HAVE you ever heard the story of white moles of Montgomeryshire?

The rare species became synonymous with one particular village in the early 19th century.

Nobody can be sure why exactly the hills of Llanllugan near Newtown became the exclusive home of the unique mole which was only discovered in the 1830s as the population of the Severn Valley grew and communities expanded.

Sadly this meant the moles were hunted to extinction by over-zealous farmers and mole trappers.

Indeed records show mole catchers seldom trapped the common black mole in this part of the Severn Valley and only the white specimen which was then unknown of elsewhere in Wales and the rest of the UK.

County Times: A rare white mole.

A white mole.

In bodily proportions, it was similar to the common mole but its fur was creamy white and said to possess a beautiful gloss and soft to touch.

Under the stomach, running from the chin to the tail, had be a broad stripe of deep yellow or burnt sienna tinge while the nose and lips were of a beautiful pink colour.

The feet had been what made the Montgomeryshire white mole even more remarkable with them compared to human hands albeit shrivelled up while its claws were particularly white.

While similar discoveries were made in the UK in the 19th century, the mole was never more common than in Llanllugan.

Naturalists at the time noted the mole rarely emerged from underground apart from at night to hunt.

The Llanllugan mole hunted reptiles and frogs with witnesses claiming to see one such mole eat a frog.

County Times: Llanllugan hills. Picture by Phil Halling/Geograph.

Llanllugan hills. Picture by Phil Halling/Geograph.

The witness is recorded to say: "I was returning home one sultry evening, when my attention was called to a very unusual cry of distress, which proceeded from the ditch-bank of the road. My curiosity was excited, and I alighted from my horse. When I got to the ditch-bank, I was astonished by seeing a mole grasping a yellow frog by the leg, and drawing him towards the hedge."

This testimony and an inspection of the teeth confirmed the white mole of Llanllugan had been as much predator as prey.

County Times: Llanllugan hills. Picture by Phil Halling/Geograph.

Llanllugan hills. Picture by Phil Halling/Geograph.

The white moles were uncommon in the adjacent parts of Montgomeryshire and naturalists at the time were mystified why the creatures were so comfortable in Llanllugan and suggested the moles be used as tourist attractions.

However the white mole of Llanllugan would never enjoy the same fame as the leming of Scandinavia, or the ermine of Siberia.

Instead trappers and furriers hunted the white mole to the point of extinction.

Little is known these days of whether the white moles remain in the hills of Llanllugan or whether they were totally wiped out in the 19th century.