The mounds and workings of the coast mole are smaller than those of the Townsend mole and consequently are less noticed. It seems less prone to make numerous mounds, a pace apart, than the larger mole, and burrows tend to extend deeper in the ground. Upthrust ridges are less commonly built by _orarius_ than by _townsendii_. [Illustration: FIG. 25. Coast mole (_Scapanus orarius orarius_). Freshly killed; Seattle, Washington, June 9, 1938. (Fish and Wildlife Service photo by Victor B. Scheffer, No. 64.)] Jackson (1915: 62) mentions the possibility of ecologic differences between _orarius_ and _townsendii_. There are some differences in habitat and habits. The coast mole seems to live deeper in the ground, prefers better drained soil, and is less colonial than the Townsend mole. These are average differences, however, and the two species commonly occur together. Another difference is that the larger mole rarely enters the dense deciduous woods, such as the brush-grown alder and dogwood jungles along the stream valleys. I have taken the coast mole in such localities, and often have found their workings there. The surface of a nearby meadow may be dotted with mounds of both species, but the larger mole seems not to enter ground that is thickly grown with brush. The coast mole ascends to greater altitudes in the Cascade Mountains than does the Townsend mole. Like the larger mole the coast mole feeds principally on earthworms and insects (Moore, 1933: 38). On September 29, 1939, in a ravine at Seattle, in two baited traps set six inches apart, a creeping mouse (_Microtus oregoni_) and a coast mole were found. The mouse had come to the bait and been caught. The mole had seemingly emerged from the ground through a tunnel a foot away and had been attracted to the body of the mouse. It had eaten an area a half inch in diameter and three-quarters of an inch deep into the body of the mouse just behind the shoulder, when in shifting its position it had become caught in the unsprung trap behind it. When found the mole lay dead with its nose inside the body of the mouse and its back broken. This is the only case known to me of a coast mole appearing voluntarily on the surface of the ground. Never have I found coast moles crushed on the highway; several Townsend moles so killed have been found. [Illustration: FIG. 26. Distribution of the coast mole in Washington. A. _Scapanus orarius orarius._ B. _Scapanus orarius yakimensis._ C. _Scapanus orarius schefferi._] The coast mole seems to breed very early in the spring. Males with swollen testes are found late in January. The young usually number four and are born in late March or early April. The breeding season seems to be the same as that of _townsendii_ but the number of young to a litter may average slightly greater. =Scapanus orarius orarius= True _Scapanus orarius_ True. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 19:52, December 21, 1896.