Mr Mole – The Little Chap in the Grey Waistcoat

The mole is a mysterious little creature whose presence is only really noticed once those telltale molehills start to appear on the lawn or in the flowerbeds. It’s not a large animal, despite the amount of soil it can move, weighing between 90 – 110 grams and rarely exceeding 150mm in length. It can create 15 to 25 meters of tunnels in a 24 hour period, producing as many as 12 molehills a day, each one containing 3 – 5 litres of soil.  Solitary and territorial, a mole usually inhabits an underground tunnel system covering an area of some 500 – 2000 sq meters. It will fiercely defend its territory and will fight to the death to guard its food gathering network of tunnels.

A mole needs to eat between 75% and 100% of its body weight in worms a day. So at this time of the year it is digging many new tunnels in order to find the worms which have gone deeper underground to avoid being frozen in the top layer of icy soil.

Moles are not actually blind they do have small ineffective eyes but to make up for this their other senses are much heightened.  They have a covering of very sensitive hairs on their face which are able to detect the slightest of movements including air movement in their tunnels – thus they know exactly when their environment is being interfered with. They also have a very sensitive tail which they carry high, touching the roof of the tunnel; this helps it to feel vibrations from above.

A mole knows its tunnel system intimately and has what is known as “Kinesthetic Sense” meaning that it has an imprinted memory of its surroundings – thus it knows exactly where it is in relation to its tunnel network, it also knows if that tunnel system has been interfered with. It’s rather like being able to find your way to the bathroom in the dark – you know through practice exactly where the doors are and when to turn left and right without bumping into things.

Moles mate just once a year around February/March time and will have a litter of 3 to 5 young. These are raised by the female and then evicted from the nest in May and June. They will travel overland when necessary and can attain a speed of 3 miles per hour - this is one of the few times they are vulnerable to predator attack. An increase in tunneling activity also takes place at this time as young moles establish a territory for themselves – right in the middle of the gardening season!

Whether you consider the mole to be friend or foe, you can’t help but admire its work ethic – it labours for 3 or 4 hours and then rests for 3 or 4 hours. It is capable of amazing feats of strength, is a superb swimmer and a born survivor with few natural predators. If, however, it is making its way across your pride and joy bowling green lawn, it’s perhaps time to call in someone who can quickly rectify the situation.