All about the mole (talpa europaea)

The European mole, also known as the common mole is a burrowing mammal with a unique biology adapted for a life in total darkness and as such is very rarely seen above ground, usually only the reason we know they are about is by the "molehills" it creates while excavating its extensive network of tunnels.

Evolution has finely tuned the mole for a life of digging, every aspect of its anatomy serves its subterranean mission:The moles front limbs are positioned sideways like oars, featuring large claws and and extra "thumb" (a sesamoid bone) to help move massive amounts of soil.

Unlike most mammals, a mole's fur has no "grain" it can lay flat in any direction,allowing the mole to move forward or backward through tight tunnels without getting stuck.

Many people believe the mole to be blind this is not so,while their eyes are tiny and covered they are able to detect light and dark.They rely primarily on Eimers organs (thousands of sensitive touch receptors) on their snouts.

The moles unique blood chemistry allows them to survive in low oxygen high CO2 environments, they have almost twice the haemoglobin of other mammals their size.

A single mole can maintain a territory of up to 1,000 square meters, their tunnel networks are divided into two types, the surface tunnels, which cause long ridges just below the turf which they use for foraging usually during the spring and summer, and deep tunnels these are the permanent highways (up to 70 cm deep) used for nesting and protection from frost, its the spoil from these deeper runs which cause the hills on the surface,

Moles are voracious eaters, often consuming 50-100 % of their body weight in earthworms (they also eat larvae,slugs and beetles) everyday. Moles are also able to paralyse earthworms with a toxic bite which they then store alive in "larders" to eat later, one larder can contain hundreds of immobilised worms.