Eastern Mole
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| Scalopus aquaticus (Linnaeus, 1758) |
The Eastern Mole or Common Mole (Scalopus aquaticus) is a medium-sized North American mole. It is the only member of genus Scalopus.
It is found in forested and open areas with moist sandy soils in northern Mexico, the eastern United States and the southwestern corner of Ontario in Canada.
This animal has grey-brown fur with silver grey underparts, a pointed nose and a short tail. It is about 16 cm in length including a 3 cm long tail and weighs about 75 g. Its front paws are broad and spade-shaped, specialized for digging. It has 36 teeth. Its eyes are covered by fur and its ears are not visible.
This mole spends most of its time underground, foraging in shallow burrows for earthworms, grubs, beetles, insect larvae and some plant matter. It is active year round.
This animal is mainly solitary except during mating in early spring. The female has a litter of 2 to 5 young in a deep underground burrow.
[edit] References
- ^ Hutterer, Rainer (16 November 2005). in Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds): Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, 301-302. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.
- ^ Insectivore Specialist Group (1996). Scalopus aquaticus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 2006-05-12. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern
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