The Mole

The mole (Talpa europaea) is one of the most recorded mammals in the British Isles. No animal in Britain is so well known but so infrequently seen as the mole and no creature so fascinating yet so misunderstood. Everyone can recognise the familiar heaps of soil - mole hills. They are despised by gardeners and greenkeepers but adored by generations of children as Mole in Kenneth Graham's The Wind in the Willows or as Moldy Warp in Alison Uttley's Little Grey Rabbit.

The following nursery rhyme is about the mole:

Diggory Diggory Delvet!
A little old man in black velvet;
He digs and he delves
You can see for yourselves
The mounds dug by Diggory Delvet.

The mole is a cylindrical creature which could be likened to a mini furry torpedo as its whole body is streamlined for its underground existence. It does not appear to have a neck as the head joins seamlessly onto the body. It has reduced ears, and reduced sexual organs so it does not impede progress though the soil. The front feet are very powerful hands which scoop earth with tremendous force. They are one of the most powerful tools in the animal kingdom but they cannot bend to grip nor can the fingers move separately. The hind feet are smaller and are used to kick earth backwards during tunnelling. The tail is held aloft and is used as a sensitive feeler when the animal runs backwards along its tunnels. The mole's snout is flat-ended and very sensitive to touch and detects prey and other moles by scent. Their long canine teeth are sharp to pierce the hard outer skeleton of their prey. Moles do have very small eyes, only about 1mm in diameter and it has poor eyesight, being able only to detect the difference between light and dark. The body is covered in short soft fur which is able to be brushed in either direction enabling it to either go forward or backwards in the tunnels. Moleskin with its velvety feel was used in coat collars and waistcoats. It must have inspired the development of modern moleskin trousers which are standard army issue where the knap can be brushed both ways.

Scent is enormously important to moles as a means of communication since both sight and sound are almost useless underground. They leave scent marks on the walls of the tunnels, which are renewed every time the animal brushes by. These pungent signs act as a warning to others to stay away and appear to be very effective as moles are almost never found occupying each other's tunnels. They live totally solitary lives, belligerently expelling intruders, except for a very brief period of a few hours each year when the female will tolerate the presence of a male. Moles breed when they are one year old. The female, once she has eventually found a male in the maze of tunnels, gives birth to 3 young in April or May or June.

Moles do not dig tunnels in search of food. They construct their tunnels as food traps and eat the earthworms and insect larvae that fall into their tunnels. Most of the food is covered in grit and time has to be spent cleaning it. They spend their time patrolling their tunnel smelling out the food. In good times such as when it's raining, there may be a surplus of them falling into the tunnels - too many to eat at once. The opportunity is not wasted as the mole reacts by collecting the worms and biting their heads off! Presumably they know which end to bite! The worms remain alive but are unable to move off. They are stashed in a small chamber ready for future use. A mole needs to eat about 50grams of worms per day, equivalent to over half their body weight.

Photo: Derek Whiteley

Man must certainly be the greatest predator or moles. This persecution results from the damage caused to crops, lawns and golf courses by molehills. In addition, until 1950, there was a strong market in the sale of moleskins. At the peak of the moleskin trade America was importing over 4 million moleskins a year from England. It took over 100 good pelts to make a waistcoat. Nowadays they are mostly disliked by some gardeners as they create havoc with their mole hills on freshly manicured lawns. Vast amounts of money is spent and usually wasted getting rid of moles from the garden. Some of you may recall the comedy routine Jasper Carrot did on getting rid of moles from his garden with hilarious consequences. Various methods used included using garlic and moths balls, fireworks, windmills, and using a 12 bore shotgun and he still didn't succeed!

The mole can be found over most of Britain. It is however, absent from most islands including the Isle of Wight, Isle of Man, Anglesey, and Ireland. In Derbyshire the distribution map below was kindly provided by Nick Moyes. He says that it is very incomplete and shows only 629 records and not any of the DMG records forwarded by Derek Whitley yet. Records show that they generally avoids woodlands and is rare on peat moorlands but follows valleys, roads and shooting tracks up onto the moors e.g. Snake Pass, Woodhead, etc. and reach altitudes over 550m. Clinging & Whiteley (1985) [1] report a sighting of a live mole at 2000 feet (609m) on Bleaklow. In addition you might like to look up the mole distribution map for the Sorby area 1970-1997 and 1980-2000 on the Sorby Natural History Society website.

Further reading:

Gorman, M.L. & Stone, R.D. (1990) The Natural History of Moles. Christopher Helm, London.
Stone, D. (1986) Moles Anthony Nelson, Oswestry.