Mole (animal)

For other uses, see Mole.

Moles
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Soricomorpha
Family:	Talpidae G. Fischer, 1814
Genera
17 genera, see text

Moles are members of the mammal family Talpidae in the order Soricomorpha. Moles live underground and burrow holes. Some species are aquatic or semi-aquatic. Moles have cylindrical bodies covered in fur with small or covered eyes; the ears are generally not visible. They feed on small invertebrate animals living underground. Moles can be found in North America, Europe and Asia.

Male moles are called boars; females are called soes. A group of moles is called a labor. Since at least the era of Early Modern English the mole was also known in the UK as a "moldywarp" or "moldywarpes" (plural).

Diet

A mole's diet is primarily composed of earthworms and other small invertebrates. The mole will also occasionally catch small mice at the entrance to its burrow. Their saliva contains a toxin that will paralyze earthworms, allowing them to store their still living prey for later consumption. They have specially constructed larders for just this purpose; some such larders have been discovered with over a thousand earthworms in them. Before eating earthworms, moles pull them between their squeezed paws to force the collected earth and dirt out of the worm's gut.

The Star-nosed Mole can detect, catch and eat food faster than the human eye can follow (under 300 milliseconds).

Evolution

Darwin cites moles as an example of organs being phased out:

The eyes of moles and of some burrowing rodents are rudimentary in size, and in some cases are quite covered by skin and fur. This state of the eyes is probably due to gradual reduction from disuse, but aided perhaps by natural selection. In South America, a burrowing rodent, the tuco-tuco, or Ctenomys, is even more subterranean in its habits than the mole; and I was assured by a Spaniard, who had often caught them, that they were frequently blind. One which I kept alive was certainly in this condition, the cause, as appeared on dissection, having been inflammation of the nictitating membrane. As frequent inflammation of the eyes must be injurious to any animal, and as eyes are certainly not necessary to animals having subterranean habits, a reduction in their size, with the adhesion of the eyelids and growth of fur over them, might in such case be an advantage; and if so, natural selection would aid the effects of disuse. (Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species, Laws of Variation)

Classification

A mole

Another picture of a mole

A mole hill

The family is divided into 3 subfamilies, 7 tribes, and 17 genera:

• Subfamily Scalopinae
  • Tribe Condylurini
    • Genus Condylura
  • Tribe Scalopini
    • Genus Parascalops
    • Genus Scalopus
    • Genus Scapanulus
    • Genus Scapanus
• Subfamily Talpinae
  • Tribe Desmanini
    • Genus Desmana
    • Genus Galemys
  • Tribe Neurotrichini
    • Genus Neurotrichus
  • Tribe Scaptonychini
    • Genus Scaptonyx
  • Tribe Talpini
    • Genus Euroscaptor
    • Genus Mogera
    • Genus Parascaptor
    • Genus Scaptochirus
    • Genus Talpa
  • Tribe Urotrichini
    • Genus Dymecodon
    • Genus Urotrichus
• Subfamily Uropsilinae
  • Genus Uropsilus

Pest status

Moles are considered to be an agricultural pest in some countries, while in others, such as Germany, they are a protected species but may be killed if a permit is received. Problems cited as caused by moles include contamination of silage with soil particles making it unpalatable to animals, the covering of pasture with fresh soil reducing its size and yield, damage to agricultural machinery by the exposure of stones, damage to young plants through disturbance of the soil, weed invasion of pasture through exposure of fresh tilled soil, and damage to drainage systems and watercourses. Other species such as weasels and voles may use mole tunnels to gain access to enclosed areas or plant roots.

Moles burrow in lawns, raising molehills, and killing the lawn, for which they are sometimes considered pests. They can undermine plant roots, indirectly causing damage or death. Contrary to popular belief, moles don't eat plant roots.

They are controlled with traps, smoke bombs, and poisons such as calcium carbide and strychnine.

Other common remedies for moles include cat litter and blood meal, to repel the mole, or flooding or smoking its burrow. There are also devices sold to trap the mole in its burrow, when one sees the "mole hill" moving and therefore knows where the animal is, and then stabbing it. Other, "humane" traps are used to capture the mole so that it may be transported elsewhere.

Similarly named animals

Other similar animals are found in family Chrysochloridae (the golden moles) and family Notoryctidae (the marsupial moles) which are not related to true moles.

There are also similar-looking but herbivorous rodents called mole-rats that lead a similar life and are commonly called "moles", although, unlike mole-rats, no species of true mole is known to be eusocial.

External links

• UK Government DEFRA paper on control the European Mole