As scarce as mole's teeth

In shallow holes moles make fools of dragons.
Proverb



Nose on the prizes.

Stretch!

Autumn feast

Shelled prize

Unshelled prize


Moles are the majority of the members of the mammal family Talpidae in the order Soricomorpha. Although moles burrow, some species are semi-aquatic. Moles have cylindrical bodies covered in fur while the ears are generally not visible. They have small or covered eyes and can probably still tell night from day, although they are otherwise blind. Moles eat small invertebrates living underground. Moles can be found in most parts of North America, Asia, and Europe, although there are no moles in Ireland.

A mole's diet primarily consists of earthworms and other small invertebrates found in the soil and also a variety of nuts. Because their saliva contains a toxin that can paralyze earthworms, moles are able to store their still living prey for later consumption. They construct special underground "larders" for just this purpose researchers have discovered such larders with over a thousand earthworms in them. Before eating earthworms, moles pull them between their squeezed paws to force the collected earth and dirt out of the worm's gut. Wikipedia

Because of specialized bone and muscle construction, moles can exert a lateral digging force equivalent to 32 times its body weight. (Arlton 1936) As a comparison, a 150 lb. man would be able to exert a 4800 lb. lateral force.

"For moles to dig one metre of tunnel requires between 400 and 4,000 times as much energy as does walking for the same distance on the surface." (Vleck 1979 University of Arizona.)

A 5 ounce mole will consume 45 to 50 lbs. of worms and insects per year. Godfrey and Crowcroft (1960) Mellanby (1967)

A moles surface tunneling or probes can be dug at about 18 feet per hour. A moles speed through existing tunnels is about 80 ft. per minute. Godfrey (1955)

Moles contain twice as much blood and twice as much red hemoglobin as other mammals of similar size, allowing the mole to breath easily in its underground environment of low oxygen and high carbon dioxide. (Arlton 1936)

The energy required to construct a permanent tunnel system is great. To protect this investment moles scent mark most of the homerange daily as they travel through the system in search of food. It warns other moles that the system is occupied (protecting territory) and may advertise a females scent when she is ready to mate. The scent can be picked up by a rutting male crossing marked tunnels.