Ground moles are subterranean mammals often recognized by the tell-tale signs of their tunneling activity. Understanding their distinct physical characteristics is the most reliable way to identify them. This guide will help you accurately recognize ground moles based solely on their appearance.
Distinctive Physical Traits
Ground moles possess a cylindrical, compact body, typically 10 to 18 centimeters (4 to 7 inches) long. Their snout is long, pointed, and largely hairless, a sensitive sensory organ. Some species, like the star-nosed mole, feature a unique star-like appendage with 22 fleshy tentacles around the snout, used for touch and detecting prey.
Their eyes are extremely small and often hidden beneath their dense fur or skin, indicating reliance on other senses. Moles lack external ear flaps, with their ear openings tiny and concealed by their fur. This prevents soil from entering during burrowing.
A mole’s fur is short, dense, and velvety, grayish-brown to black. Its texture allows movement both forward and backward in tunnels without catching soil. The fur’s pile does not lie in a single direction, an adaptation for subterranean life.
A mole’s forelimbs are large, broad, and paddle-shaped. These powerful limbs are rotated outwards, with strong claws for excavating soil. Their hindlimbs are smaller, used for pushing soil backward and propulsion. Moles also have a short, sparsely haired tail that assists balance in their underground network.
Distinguishing Moles from Similar Animals
Differentiating moles from other burrowing animals requires observing their physical traits. Voles are often mistaken for moles but resemble small, stocky field mice with visible eyes and prominent external ears. Unlike moles, voles possess typical rodent paws without large, paddle-like digging adaptations.
Shrews are another small mammal sometimes confused with moles due to their pointed snouts. However, shrews are much smaller and more slender than moles, more mouse-like with smaller heads and normal paws. Their eyes and ears are also visible, unlike the hidden features of a mole.
Pocket gophers are different from moles, identified by prominent, fur-lined cheek pouches for carrying food. Gophers also have larger incisor teeth visible even when their mouth is closed, and their forepaws, while adapted for digging, are not rotated outward like a mole’s. Their body shape is more robust.
Rats and mice bear little resemblance to moles. These rodents possess typical eyes and ears, clearly visible and prominent. Their paws are standard rodent paws, suitable for scurrying and climbing but lack the specialized, broad, outward-facing digging claws of a mole. Mice and rats have long, slender tails, unlike a mole’s short tail.