Jon found a mole in the middle of a gravel drive-it was furiously attempting to get thru the gravel, but couldn't. So, Jonathan caught him and brought him home. We kept him overnight and learned so many cool things! Moles eat earthworms-they really like earthworms. We watered last night, so the yard had many night crawlers available for a young and agile man to snag. So, Jon did. He dumped several in the plastic tank where the mole was residing and we got to see some amazing action! It was like Tremors! (only with a mole) It dug and the soil jumbled around...it made two holes (one in each corner at this time) and it rose up out of a far hole, sniffed around and LUNGED! It snipped at a worm and snagged a HUGE one and pulled it into the tunnel. The one it snipped, stopped moving. We found out moles have a toxin they use when they bite worms so they can keep a worm larder underground.
We took out a bunch of dirt in order to get photos of our guest. He was pretty annoyed with us for messing up the tunnels he had made and he was also wanting to escape. Moles look like they are swimming in the earth and get oxygen from the ground-incredible creatures!
Their 'hands' are made for moving earth and they move it FAST. They are mostly blind, so they don't see well and are rarely found above ground. They eat worms, invertebrates, and nuts. The worms, as I mentioned, are stored, but they also have traps in their tunnels so when a worm is caught, the mole can run and get it. Like an underground spider, only not as creepy!
After spending time with a mole, I am more understanding of the Redwall creatures. I almost talked to it in mole speech, but decided not to....We let him go in a nearby pasture and hope he has a great time digging in an area several blocks from his 'home'.
