“Is a mole a worm?” Hal wanted to know.  “Or is it like a potato bug?”

“It’s a little animal like a mouse,” said his father, “only it is blind.  It lives underground, in the dark all the while, so really it has no use for eyes, any more than have the blind fish in the big Kentucky cave.

“But, though a mole is blind, it does not stop him from turning up the ground and uprooting many plants.  He really doesn’t mean to do it, but we have to catch him just the same.”

“Oh, I’d like to see a blind mole,” said Mab.

“I can’t show you one just now,” spoke Mr. Porter, “but I can show you how they dig underground, and the damage they do to lawns and gardens.  Maybe, if your dog Roly will keep out of my mole trap, I can catch one of the creatures and show you how it looks.  Come down here.”

Mr. Porter led the way to that part of the garden where Roly had been caught by his little tail.  On the ground, among the rows of beans, sometimes going right under them and spoiling the roots, was a long ridge of dirt, in a sort of wavy line.  With his fingers Daddy Blake tore up some of the earth, and opened a regular little tunnel under ground.

“The mole,” said Daddy Blake, “tunnels, or digs, his way in the dark, underground, to find grubs and worms which he eats.  He had two front claws, very strong, just purposely made for digging, and you would be surprised to see how soon a mole can dig himself underground, even if you put him on top of a hard, dirt road.

“It is when the blind mole tunnels along, smelling here and there for grubs and worms, that he uproots the plants and for that reason we have to catch him.  There are some traps that have sharp points which go down through the ground with a strong spring to push them, whenever a digging mole gets too near.  But the trap Mr. Porter set was a spring trap without any sharp points to it, which he thought might catch a mole alive.  Instead it caught Roly, who was digging away to find a buried bone, maybe.”

“Is he all right now?” asked Mab.

“Yes, his tail was only pinched a little but Roly’s tail is very tender I guess, for he howled very loudly.”

“I wish I could see a mole,” said Hal.

“So do I,” echoed his sister.

But all they could see was the place where the mole had dug.  And perhaps you may see, in your garden or on your lawn, a little raised ridge, or long, low hill of dirt, some morning.  If you poke your finger, or a stick, down in it you will find that underneath it is hollow.

This is a place where a mole has dug his tunnel in the night to get things to eat.  Moles dig deep down, too, under the surface where no one can see them, and when they do not uproot the grass or the garden plants, they do little harm.  It is only when they come near the top that you can see the ridge they make.

Sometimes cats catch moles when they come out on top of the ground, thinking them a sort of mouse.  The mole’s fur is very fine and soft, and would make a fine cloak, only it would take many skins to make one large enough to wear.