phylobgia, and derived from the experience of a successful mole- c.Ttcher. — ^I'his man commenced his operations before the rising of the sun, when he carefully watched tlieir situation ; and, frequently ob- serving the mot on of the earth Above their walks, he struck a opadc into tlie ground behiud ibeni. MOL cut off their retreat, and dug thera up. As moles usually place their ne^ts much deeper in t'le ground than their common habitations are situated, and thus produce an ele- vation, or a mole-hill, the next step is to demolish such nests by the spade ; after v/hich the fre- quented paths must be distin- guished from the bye-roads, for the purpose of setting subterraneous ■ traps. This will be eftefted by marking every nciv mole- hill with a slight pressure of the foot, and observing the next day, whether a mole has passed over it, and effaced such mark j which operation must be repeated two or three moriiings in succession, but without making an impression so deep as to alarm and induce the animal to open ano- ther passage. The traps must now be set in the frequented paths, and ought to consist of a hollow wooden i^cnli- cylinder, each end of which should be furnished with grooved rings, containing two ncnises of horse- hair, that are fastened loosely in the centre, by menus of a peg, and are stretcl-.ed above the surface of the ground, by a bent stick or strong hoop. As soon as the mole passes half way through one of these nooses, and removes the cen- tral peg in his course, the curved stick rises in consequence of its elasticit)', and thus strangles the animal. I'he method above detailed be- ing ingenious, it deserves to be ge- nerally adopted; as those, whose grounds are infested Avith moles, may easily extiipatc them, or teach the art to tiieir labourers. — It is, hovvtver, in our opinion, an unde- cided . point, wheti^er these little quadfU'