THE CAPE GOLDEN MOLE.[272]
The Cape Golden Mole is about the size of our Common Mole, or a little more than five inches in length. The colour of its fur is brown, but according as the light falls upon it it shows brilliant golden and iridescent green and purple reflections; a patch round the eye and a streak from the eye to the angle of the mouth are yellowish-brown; and the throat has a greenish tinge. The claws are of a light brown colour.
The Golden Mole inhabits the Cape of Good Hope and Caffraria, where it feeds, like our British Mole, upon insects and worms, which it captures by burrowing through the ground. In the settled districts it is as much disliked as the Mole in Europe, on account of the damage which it does in fields and gardens by its subterranean activity. Several South African forms, nearly related to the above, but differing more or less in the colour and texture of the hair, have been described as distinct species by various zoologists; but these are now regarded as mere varieties of Chrysochloris capensis, which has also received the names of aurea and inaurata. Besides these, Dr. Günther has described a species from Caffraria, under the name of C. Trevelyani, which has the fur brownish and not lustrous, and also presents some minor differences of structure. The Blunt-nosed Golden Mole (C. obtusirostris) of Professor Peters, from Mozambique and Caffraria, which has a lustrous coat, has one molar less on each side in each jaw, so that the whole number of teeth is only thirty-six, and hence, and from some peculiarities in the structure of the lower molars, and the absence of a bladder-like enlargement in the temporal fossa, which occurs in the other species, Professor Mivart has placed it in a distinct genus, under the name of Chalcochloris.
FAMILY VIII.—TALPIDÆ, OR MOLES.
The True Moles constitute a very distinct family of Insectivora, characterised more especially by their complete organisation for a subterranean life. They have a more or less cylindrical body, with short limbs, of which the front pair are converted into most powerful digging organs, the construction of which will be noticed in the description of our common British species. The head is small, with the muzzle produced and generally pointed, and the eyes and ears concealed, the former being generally almost covered by a membrane; the skull is elongated, rather flat, with a distinct, thin zygomatic arch; the bones of the shank (tibia and fibula) are united; the wrist has a sickle-shaped bone on the inside, which passes to and helps to support the first digit; and the intestine has no cæcum. The teeth vary somewhat in number.
The Moles usually form a subterranean dwelling which exhibits considerable ingenuity in its construction, and live upon worms, the larvæ of insects, and other small animals which they capture whilst making their way beneath the surface of the ground. They inhabit the northern half of both hemispheres, not a single species being known to occur south of the Equator. The best known species, whose history may serve as a type of that of the family, is
THE COMMON MOLE.[273]
The Common Mole of Great Britain, although an animal not very often seen, is yet so well known as regards its general appearance that we need hardly describe it. It has a plump, nearly cylindrical body, with very short limbs, a short tail, and a long, pointed muzzle. The eyes are so minute as to escape observation; the external ears are wanting; the body is covered with a velvet-like coat of hairs of a black or blackish-brown colour, with more or less of a whitish tinge in certain lights; and the feet, which are naked, are flesh-coloured. The total length of the animal is usually about six inches, of which not more than half an inch is made up by the tail.
COMMON MOLE.