How deep is a mole hole? How and to what depth does the mole dig the earth? Mole in nature. Underground passages of moles in the ground.

In the pine forest lived a mole named Creel. In the neighborhood with him lived his friend, the same little mole, his name was Muk. They very rarely climbed to the surface, sticking their heads out of their minks and talking to each other. Here they became clumsy and helpless and did not run far from the minks, because their vision in daylight is almost absent due to the fact that they spend their whole lives in underground passages.
Their mothers were always worried about them and very rarely allowed them to do so.
One day, when Creel stuck his head out of a mink, he was waiting for his friend. a field mouse ran past. She was very curious and when she saw him she asked:
- And who are you? I've never seen anyone like you here.
- I'm a mole Creel, I also never saw such animals as you!
Creel said:
- My mother told me that we are moles and, as everyone knows, we live in the ground to penetrate into the thickness of which we dig holes in a helical shape, screwing into the ground and raking it with our paws.
Our paws are perfectly adapted for this, they have huge curved claws and powerful muscles. Here look.
And he showed her his paw.
The mouse, seeing his long claws, ran away from him and said:
- Wow, how long they are!
- Yes, they are like shoulder blades. With them we dig long passages underground, along which we quickly move.
We are moles, perhaps the most famous animal on earth, which digs holes in its habitats. As you can see, we are small and almost blind hard workers who are able to dig up to hundreds of holes and up to a kilometer of tunnels per day.
“It’s not possible that you could dig such a long hole for yourself in a day?”
- No, not a hole, but a tunnel to it! It's like in the subway, first the tunnel, and then the station. This is our underground kingdom.
We are very famous underground inhabitants of the planet. We are very small, but we are of great use in forests, gardens and orchards. My grandfather told me this story.
The fact that we belong to those inhabitants of the planet who exterminate harmful insects, and we can regulate the mass reproduction of some of their species. The basis of our nutrition is soil invertebrates, among which earthworms occupy a large proportion, soil-living insects and their larvae are eaten by moles in a smaller amount. We destroy the larvae of the May beetle, weevil, cutworm caterpillars and even the bear.
There was such a well-known case when, after catching moles in one of the Czech parks, hordes of May beetles appeared there in such numbers that they began to destroy everything that they could eat. Everyone knows that May beetles lay their eggs, from which beetles appear and then fly out in the ground. And we destroy them moles and by this we regulate their number. So that's why the authorities were forced to put moles there again.
Our weight is about 100 grams, length is not more than 20 centimeters in length, covered with even beautiful fur. Here look!
Creel got out of his mink, and showed his beautiful, even and smooth fur in front of the mouse.
- And look at what an elongated movable nose I have, tiny blind eyes, flat wide paws with hefty claws - here's the look of a typical mole.
And to be so beautiful, we are very voracious and can eat up to 20 to 23 kilograms of worms a year. And in order to mine them by swarming their tunnels at a speed of almost five, or even six meters per hour, and this is not enough to get one meter per minute. And then we run along them at a speed of twenty meters per minute. We are a storm of earthworms and other insects.
My grandfather said that compared to other animals of this size, we have twice the amount of blood and twice the amount of hemoglobin in it. This allows us to easily breathe underground, where the oxygen content is very low.
We Moles are perhaps the most famous animal that digs holes in their habitats. We are small and almost blind hard workers capable of making up to a hundred holes and up to a kilometer of tunnels per day.
One mole can build fifty to one hundred heaps a month.
The mouse listened to him with great interest and said:
“Of course, what you told me is interesting to me. But I also know a fairy tale about Thumbelina, which a field mouse wanted to pass off as a mole. Because he was very rich. But he lived underground without seeing the sunlight.
- There are a lot of myths and fairy tales about us, you're right. This is true. But these are fairy tales, but in real life we ​​have to constantly work.
What is it like to live underground? It is difficult to answer this question. You know, man and almost all animals and mammals settled on the surface of the planet, only occasionally delving into its bowels.
We also occasionally need the sun, clean air and at least some space, otherwise we begin to wither. This is true not only for humans, but also for the vast majority of mammals. Even if many of them live in burrows, they hunt and breed outside.
But as you can see, there are exceptions to every rule. We Moles are sure that the sun and space are greatly overrated.
In ancient times, we settled in many regions of the planet, but we prefer to live where the earth is wet and the winters are not too severe.
Our fellow Starbearers, or as they are also called starfish, are the same - small moles, live in the humid regions of Eastern Canada and in the northeastern part of the United States.
We can be found everywhere from Europe to Siberia itself. Our main habitats are the edges of forests, fields, vegetable gardens and orchards. Where the soil is quite soft and pliable.
We do not like only sandy soil in the vicinity of groundwater. But if we have to meet small open reservoirs on our way, we overcome them without much difficulty. Just swimming across them is all.
But seeing us moles is still not easy. On the surface, we almost do not get out.
And a sign that a mole has settled on some piece of land is, of course, the appeared pits and small mounds with earth neatly folded around the edges.
The mouse listened to Creel and asked him:
And how do you live when it's winter. We, for example, prepare food for ourselves for a long winter. Are you also stocking up for winter?
- Of course we do!
Do you think we're just digging the ground and that's it? Of course not!
We are laying numerous passages that have their own system and purpose. These passages are divided by us into residential and stern. We walk along residential areas from the nest to the feeding compartments or to the place of watering. Feeding areas serve as traps for catching the worms that we feed on.
But our main structure is the nest in which we sleep. It is located at a depth of up to two meters in a protected place, under stones, buildings or tree roots. Our nest is very cozy, it is lined with leaves and dry soft grass, as well as feathers and moss, which we find when we climb up.
In this way, all our passages form a well-coordinated system of galleries with passages and aft compartments, so to speak, located very close to the ground. And those holes in the ground that a person sees, in fact, serve only to throw out excess earth.
- So you, like us, work around the circle?
– Of course, it turns out that our year-round diligence and activity persists throughout the year. In winter, we can lay our passages even under the snow, or deeper, where the soil does not freeze through.
Because our constant movement and digging of the earth is the main condition for our survival, because the mole breathes ordinary air, for the same reason we do not settle on clay soils.
Our whole life is spent in the endless digging of holes and the search for food. Our metabolism, or, so to speak, the digestion of food, like other diggers, is prohibitively high. I need to eat as much food per day as I weigh myself. Without food, I can live no more than 15 hours, and then I just die of hunger. This leads to the fact that we not only hunt insects, but also create huge reserves for ourselves.
So it turns out that the main prey, and these are earthworms, as a rule, awaits a terrible fate.
Don't think we're not villains. This is our way of life laid down for us only in order not to perish. And if we die, then, as you understand, May bugs and worms will envelop the whole earth with their presence. And Man can't handle it. Because, destroying them, other inhabitants of the planet may die. Yes, and he himself.
- Yes, you are right, we, too, can die from poison, with which a person would poison bugs and worms!
You are probably going to tell me now how you stock up for the winter?
- Well, yes! If you are interested?
- Of course, interesting, but a little scary!
“But if you’re scared, I won’t do it!”
- No, I'm interested. I need to know this too!
- Then listen!
At the same time, we Moles take advantage of the fact that it is not easy to kill a worm. It is long and very slippery. But we have a trick for this, we bite through his head, these we immobilize him, and take him to our underground warehouse.
We have up to several hundred of these paralyzed worms in our warehouses, which we eat on hungry winter days.
If earthworms could communicate there, surely we moles in their stories would appear as the most terrible of the monsters. But the worms that are there are not given this. They all have bitten heads.
Of course it's cruel to them! But nature has not given us other life and the extraction of food in it for us moles. Everything is interconnected in it.
- Yes, it's sad to hear, but what to do. It really is so given to you by nature!
“And you must have thought that we are all the time eating and hunting for worms and other insects.
Of course not! We are moles, the owners of holes and tunnels are not limited, we get food for ourselves and its storage.
We are self-respecting animals! Because any self-respecting mole digs for himself, and then make a cozy underground nest. In his house, he sleeps off in between feedings.
This house is located at a depth of one and a half to two meters, as a rule, under the roots of a tree, shrub, large stone or human dwelling. That does not allow predators, eager to feast on our carcass, to take us diggers by surprise. As I said, we make our bedroom cozy, while maintaining perfect cleanliness and order there.
I would tell you a lot, but I need to go home.
“You told me a lot about your life, but you never answered my question! Why do moles dig holes?
“I told you that moles also breathe air. The mole, moving underground, pushes the ground apart in such a way that a flat tunnel with an exit upwards remains behind it. The earth that is dug up from time to time is thrown out into the open. The moves are a system of multi-tiered galleries, mostly located parallel to each other. The possessions of one mole can stretch for many hundreds of meters, into which air penetrates through holes in the ground, which the mole breathes.
That's why heaps of loose earth appear. They are like small beds dug by little midgets in the form of us moles. On these beds, in autumn, in the forest clearings, the seeds of birch and pine trees fly, which, falling on these small loose beds, germinate easily. And then beautiful trees grow out of them.

What is it like to live underground? It is difficult for us to answer this question. Mankind settled on the surface of the planet, only occasionally delving into its bowels. We need sun, clean air and at least some space, otherwise we begin to wither. This is true not only for humans, but also for the vast majority of mammals. Even though many of them live in burrows, they hunt and breed outside.

But, of course, there are exceptions to every rule. Moles sure that the sun and space are greatly overrated.

Storm of earthworms

Not each of us has seen a mole, but it is not difficult to imagine him. This is a small animal, no more than 20 centimeters in length, covered with even beautiful fur. An elongated movable nose, tiny blind eyes, flat wide paws with hefty claws - this is the appearance of a typical mole. They settled in many regions of the planet, but prefer those where the earth is wet and the winters are not too severe.

The whole life of a mole passes in endless digging of holes and searching for food. Its metabolism, like that of other shrews, is prohibitively high - a mole needs to eat as much per day as it weighs. Without food, the mole will live no more than 15 hours, and then die of hunger. This leads to the fact that the mole not only preys on insects, but also creates huge stocks.

Its main prey, earthworms, will face a terrible fate. The mole takes advantage of the fact that it is not easy to kill a worm, bites through its head, thereby immobilizing it, and takes it to its underground warehouse.

In such warehouses, up to several hundred paralyzed worms can be stored, which the mole eats on hungry days, especially in winter. If earthworms could communicate, surely the moles in their stories would appear as the most terrible of monsters. But this is not given to worms, especially with a bitten head.

Owners of holes and tunnels

The mole hole is not limited to food storage. Any self-respecting mole digs a cozy underground nest, where it sleeps in between feedings. It is located at a depth of one and a half to two meters, as a rule, under the roots of a tree, shrub, large stone or human dwelling.

This does not allow predators, eager to feast on the mole carcass, to catch the digger by surprise. The mole neatly lines his bedroom with dry grass and leaves, maintains cleanliness and order there. All moles are convinced loners, and get along with each other only during the mating period.

The rest of the time, they jealously guard their territory, attacking any animal that has climbed into their tunnels, including other moles. In a fight for a hole, a fatal outcome is not ruled out, and, moreover, the winner does not mind eating the loser at all. Here is such cannibalism in a mole way.

The mole, moving underground, pushes the earth apart in such a way that an even, non-caving tunnel remains behind it. The moves are a system of multi-tiered galleries, mostly located parallel to each other. The possessions of one mole can stretch for many hundreds of meters - these are mainly hunting grounds. In them, the mole sets up peculiar traps for worms - odorous marks made of musk.

However, the smell attracts not only insects - shrews often climb into the holes, eating the prey of the mole before it arrives. Other animals like mice and stoats can also use the tunnels. At your own risk, of course.

Moles are small animals, but in anger they are extremely dangerous and in their holes they act much more efficiently than strangers. Yes, their eyesight is rather weak, but their sense of smell is at the highest level, as well as the ability to navigate underground. If necessary, the mole crawls backwards with extraordinary ease.

Negative and not so

Another sign that people do not like to look underground is the very scarce mention of moles in the legends of the peoples of the world. Let's try to remember some fairy tale about moles? That's right, Hans Christian Andersen's "Thumbelina" immediately comes to mind, the main character of which they wanted to pass off as a nasty old mole.

To the credit of the great storyteller, it should be noted that he depicts the mole as a character, albeit a negative one, but at least rich and neat. Another famous mole is a cartoon character by Czech artist Zdeněk Miller. He is comical, quick-witted and charming, and thus slightly raises the reputation of his tribe.

Of the ancient legends, moles play at least some role only in Slavic and near-Slavic mythology. It was believed that the mole, living in the bowels of the earth, occupies an intermediate position between animals and reptiles. The rejection of sunlight and blindness only strengthened the moles in this unenviable role.

In addition, molehills - heaps of dug earth on the surface - were associated by our ancestors with graves, and the appearance of a mole was considered a bad omen. In Serbian, Macedonian and Bulgarian legends, one can often find the motif of the origin of moles from people. In one of them, the children of a peasant always quarreled over the land they had inherited. They so annoyed their father that he eventually cursed them, thereby turning his sons into moles. Each of them turned out to have 40 holes, but they were still cramped.

In another tale, a cunning farmer wanted to appropriate someone else's field. To do this, he buried his own son on it and in the presence of a judge asked whose land it was. "Your your!" came a dull voice from underground, and the peasant won the case. But when he began to dig out the offspring, it turned out that he dug too deep, turning into a mole.

Fight for vegetable gardens

Moles feel quite comfortable underground, although they live alone, and their age is short - no more than five years, including in captivity. They have few natural enemies, predators mostly disdain moles because of the sharp musky smell. But people once actively hunted underground diggers.

The fact is that mole fur has a unique property - it grows perfectly straight on the skin and lies in any direction when the animal moves underground. Since the 19th century, mole skins have been highly valued in Russia and Europe for their strength and beauty. But nowadays mole fishing is quite small.

We notice animals when they do good or harm in one way or another. Moles excelled in both areas. It is believed that the mole brings considerable benefits, loosening the earth, enriching it with organic matter and actively eating harmful insects. But farmers, as a rule, are not enthusiastic about mole activity, since animals often dig their tunnels extremely close to the surface, damaging plant roots.

At the same time, getting rid of the mole is damn hard! It would seem, what kind of intelligence can be expected from tiny blind worm eaters? Surprisingly very high. In the fight against moles, substances with a pungent odor, poisons, traps and a variety of noise devices are used.

Starfish (or starfish) is a small mole that lives in the humid regions of Eastern Canada and the northeastern United States.

But, having felt an unpleasant smell or stumbled upon a trap, the mole will skillfully dig a dangerous section of the tunnel, tearing out a new one instead. Even if you manage to drive the mole out of its home territory, be sure that it will definitely return in a couple of months, when you least expect it.

Mole to man mole

The whole depth of dislike for moles can be seen in an old Slavic sign. On Good Thursday, a peasant should take a poker and “ride” it around his garden, saying: “Mole, mole, don’t go into my garden! On the day of Maundy Thursday, you are ... at the poker.

Apparently, it is assumed that after such an insult, mortally offended moles should go to distant lands. Although, given the huge number of moles to this day, ancient obscene spells also do not work on them.

It so happened that we either do not notice the moles, or do not like them. On the other hand, moles do not really need our love either. It is impossible to tame a mole, there is really nothing to take from it, except for the skin. Moles do not appreciate the company of even their own kind, what can we say about huge primates, completely unsuited for digging strong and cozy burrows?

Not all of Mother Nature's creations are meant to befriend or threaten humans. In the case of moles, mutual silent respect is enough.

Sergey YEVTUSHENKO

Mole (from the Latin Talpidae) is a medium-sized mammal from the shrew-like order (from the Latin Soricomorpha), of the mole family.

The body size of this animal reaches 20 cm. The carcass ends with a small tail. Animal mole has four limbs, and the front ones are much more developed than the hind ones, they are used for digging underground passages, and therefore they look like shoulder blades turned to the sides.

Due to this arrangement of the forelimbs, this animal looks quite funny, which can be seen on photo of an animal mole.

The head is conical in proportion to the body and has a medium size without auricles and a slightly elongated nose. The eye sockets are very small, and the eyeballs themselves do not have lenses.

There are movable eyelids. In some species, the eyes are overgrown with skin. The mole is blind, he can't see anything. But in contrast to the missing vision, nature endowed these animals with excellent hearing, smell and touch.

The color scheme of mole wool is monophonic, most often black, sometimes dark brown or dark gray. The fur grows strictly perpendicular to the skin, which makes it easy to move underground both forward and backward. Moles change their fur (molt) up to three times a year from spring to autumn.

After reading this article, you will have a better understanding what animal is a mole and watch the video and photos of this nimble animal.

The mole family is divided into four subfamilies, such as:

• Chinese moles (from the Latin Uropsilinae);
• (from Latin Desmaninae);
• moles of the New World (from the Latin Scalopinae);
• moles of the Old World (from the Latin Talpinae).

These subfamilies are further divided into more than 40 species. Six species inhabit the expanses of the former USSR: small and large mohera, small, Siberian and common mole.

Pictured is an ordinary mole

Moles inhabit all continents, but for the most part they live in Europe, Asia and North. Mole underground animal. It settles in areas with loose soils, mainly forests and fields, in which they dig their dwellings, passages for collecting and storing food and burrows for offspring.

Feed drifts run over vast areas and are usually located at a depth of three to five centimeters from the surface, in winter a little deeper.

The burrow for hibernation and nesting is always much deeper and is located 1.5-2 meters underground. Moreover, this hole always has several inputs and outputs.

Mole nutrition

Moles are insectivorous animals, the basis of their diet is rain. They collect them in feeding passages, and the worms themselves crawl into these holes, attracted by the smell emitted by the mole.

Mole is a mammal leading a round-the-clock and year-round lifestyle. It feeds 3-4 times a day, while eating about 20-30 grams of worms.

After feeding, the mole moves to the nesting hole and, curled up in a ball, goes to sleep for 3-5 hours, after which it again starts searching for food.

If the animal finds more worms than it can eat, the mole takes them to special storage places, a kind of storerooms, after biting off their heads, and returns to eating them after waking up.

Reproduction and lifespan

Moles are solitary animals, they pair up only during the breeding season for procreation. By the year of life, moles reach sexual maturity.

The breeding season occurs once a year in early spring. The female prepares the nest alone for the brood, the male does not participate in this.

Forty days after conception, small completely bald cubs are born. There are usually about five of them in a litter, less often it reaches 8-9 individuals.

In the photo, the cubs of the mole

During the month, the offspring is next to the female, who brings them food and takes care of her children. In the future, the young go out of the female's hole and begin to build their own dwelling. If the young brood does not leave the nest, then the female can even bite him, thereby driving him into an independent, adult life.

How to deal with moles

By making underground passages, the mole, for the most part, benefits nature by loosening the ground, but when it settles in areas cultivated by man, it does more harm.

In home gardens and summer cottages, people try to get rid of this animal, because by its digging it harms crops, harvesting, and especially spoils garden trees, exposing their roots.

Let's try to parse how to deal with moles in the garden. From the above description of the animal, it is clear that this animal has a well-developed sense of smell and hearing, so in order to drive it out of the garden, you need to use this knowledge.

Firstly, we all live in a civilized world during the widespread development of electrical engineering and, based on this, modern companies producing various devices offer us to use devices that will scare away various animals, including moles, from your garden with sound and ultrasound. .

This method is the easiest and will only require you to finance the purchase of such a device. But it is also possible fight moles folk remedies- the simplest is to use the sensitive sense of smell of moles against themselves, namely, it is necessary to soak a rag with a strong-smelling agent, such as ammonia or naphthalene, and put it in a molehill.

The smell will drive the mole away from this place. Another method to get rid of an annoying animal is a regular windmill with empty cans placed on it to create as much noise as possible.

You can also stick metal rods into the ground to a depth of 0.5-1 meter and hang the same cans on them, which, under the influence of the wind, will knock on the rod, thereby creating a loud sound and vibration that the mole does not like so much.

All the methods of dealing with moles described above cannot guarantee that after some time these animals will not return to their original place.

Therefore, it is recommended, after you have driven this mammal from your site, to make a mechanical obstacle to their penetration, namely, to dig a chain-link mesh around the perimeter to a depth of 0.5-1 meter or build some other insurmountable barrier.

Underground fauna is no less diverse than at the top. Underground mole is another living creature among the thousands of underground inhabitants.

Mole - underground dweller

If you notice a low mound of loose earth in a field or garden, you can be sure that a mole lives under it. All his life passes underground, only in the most rare cases rises to its surface. This mammal inhabits large areas of North America and Eurasia.

How the mole adapted to life underground

Wise nature made sure that the mole was comfortable living underground. The torso is oval, dense, the head is connected to it by a thick neck, the muzzle with a wide forehead is elongated by a narrow stigma - all this helps the mole to move easily and freely underground.

The animal does not have eyes as such, only small holes, half-covered with hair. There are underground moles, in which they are generally densely overgrown. And the underground dweller does not need sight. But their hearing is well developed, despite the absence of auricles - only special leathery folds protect the ear holes from getting into the ground.

Mole - the greatest tunnel digger

The front paws of the mole are very similar to small shovels. With them, he deftly and quickly rakes the ground and digs passages. At the same time, five well-developed fingers in the hand also help in the digging process.

And even wool - and that assistant to the mole underground. Beautiful, shiny, brown or black tones, the coat consists of straight growing hairs. As a result, when moving through underground passages, they lie in the right direction and do not interfere with his movement.

Mole life underground

Around the clock, the mole is underground and almost all the time in motion - digging tunnels. It usually settles in those places where the soil is moist and easy to dig. These are forest edges, meadow and floodplain lowlands. They are engaged in these works for a reason, but they are looking for food, which is why the moves are called fodder.

They are not deep, only 5-10 cm underground, but the permanent passages are at a depth of 15-20 cm. He does not have enough strength to raise such a thickness with his head, he has to push out part of the earth after a short distance. It turns out the so-called retraction. It is easy to see where it appears: suddenly the soil begins to move slightly, then the loose part rises and increases before our eyes, becoming a mound.

Favorite food are earthworms. They even store them for the winter in their hole. And so that the worms do not run away, remain alive, but paralyzed, the moles bite off their heads. Both pupae and larvae, as well as adult insects, fall on the pointed teeth of a predator. And even a mouse or a shrew is too tough for him!

What does a mole eat?

Moles eat a lot, as they lose a lot of energy when digging. So it turns out a vicious circle: you want to eat - you have to dig the ground - while you dig - you want to eat again. Without food, only 12 hours can live at all, so you have to go hunting both at night and during the day.

Contrary to popular belief that the mole spoils root vegetables such as carrots and potatoes, the mole does not. Mouse-like rodents are crop eaters. Because he does not eat plant foods. And this opinion appeared due to the fact that when digging tunnels, the roots of plants are undermined, broken, and that's why they die.

Settling in gardens and orchards, moles, with their underground passages and numerous mounds, violate the integral cover of the soil. If it is a lawn, it will be difficult to pass through it with a lawn mower, and the beauty of flower beds is spoiled by pitted earth.

• Read more: Common mole; Ordinary moles: how to deal with them

Mole food

The mole's food is mainly made up of earthworms and, in part, slugs, larvae of May beetles (beetles), clickers (wireworms), centipedes, bears, wood lice, caterpillars of harmful scoops and other insects - all who fall into its feeding passages. To catch them, moles make long passages at a shallow depth underground. The mole passage for earthworms is a trap with odorous or thermal bait, where the worms crawl themselves, attracted by the smell of mole musk and higher temperature.

The mole is so voracious that it is ready to devour any creature that accidentally fell into its hole, be it a mouse, snake, lizard or frog, when they are inactive.

At one time, the mole eats up to 20-22 g of earthworms. A mole eats a whole or torn worm from the end, holding it with its paws and cleaning it from the ground with both paws and front teeth. Having sated, the mole tucks its head and hind legs under its belly, takes the form of a black velvet ball and falls asleep for 4-5 hours. When he wakes up, he begins to run and dig in the ground, expressing obvious signs of hunger. During the day, it eats a lot of food - 50-60 g (up to its body weight), feeds 5-6 times, since the food eaten is digested in about 4 hours. Thus, a mole weighing about 100 g eats 20-23 kg of worms and other insects per year. A hungry mole can remain no more than 14-17 hours. With its UNUSUAL VORACITY, with a lack of earthworms, the mole must constantly expand the area of ​​\u200b\u200byour hunting and therefore is CONTINUOUSLY busy with the work of arranging new moves.

Mole passages (tunnels)

Digging does not present any difficulty for the mole: with the help of its strong occipital muscles and strong forelimbs, it drills loose soil with its snout, rakes it with its front paws and throws it back with extraordinary speed. Exploded earth is then ejected to the surface of the earth. In light soil, the animal moves almost as agile as a fish in water, and moves along its passages at the speed of a horse's trot.

In loose and moist soil, horizontal surface - fodder passages are laid. They are located at a depth of 2-5 cm. When laying them, the mole raises the ceiling of the passage in the form of an earthen mound that is clearly visible from the outside. There are no earth emissions. There are many such passages, their length can reach several kilometers. Such moves greatly spoil the look of lawns. Winding paths on lawns are "trials" that may no longer be used.

In open areas, where the soil often and deeply dries out, the passages are located at a depth of 10-50 cm from the surface. A mole cannot lift a layer of such power, therefore, the excess of earth is thrown out through temporary burrows to the surface in the form of characteristic small piles of molehills. The chain of molehills roughly corresponds to the direction of the deep run.

Residential passages are laid in the soil in several tiers at a depth of 5 to 60 cm and represent a complex system of multi-tiered galleries with a diameter of 5-5.5 cm. They serve as communication passages from the nest to different feeding areas or to a watering place. (for comparison: the diameter of the moves of shrews is such that the index finger barely fits there).

Of particular importance are the deep passages under the paths, through which, like underground bridges, the most complex systems of surface passages are interconnected. Mole catchers set almost all their traps (mole catchers) in the passages under the trails. In one transition, up to a dozen or more moles are mined per week. Sometimes you can read about the privacy of moles in your hunting area. However, the author himself caught six or eight adult moles with traps in one area in only one of the passages.

In winter, moles often make under-snow passages on the soil surface among snow-covered herbage or in the thickness of the leaf litter.

The number of heaps or molehills in any area does not indicate the number of moles present in it. One mole (of the species S. townsendii) can build 50 to 100 piles per month.

Nest (den) of a mole

The nest (lair) is usually located in some secluded place, under the roots of trees, walls, etc. It is covered with grass, leaves, soft roots and is usually located at a depth of 30-60 cm to 1.5-2 m. The lair is surrounded by two circular galleries: one of them is larger and surrounds the lair at the same height with it, and the other is smaller large in parallel, but placed above it, above the lair. From the lair, three passages are laid upwards to the small gallery, and from it there are five or six passages to the large, lower gallery. From the large gallery, straight passages, eight to ten in number, radiate out in all directions, intersecting with the passages already described. At a certain distance, some of them turn and join the main exit from the nest. A special safety gallery, coming from the lair, is also connected to the main passage.

The main gallery is wider than the body of the mole. He can move freely and quickly in it. The walls of all the galleries are well rammed, solid and strong, since the mole, when building an underground dwelling, presses down the dug earth, and does not throw it up. The mole gently lines its lair with grass, leaves, moss and tender roots. In case of danger from above, he instantly pushes this soft bedding aside and rushes down the safety gallery, which begins right under the bedding. If danger threatens from below, the mole runs to the upper circular gallery with its many passages.

Only the facts about the mole:

A mole weighing about 100 g eats 20-23 kg of worms (and other insects) per year.

Moles can dig a surface tunnel at a speed of about 5.5 meters per hour (a meter in 10 minutes).

Moles move through existing tunnels at a speed of about 25 meters per minute.

Compared to other animals of similar size, moles have twice the amount of blood and twice the amount of hemoglobin in it. This allows the moles to breathe easily underground, where the oxygen content is reduced.