Moles, often misunderstood as mere pests wreaking havoc on lawns, are fascinating creatures with a crucial role in the ecosystem. These subterranean mammals, belonging to the family Talpidae, are well-adapted for life beneath the surface. While their tunneling activities can be a source of frustration for homeowners, understanding their diet and habits reveals their importance in soil health and pest control.
Mole Identification and Habitat
True moles are found in North America, Europe (excluding Ireland), and Asia. In North America, notable species include the Townsend mole (Scapanus townsendii), the Pacific mole (Scapanus orarius), and the Shrew-mole (Neurotrichus gibbsii). The Townsend mole, the largest in North America, can reach 8 to 9 inches in length, while the Shrew-mole, at 4 to 5 inches, is the smallest and possesses shrew-like features.
Moles thrive in areas with moist, rich soil, such as landscaped areas, gardens, and grasslands. These environments provide a perfect food source and make it easy for moles to tunnel. They are active year-round, constructing complex tunnel systems at various depths. These systems include surface tunnels, located just below the surface, and deeper runways that can extend up to 40 inches underground.
The Insectivorous Diet of Moles
Moles are primarily insectivores, with a diet consisting mainly of insects and other small invertebrates. Their food preferences include:
- Earthworms: These are a staple food source, especially in moist, rich soil. Moles have even developed a unique adaptation to paralyze earthworms with a toxin in their saliva, allowing them to store live prey for later consumption.
- Grubs: The larvae of various insects, such as beetle larvae, are another favorite.
- Other Invertebrates: Moles also consume ants, termites, beetles, centipedes, millipedes, snails, slugs, sowbugs, and crickets.
A single mole can consume its body weight in these invertebrates every day, highlighting their voracious appetite.
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Impact on Lawns and Gardens
The mole's unending quest for food can lead to damage in lawns and gardens. Their tunneling can disrupt root systems, create unsightly molehills, and heave small plants out of the ground. Surface tunnels appear as ridges or rips in the lawn, while molehills are mounds of excavated soil.
However, it's important to remember that moles also contribute to the health of the landscape. Their tunneling mixes soil nutrients, improves soil aeration and drainage, and controls populations of soil-dwelling pests.
Mole vs. Vole Damage
It is important to know the difference between mole and vole damage to the landscape. One way to distinguish the difference is by the diet of each animal. Moles “M” are meat-eaters, and their diet consists of insects, grubs, and earthworms. A mole is 4 to 7 inches long with paddle-shaped feet and prominent digging claws. It has an elongated head and snout, small eyes, and no external ears. Moles will dig tunnels in shrub beds and lawns.Barbara H. It digs characteristic volcano-shaped hills in the lawn. The tunnels are dug at a rate of 18 feet per hour and can add 150 feet of new tunnels in the lawn each day.
Voles, on the other hand, are rodents that primarily feed on plant matter. They create golf ball-sized exit holes in mole tunnels and can cause significant damage to plant roots.
Managing Mole Populations
Complete extermination of moles is often impractical and unnecessary. However, if mole activity becomes problematic, there are several management strategies to consider:
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Reducing Food Sources: Treating your lawn for grubs and other insect larvae can make it less attractive to moles. Systemic grub treatments that contain imidacloprid as an active ingredient can be applied to the lawn area in May. Granular products are easier to apply but be sure to irrigate with at least ½ inch of water immediately after application. Because these products are systemic within the turfgrass, they will last the entire growing season. Granular grub killers that contain trichlorfon or carbaryl are contact insecticides that should be applied in early July and are spread over the lawn and watered in well.
Barriers: Constructing an underground barrier to keep moles from tunneling into an area can be labor-intensive and costly; however, it is recommended for exceptional situations.
Natural Control: Predators like snakes, dogs, and coyotes can help control mole populations.
Humane Trapping: If necessary, use no-kill live traps to relocate moles. Harpoon-style mole traps may be used in an active mole tunnel. Trapping is one of the most successful ways to get rid of moles. Several different types of mole traps, such as harpoon, impaling, choker, pitfall, or scissor-jawed, are available on the market.
Repellents: No repellents currently available will reliably protect lawns or other plantings from moles. Mothballs, garlic, or spearmint leaves placed in the tunnels, and a perimeter of mole plants (Euphorbia spp.) planted around gardens, have all produced mixed results.
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