The benefits of moles and molehills in the garden

These small animals from the mammalian family are known to live in underground tunnels. Moles are commonly found in Europe, Asia, South Africa, North and South America. Most people think of them as garden pests, but in reality this is not entirely true. The question of what is the use of moles is of acute interest to gardeners and gardeners.

Underground mammals

These animals differ from meadow mice (voles) and ground squirrels, with which they are often confused, noting certain characteristics. Moles have a hairless pointed muzzle about 1.3 cm long. Small eyes and the opening of the ear canal are hidden in the fur. The front legs are very large and wide. Toes webbed to the base of the claws are depressed. The hind legs are small and narrow.

They have long claws that they use to quickly create long tunnels beneath the surface of the earth. The entrances to the tunnels can be easily identified by the earth mounds that have appeared. These mammals have a fairly wide variety of fur colors; they can be black, cream, gray, orange and white.

About 20 different species live in the natural terrestrial environment. Many of them are very similar in appearance, have a length of 5 to 21 cm and a weight of 9 to 170 g. The strangest exception is the mole, which has a star-shaped nose that lives in parts of Canada and north- East of the USA.

From a physiological point of view, the mole is perfectly adapted: despite the low oxygen content in the underpasses, its blood has a very high hemoglobin content.

Habitat

The mole lives in underground burrows, reaching the surface very rarely and often by accident. Due to their need for food moles should cover a large areathan other animals that live underground. It is assumed that the domestic range of the male’s territory is almost 20 times greater than that of the gopher. Three to five animals per 12 ha are considered a large population for most areas.

Deep burrows, from 12.7 to 20.3 cm below the surface of the earth, lead from the den of the mole to its lands. These little diggers use tunnels for travel, but they are not just underground roads. Moles dig special chambers at the ends of the tunnels, which serve as bedrooms and areas for childbirth.

Most burrows consist of hunting grounds that are not reused or that can be visited at irregular intervals. In the end, they are filled with settling soil, especially after heavy rains. These underground hunting trails have a diameter of 3.2 to 3.8 cm. Moles sometimes rise along the surface of the soil, so their tunnels can be easily traced. During the dry period, they are located somewhat deeper, following the course of earthworms.

Moles make home burrows in high, dry places, but prefer to hunt in cool and moist soil inhabited by worms and larvae. This preference explains their attraction to lawns and parks. In abandoned gardens and natural forests, they work without interference.

A labyrinth of passages that penetrate the soil provides sheeting and movement for several species of small mammals. Voles (meadow mice) and house mice live using tunnels to search for food.

Eating habits

The teeth of a mole indicate the characteristics of its nutrition and general behavior. In some respects, they are much more closely associated with predatory mammals than with rodents. The diet of moles consists mainly of:

• insects
• larvae;
• worms.

It is believed that they damage the roots and tubers by eating them, but rodents are usually to blame.

Moles eat food weighing from 70 to 100% of their weight every day. Mole's appetite seems insatiable. But a large amount of energy spent digging the soil requires an appropriate amount of food to supply the body with energy.

In search of food, an almost blind mole relies primarily on its excellent sense of touch and smell. Its sophisticated hunting technique resembles a spider waiting for prey in its web. An insect larva that enters the passage makes a loud noise for sensitive receptors, on which the mole crawls.

Every three to four hours, the hunter goes on patrol of his underground territory to track down the "prey", which also use his system of passages. Extremely fast metabolism means that the mole constantly needs food. Only ten hours without food ends in his death.

General biology, reproduction and behavior

Moles prefer loose, moist soil, teeming with larvae and earthworms. They are most often found in fields and forests, in the shade of vegetation, and cannot exist in hard, arid soil.

The mole is a non-social animal. They do not hibernate in the winter, more or less active at any time of the year. Moles have a gestation period of approximately 42 days. Three to five cubs are born in March or early April. Moles have few natural enemies due to their solitary underground life.. They are hunted by:

• coyotes;
• dogs;
• badgers;
• skunks.

Sometimes a cat, hawk or owl attacks them when they go outside. Spring floods pose the greatest danger to adult moles and their cubs.

When moles are in burrows, they are relatively protected, while most individuals die from gardeners.

Pests or beneficial animals

To the question of what is the use of moles, there is a definite answer. These mammals consume about 100 grams of parasites per day, which is 36 kilograms per year. They also eat young rodents, which cause great damage in the garden and on the site. Even if the moles fed only useful earthworms, the damage would be minimal due to the high fecundity of the worms.

The mole not only eats pests, but also loosens the earth. This helps her enrich herself with oxygen and nutrients. The soil dug by moles is considered healthy, it is readily used for planting domestic plants, as it is loosened and there are no pests in it.

The benefits and harms of moles are not comparable. They are often accused of destroying bulbs, seeds and garden plants. However, they rarely consume plants or parts thereof. Damage to plants is an indirect result of the passage of moles that other small mammals use. Voles and mice live and move through the tunnels of the mole, eat and gnaw grains and tubers. True, moles can also damage plants, destroying their roots.

It is important to correctly determine which animal is causing the damage before proceeding with the solution of the problem. Moles are most often confused with shrews and voles.

In some countries they are considered agricultural pests, while in others, such as Germany, they are a protected species. The harm that these animals bring includes:

• silage contamination by soil particles;
• covering pastures with freshly dug soil, which reduces their size and productivity;
• damage to agricultural machinery due to stones brought to the surface;
• damage to the roots of young plants;
• damage to drainage systems and watercourses.

Interesting Facts

If there are children, then with the help of moles it is possible to interest them in biology and nature conservation. Here are some facts about this animal:

• Moles already existed for more than 50 million years when they shared the world with giant ants, snakes and birds.
• Although moles are quite small and light, they dig up to 20 meters of the tunnel per day.
• The European mole is partly similar to a shark: like it, it has sensitive cells on its face, with which it can sense the electric fields created by insects.
• Moles have very poor eyesight. His small button eyes perceive only the difference between light and darkness.
• A mole can “hear” with his hair. They absorb the smallest vibrations, vibrations, movements, even changes in air pressure, and transmit them in the form of information to the brain of a little hunter.
• This animal is under protection. According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), some species are threatened with extinction at different levels of danger.

Moles provide free fertilizer and aerate the soil. Thus, they contribute to soil health and counteract its compaction.