Mole Facts

These mole facts were designed to give you a basic understanding of an animal that has plagued homeowners for years.

Even though moles spend almost their entire life underground, we associate moles with the damage they cause on the surface, leaving behind a maze of destructive tunnels and hills throughout our lawns.

Moles are pretty unique animals.  

Many of us are familiar with their tunnels and dirt mounds, but most of us don't know a whole lot about the actual mole itself.

How many times have you actually seen a mole in your yard actively digging a tunnel system or searching for food?

Chances are, if you're like most people you've never actually witnessed a mole at work, only its aftermath.

To simplify things we've created a list of interesting and informative facts to better understand this small yet destructive animal.

Mole Facts - The Common Mole

Depending on where you live, the moles causing damage to your lawn will either be eastern moles, or star-nosed moles.

You can tell which mole is causing the damage simply by the way they dig through your lawn.

Eastern moles make tunnels, while star-nosed moles make big piles of dirt that resemble volcanoes on the surface of your lawn.

Moles are insectivores from the family Talpidae and live most of their lives underground, rarely coming to the surface.

They have a specialized bone and muscle construction which allows them to exert a lateral digging force that's equivalent to 32 times its body weight!

When a mole digs a meter of tunnel underground it takes between 400-4,000 times as much energy compared to walking that same distance on the surface.

How fast can a mole dig?

A mole can dig 18 feet of new tunnel in one hour, which is pretty fast!

What Do Moles Eat?

Moles have a very high metabolism and must constantly be on the lookout for food to prevent starving to death.

They consume approximately 70-100 percent of their body weight in food everyday.  

A majority of their food consists of earthworms, their favorite meal.  

Moles have a toxin in their saliva that actually paralyzes a worm when bitten.  

This allows a mole to stockpile several live earthworms in underground chambers for later consumption.

On average a mole will eat about 45-50 pounds of earthworms or insects in one year.

Fun Mole Facts

Here are some fun facts about moles!

• Moles have a lifespan of about 3 years and rarely co-exhist with other moles except during spring mating season.

• Moles can survive in low oxygen underground environments because their blood cells contain a unique hemoglobin protein that allows them to tolerate higher levels of carbon dioxide.

• Male moles are called "boars" and female moles are called "sows."

• Moles have very small eyes and poor vision.  Their eyes are basically used to detect daylight or darkness.