The Eastern mole (Scalopus aquaticus) is the primary mole species found across Florida, thriving in the state’s loose, often sandy soils. These small mammals spend nearly their entire lives underground, creating extensive tunnel systems as they search for food. Understanding their strictly carnivorous diet is important for homeowners managing their presence, as their foraging behavior causes the characteristic raised ridges and soil mounds. Moles are insectivores driven by the pursuit of soil-dwelling invertebrates.
The Staple Diet: Primary Invertebrate Prey
The Eastern mole is an active predator with a high metabolism, requiring it to consume 32 to 55 percent of its body weight daily. This constant need makes the mole a relentless hunter, continuously tunneling to locate prey. Earthworms are the most preferred and substantial part of the diet, providing a dense source of protein and moisture readily accessible in moist soil.
Moles use their highly sensitive, hairless snouts, equipped with specialized touch receptors called Eimer’s organs, to detect the movements of invertebrates in their tunnels. Once captured, the mole may consume the earthworm immediately or paralyze it by biting its ganglion. They often store these paralyzed worms in an underground “larder” for later use, ensuring a reliable food supply during poor foraging conditions, such as dry spells or cold snaps.
Insect larvae, often called grubs, form the other major component of the staple diet. Mole crickets and the larvae of various beetles, including Scarabaeid beetle larvae (white grubs), are highly sought after. By consuming these larvae, which are themselves major lawn pests, moles provide natural pest control. The presence of these primary food items is the biggest factor attracting moles to a particular yard.
Specific Florida Supplements and Opportunistic Feeding
While earthworms and beetle larvae are staples, the Florida environment offers a variety of other soil-dwelling creatures that supplement the Eastern mole’s diet. These opportunistic prey items include various moth larvae, such as cutworms and armyworms, encountered while tunneling through the upper soil layers. They also prey upon ants and their brood (eggs and pupae), which can make up a substantial portion of their meals depending on local availability.
The mole’s diet also includes soft-bodied invertebrates like slugs and snails, easily captured within the tunnels. Centipedes are another arthropod moles actively hunt and consume. In rare instances, moles may opportunistically feed on small vertebrates like baby mice or frogs, or consume carrion, but these are minor supplements to the insectivorous diet.
Moles can tunnel through loose soil at speeds up to 18 feet per hour, allowing them to quickly exploit pockets of high-density prey. Foraging success is directly tied to the soil’s moisture content, as wet conditions encourage earthworms and insects to move closer to the surface, making them easier targets. This variation means the exact composition of the mole’s diet shifts based on local soil conditions and seasonal changes.
Addressing Misconceptions: Plant Roots and Bulbs
A widespread misconception is that moles actively feed on the roots of grass, ornamental plants, and garden bulbs. The Eastern mole is a strict carnivore with a dental structure unsuited for chewing tough plant material. Damage to plant roots and bulbs is collateral, a secondary effect of the mole’s constant tunneling activity.
When a mole constructs its shallow foraging tunnels, it pushes aside soil and severs the fine root systems of plants, which causes them to wilt and die from lack of water and nutrients. This disturbance creates the visual appearance of a plant being eaten, leading to the common misdiagnosis. The true culprits for consuming plant roots and bulbs are often rodents like voles, which are herbivores.
Voles frequently use the mole’s pre-dug tunnels as protected travel corridors. They feed on the plant roots and bulbs they encounter, making the mole an unwitting accomplice. Therefore, it is important to distinguish between the mole’s tunneling, driven by a carnivorous diet, and the actual consumption of vegetation, which is the work of other animals.