European Mole

Built to Dig

A European mole’s front limbs are highly modified for digging. Each front foot has five strong claws and is permanently turned outward. The body is long and cylindrical, with velvety black fur and no external ears. The bare nose carries sensory whiskers.

A mole weighs 72 to 128 g, and AnAge gives an average adult weight of 92.5 g. The body is 113 to 159 mm long, plus a tail of 25 to 40 mm. A mole rarely stores more than 3 g of fat.

Eyes in the Dark

The eyes are small and often hidden by fur. The retina holds about 100,000 light-sensing cells, and 10 to 12% of them are cones rather than rods. The lens transmits light down to 300 nanometres. Reading part of the gene for one cone pigment strongly supports that pigment being sensitive to UV. The researchers say their data suggest that bright-light vision and UV sensitivity play a functional role in the mole.

Mole fortress European moles are known to build “fortresses”: structured mounds that at times hold more than 750 kg of soil, with one or more nest chambers and a network of tunnels inside.

Life in the Tunnels

The European mole lives across temperate Europe, from Great Britain east to the Ob and Irtysh rivers in Russia. It is missing from the far south, including Greece, Portugal and Italy. It needs soil deep enough to tunnel in, such as arable fields, deciduous woodland and permanent pasture. Moles generally burrow less than a metre below ground. Permanent tunnel networks can be hundreds of metres long.

Earthworms are the main food where they make up the majority of the soil animals’ biomass. Where there are fewer earthworms, insects are. A mole usually has three rest periods and three activity periods in every 24 hours.

A mole’s home range covers 300 to 3000 square metres. If two meet outside the breeding season, a fight usually occurs.

In the wild, a mole typically lives 2 to 3 years. One population held moles up to five years old. AnAge reports that they live up to 6 years, but says their maximum longevity must be classified as unknown. Deaths peak at five to six weeks of age, when young moles leave the nest and come above ground. Owls, buzzards and herons are among the birds that catch them.