Mole Fun and Interesting Facts

Moles are fascinating animals. They are small pests that have 4 fingers and 2 thumbs to help them dig tunnels in the earth's soil. Even though they are a small nuisance animal, they can make a lot of damage to lawns. Here are some more interesting facts about moles.

1. Moles paralyze their prey with toxin, in their saliva, to store them in underground larders that they have created in the tunnels. Earthworms are one of mole's prey and before they eat them the worm's body gets squeeze out to rid of the dirt.

2. They have poor eyesight. Their eyes are covered in fur and are very hard to locate. Since their eyesight is poor, they use a special scent sensor on the tip of their nose to locate their prey.

3. Moles can dig up to 18ft in one hour. The tunnel (network system) dug by the mole is only known to that exact mole living in it. The system are tunnels 5cm in width, 4cm in height and over 70m in length.

4. These pests are diurnal which they need to hunt and eat every few hours or they will starve. They just sleep for 4 hours and the rest of the day they are hunting for food.

5. They have a high tolerance for carbon-monoxide than any other mammal so they can reuse oxygen in areas with less oxygen.

6. Moles can run backwards as fast as frontwards.

7. In other countries, moles are killed for their fur to make coats out of. Queen Alexandria, the wife of Edward VIII of U.K., introduced the fashion in order to reduce the severe pest problem in Scotland.

8. Some countries eat moles which their meat is not tasty.

9. Moles can also swim.

10. They can live up to 4 years; however, certain species of moles have been known to live between 6-7 years.