The Common Mole of the Eastern United States Page: 3
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THE COMMON MOLE OF EASTERN UNITED STATES
CONTENTS.
Page. Page.
Distribution. ......................... 3 Breeding habits.............................. 7
Description ................................. 4 Trespassers.................................. 7
Habits..................................... 4 Natural food....... ........................ 8
Runways and nests ..................... 4 Injury and depredations...................... 8
Active periods.............................. 6 How to destroy the mole................... 9
Natural enemies and checks ................. 6 Economic status...... ,..................... 12
DISTRIBUTION..
WITHIN the boundaries of the United States are five recognized
groups of true moles. Two of these are confined to the Pacific
coast, and three are distributed over the section mostly east of the one
hundredth meridian extending from Canada to the Gulf. No moles
are known from the Great Basin and the Rocky Mountain regions,
and their range is very restricted on the Great Plains. The common
mole 1 may be found almost everywhere south of the New England
States, New York, Michigan, and central Minnesota, except in the
mountain regions. In the latter districts and in the greater part of
Pennsylvania, New York, and New England the common mole is
replaced by the star-nosed mole2 and the Brewer mole3 (see illus-
tration on title-page).
The general distribution of the mole seems to depend very largely
on the condition of the soil and the humidity of the climate. Moles
are absent altogether from our arid regions, and where the prairies
of the West merge gradually into the plains they are found only
along water courses. In these regions of deficient rainfall the ground
is so dry and hard the greater part of the year as to be wholly un-
suited to the existence of earthworms and the various insect larvae
upon which the mole depends for subsistence. The mole is most abun-
dant in moist, rich soils along streams, particularly if these situations
are somewhat shaded.
1 Scalopus aquaticus. 2 Condylura cristata. s Parascalops brewer.
88012_-17 3
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Scheffer, Theodore H. The Common Mole of the Eastern United States, pamphlet, 1917; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc85794/m1/3/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.