What do they look like?

Head and body length in eastern moles ranges from 110 to 170mm. Tail length ranges from 18 to 36mm. Northern populations are larger than southern and southwestern populations and males are larger than females. Their robust body is covered with a thick velvety fur that varies from silver to black to copper. Their hair is hinged so that it can go forwards and backwards without problem, this is important because they have to be able to move in both directions in their tunnels. The short tail is round, almost hairless, and has scales. The feet have a little hair above, are naked below, and are quite large. The webbing between the toes of each foot aids in digging. These moles have no external eyes or ears. It is thought that their poorly developed eyes may still be able to detect light.

Where in the world do they live?

Eastern moles are only native to the Nearctic region. They are found from southeastern Wyoming, South Dakota, and central Texas east to Michigan, Massachusetts, and New England, south to the tip of Florida, and north to Ontario. Small relict populations are found in southwestern Texas and in northwestern Mexico.

What kind of habitat do they need?

Eastern moles prefer fields, meadows, pastures, and open woodland. They are not found in stony or gravelly soils or in clay, instead they prefer moist, sandy, and loamy soils that are neither too wet nor too dry.

How do they reproduce?

Breeding occurs once a year. Throughout most of their range eastern moles breed in late March and early April, in the southernmost areas they begin to breed in January. Length of pregnancy is unknown but is probably between 28 and 45 days long. Litters usually contain two to five young. The young are independent in one month and fully grown by the next breeding season.

Young eastern moles are cared for and nursed by their mother in her nest and tunnel system until they are weaned. They continue to share her tunnel system until they are able to forage on their own, when they leave and establish their own tunnel systems.

How long do they live?

One captive animal lived longer than 36 months. In the wild it is likely that eastern moles live for less than this.

How do they behave?

A study in Kentucky found that eastern moles are mostly active from 8:00 in the morning to 4:00 in the afternoon and from 11:00 at night to 4:00 in the morning. These moles are mostly solitary, though their tunnel systems may overlap and they may share some space. Males have larger home ranges and more complex and extensive tunnel systems than females. Tunnel systems are found in two forms. One type consists of deep, fairly permanent passageways that are used as burrows and as routes to feeding sites. The other consists of surface runways used for finding food. Winter tunnels tend to be deeper than summer tunnels. Nest chambers of dry vegetation are usually below the surface underneath a boulder or the roots of a plant. Eastern moles can dig up to 4.5 meters in one hour with their powerful forefeet. One individual dug 31 meters of shallow tunnels in one day. Special adaptations of their bodies enable these moles to burrow with such speed. Their forefeet are large and as wide as they are long. The bones of their shoulder girdles and upper forelimbs provide broad suraces for muscle attachment, giving them a lot of power in their forelegs. When they burrow, these moles "dive" into the earth; they first thrust their forefeet into the soil and then follow with the head and body as they rotate their forelimbs and pull the loosened dirt backwards. Eastern moles have high energy requirements and need large amounts of food daily, this means they have to look over large areas for food and can travel for reasonably long distances. Eastern moles can swim well and are mainly limited in where they can travel by soil types. They cannot travel through rocky and heavy clay soils, or soils that are too dry or too wet.

How do they communicate with each other?

Although eastern moles have no vision, they may be able to detect the presence or absence of light. Their ears are also covered by a layer of skin but they may be able to detect sounds and vibrations. Eastern moles probably find their way around and detect prey by their acute senses of smell and touch.

What do they eat?

Eastern moles eat primarily earthworms. They also eat insects and their larvae, some vegetation, and, in captivity, ground beef, dog food, mice, and small birds. Each day this mole eats 25% to 100% of its own weight in food, that's like you eating from 1 to 5 twenty pound hamburgers!

What eats them and how do they avoid being eaten?

Eastern moles spend 99% of their time in their underground tunnels, there are few predators that can find and catch them there.

What roles do they have in the ecosystem?

Eastern moles are important predators of insect larvae and other invertebrates, they can profoundly impact the communities of their prey. They also act to aerate and turn soil where they live through their extensive tunneling activities.

Do they cause problems?

Eastern moles damage pastures and gardens by digging and injuring bulbs and root masses.

How do they interact with us?

As insectivores, these animals eat the larvae of many insect pests. They also help to aerate and turn over the soil.

Are they endangered?

Eastern moles are not endangered but have suffered persecution by gardeners and farmers who are displeased by the mounds of earth left behind and by the root damage caused by this animal.

Contributors

Antonia Gorog, University of Michigan

References

Harvey, M.J. (1976). Home Range, Movements and Diel Activity of the Eastern Mole, Scalopus aquaticus, The American Midland Naturalist, Vol. 95, No. 2.

Macdonald, David. (1984). The Encyclopedia of Mammals, Facts on File Publications, New York.

Nowak, Ronald M. and Paradiso, John L. (1983). Walker's Mammals of the World , The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London.

Yates, Terry L. and Schmidly, David J. (1972). Mammalian Species, No. 105, The American Society of Mammalogists.

"Animal Life Histories Database" (On-line).