Mole passages on the surface. What do moles eat in the garden? Where do moles live

A mole (from the Latin Talpidae) is a small mammal from the order Shrews (from the Latin Soricomorpha), 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 back ones; they are used for digging underground passages, and therefore have the appearance of shoulder blades turned to the sides.

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

The head is conical in proportion to the body and has medium size without ears 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 covered with skin. The mole is blind, he doesn't see anything. But in contrast to the lack of vision, nature has endowed these animals with excellent hearing, smell and touch.

The color scheme of mole fur is monochromatic, 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 more complete understanding, what animal is a mole and watch the video and photos of this nimble little animal.

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

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

These subfamilies are further divided into more than 40 species. In the vast expanses of the former USSR, six species live: small and large mogera, , small, Siberian and common mole.

The photo shows an ordinary mole

The habitat of moles is all continents, but for the most part they live in Europe, Asia and North America. Mole underground animal. It settles in areas with loose soils, mainly forests and fields, in which they dig their homes, passages for collecting and storing food and burrows for offspring.

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

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

Mole nutrition

Moles are insectivores, the basis of their diet are earthworms. They collect them in feeding passages, and the worms themselves crawl into these holes, attracted by the smell secreted by the mole.

A mole is a mammal leading a 24-hour, year-round lifestyle. It feeds 3-4 times a day, 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 begins to search for food.

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

Reproduction and life expectancy of a mole

Moles are solitary animals; they pair up only during the breeding season to procreate. By the age of one year, 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 hairless cubs are born. There are usually about five of them in a litter, less often it reaches 8-9 individuals.

In the photo there are baby moles

For a month, the offspring stay with the female, who brings them food and cares for her children. Subsequently, the young leave the female’s burrow and begin to build their own home. If the young brood does not leave the nest, then the female may even bite him, thereby driving him away on his own. adult life.

How to fight moles

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

On household plots and summer cottages people try to get rid of this animal, because with its digging it damages crops, harvesting and especially spoils garden trees, exposing their roots.

Let's try to figure it out how to deal with moles in the garden. From the above animal mole descriptions 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 the use of devices that will scare away various animals, including moles, from your garden with sound and ultrasound. .

This method is the simplest and will only require you to finance the purchase of such a device. But it’s also quite possible fight moles folk remedies – the simplest thing is to use the moles’ sensitive sense of smell against themselves, namely, it is necessary to soak a rag with a strong-smelling agent, such as ammonia or mothballs, and put it in the 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 ones on them tin cans, which, under the influence of the wind, will knock on the rod, thereby creating a loud sound and vibration, which the mole does not like so much.

All the methods of fighting 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 out of your area, to create a mechanical obstacle to their penetration, namely, dig a chain-link mesh around the perimeter to a depth of 0.5-1 meter or build some other insurmountable barrier.

Finding characteristic earthen mounds, so-called molehills, on their site, summer residents ask themselves: what does a mole eat, who settled next to their home? Does he eat root crops, plant roots, and does he pose a threat to the future harvest? To answer these questions, it is necessary to understand what these underground inhabitants are.

Body structure and distinctive features

The common European mole is found in well-moistened river valleys, in forests, and also near human habitation: in vegetable gardens and fields. This animal is naturally adapted for digging underground tunnels - they have a cone-shaped head, a dense cylindrical body, wide front spade-shaped limbs curved outward with powerful claws, specially designed for moving away the dug earth. A hardworking individual is capable of digging an underground passage up to several tens of meters long during the day.

You can find out that a mole has settled in the garden plot by the appearance of cone-shaped earthen mounds on the soil surface, through which it pushes soil upward, breaking through its underground tunnels at a depth of up to 5 meters.

The underground dweller has practically no vision, but such senses as touch, smell and hearing, necessary for obtaining food, are well developed. Since digging tunnels is a very energy-intensive activity, the mole spends a lot of time replenishing energy. Due to its constant exposure to cold ground, it needs a lot of food to maintain a viable body temperature. In this regard, he has an excellent appetite and in a day is able to eat an amount of food comparable to his weight, which is approximately 30-40 g.

The mole's daily routine is quite simple: most of for days he wanders in search of food, sleeps and eats. He needs to eat several times a day, every 4-5 hours, otherwise he may become inactive and simply die of hunger.

Mole diet

All, what does a mole eat, is located underground. Therefore, almost all year round he is engaged in digging long underground tunnels, called feed tunnels. These are peculiar traps into which spiders, ants and centipedes fall, earthworms and small lizards fall. The mole just has to walk along the dug highways and collect the insects that get there. If the required amount of food is not collected, it digs new tunnels. Therefore, moles are considered small predators, which is confirmed by the structure of their teeth and digestive system. Separately, residential tunnels are dug, the so-called nests in which the offspring are raised.

Rumors that moles eat crops are fueled by damage to carrots, potato tubers, and bulbs by the powerful claws with which this animal rakes the ground. When they get to the surface, they can push out the root of a plant or a root crop, which naturally spoils the planting. In addition, mice and voles often use mole tunnels to get to juicy root crops. And ignorant gardeners blame all losses on moles.

But, nevertheless, invertebrates are the main source of food for these animals. Most of all, moles like to eat earthworms. Unlike the shrew, it does not eat or store vegetables and root crops, so all gardeners’ fears that moles can destroy the crop are unfounded. Mole is an insectivore companion of human habitation. Earthworms, about 20 of which can be eaten by one individual at a time, slugs, spiders, woodlice, centipedes, various insects and their larvae form the basis of its diet. Most garden pests, such as mole crickets, beetles, caterpillars, click beetles, and May beetles, are also destroyed by the European mole. He will not disdain small vertebrates - a lizard, a small frog, a field mouse, a shrew.

Oddly enough, moles do not hibernate in winter, but only lead a less active lifestyle, digging fewer tunnels, feeding on earthworms stored in abundance since the summer. Moving along the passages in the summer, this animal bites through the nerve center of the earthworm it encounters, which paralyzes the invertebrate, preventing it from crawling away. When stocking up, this animal eats the heads of worms and stores the remaining carcasses in storage facilities specially dug for this purpose. In addition, mole passages built in winter attract invertebrates that have fallen into suspended animation with warmth and a specific smell, which replenishes the mole’s menu with fresh food. In winter, the diet of these animals also includes beetle larvae, butterfly pupae, shallow-overwintering wasps, and hornets.

Moles: harm or benefit

Why do gardeners and gardeners dislike moles so much? The fact is that although this animal does not eat crops growing in the ground, in the process of digging tunnels the roots of garden plants, berry bushes, and trees are damaged. And heaps of disturbed earth on a well-groomed lawn do not look at all aesthetically pleasing. In addition, by eating a large number of earthworms, moles cause harm garden plot.

On the other hand, having a mole in the garden also brings benefits: it loosens the soil, filling it with oxygen, and destroys harmful insects. And given that these animals prefer to live separately from their relatives, driving them away from their territory, the benefit from one individual can outweigh the harm resulting from its life activity. In addition, by getting rid of a mole, it is impossible to guarantee that the vacated underground housing will not be occupied by something no less harmful to humans: a mouse or a wasp.

Therefore, each gardener decides for himself whether to get rid of such a neighborhood or close his eyes and not pay attention to the minor inconveniences caused by these generally harmless animals.

The mole is a funny hero of many cartoons, an inhabitant of forests, parks and gardens. We guess about his presence from the numerous piles of earth thrown out of the hole. Many people saw him. A black, furry, plush-like animal. It has large front paws that point out to the sides.

Front paws a mole makes an underground tunnel. Gardeners, seeing characteristic piles of earth on their site, want to get rid of moles as crop pests. What does this animal eat? Is it root vegetables and other roots?

Some general information

Who are they

When we understand who moles are, we will be able to better understand what they eat. The animals spend almost their entire lives in their underground passages. Their body is optimally adapted to this lifestyle . From the dungeon dwellers special front legs, similar to shovels. The short fur grows in a direction not backward, as in most animals, but upward, which allows the mole to move along its course both forward and backward. Fur quickly wears out on earthen passages, so moles shed twice as often as most animals - up to four times a year. The tail is very sensitive. With the help of hair growing on the tail, the animal feels the movement when moving backwards.

Moles inhabit river valleys, forests, forest edges, meadows, fields and gardens. They do not like sandy and marshy soils. They can even swim across small rivers! They make their way to the river, swim across and continue on the other side. These animals are not rodents, so they cannot gnaw the ground with their incisors, but only dig with their paws. That’s why they love soft, loose soil, and this is partly what attracts them to gardens.

Favorite food

Scientists-specialists conducted research by catching moles and opening their carcasses. Studies of stomach contents have shown that the animals mainly eat invertebrate animals. According to statistics, their stomachs contained:

• Earthworms - 90% of the contents or more;
• beetle larvae - approximately 6%;
• other arthropods, millipedes, crustaceans, spiders - 3%;
• grains, roots, tubers - less than 1%;

Indeed, it turns out that by nature moles are predatory animals. This is confirmed by other scientific facts. The internal structure of a dungeon dweller is like that of a predatory animal. Especially the structure of the teeth and digestive system is similar to the structure of these organs in other predators. Well developed sharp canines and incisors.

Quite weak chewing teeth, less necessary for a predator than for a herbivore. Short intestines, because meat is easier to digest than the fiber found in plants. The animals have another characteristic feature for meat-eating animals - fast metabolism. Animals belong to the Insectivore family. Close relatives are also predators. These are the shrew, muskrat and shrew.

More about nutrition

The mole is an insectivorous animal. However, the diet does not end with insects. The underground predator can cope even with small snakes! And can also eat frogs and mice. The animals are very aggressive and in rare cases cannibalism occurs. They do not tolerate their relatives in their feeding area. The animal eats almost any small animal that gets into the dungeons.

They live in forests, fields and vegetable gardens. These are different biotic zones, therefore, the food of the dungeon owner differs here.

In the forest, the animal feeds, as elsewhere, on its favorite food - earthworms. However, here in the summer large ants, millipedes and woodlice, which accidentally crawl into underground passages, are eaten as food; they make up up to a third of the diet.

In the meadow, as elsewhere, the mole eats worms. But here their diet is diversified by adult insects and their larvae, which are usually pests of plant roots. The animal can eat beetles, caterpillars, and wireworms. There is more light in the meadows than in the forest, so there are more grasses and more roots growing here, which means that moles come across more animals that eat them.

In the garden

What do moles eat in the garden?? All the same earthworms, and different ones garden pests. The animal will eat a mole cricket, a mole cricket, and feast on slugs. Particularly attractive for moles are places on the border of vegetable gardens and forests. Here the food is very varied and the soil is soft.

What do moles eat in winter?

For hibernation these animals do not leave, so in cold weather they need the same amount, or even more food, to keep warm in cold weather.

In winter it eats about the same, as in summer, but in the cold season there are practically no beetles and ants in the ground, the former mostly die in the fall, the latter go to sleep in anthills until spring. By winter, only their larvae remain in the ground, and this is what the underground predator feeds on. He comes across pupae of beetles and butterflies hibernating in the ground. Eats wasps and hornets wintering in shallow burrows.

Often moles in the summer, when there are plenty of worms, make supplies of live, paralyzed worms for the winter. They bite through the nerve ganglion of the worm, paralyzing the animal. Because of this, the worm does not die immediately and cannot crawl away, but remains in the underground passages. Moles often make special storerooms where they store paralyzed worms.

Enemies of moles

• Foxes;
• raccoon dogs;
• caresses;
• Human.

Despite the fact that the animals They spend almost their entire lives in underground tunnels; there are predators that feast on them. Moles still sometimes crawl to the surface for various reasons, and this is where the defenseless animal falls into the clutches of a predator. The mole cannot escape, because its front legs are directed to the sides, therefore, once on the surface, it can only crawl. Foxes and raccoon dogs sniff out underground inhabitants. Their sensitive nose senses the proximity of a mole underground. Having smelled the animal, they quickly tear up the soil with their paws and take it out of the burrow. Due to the unpleasant smell, they often abandon their prey. But once on the surface, moles often die.

Hunt moles and weasels.

Moles are not listed in the Red Book; hunting for them is permitted. Therefore, sometimes people get them for their skins.

What damage do moles cause?

Moles do not eat root vegetables, they are almost completely uninterested in plants, however, they can still harm garden plants. They dig tunnels exactly at the level of soil where plant roots are located, because that is where insects and worms are located. Often plant roots find themselves in their tunnels. And once without soil, the root dies, the plant begins to get sick or even dies. Moles are known to eat worms, and this is a very useful animal for the garden. They make small holes in the ground, helping it to “breathe.”

It turns out that moles both a useful and harmful animal for gardeners. They eat pests, but they themselves can sometimes cause harm to plants. However, when you see a mole hole next to a eaten root vegetable, do not rush to think that it is the mole’s fault. No, he ate the one who ate root vegetables.

Small animals, which are an invariable attribute of most garden plots and vegetable gardens, can cause considerable damage to lawns and agricultural plantings. These animals are undermining root system plantings, at the same time they actively eat beetles and their larvae, and at times even mice and frogs. What is actually more from moles - , but now we will talk about something else - where and how long moles live.

Where do moles live?

Average mole habitat– fertile layer of earth at a depth of approximately 20 cm. Moderately moist soil attracts animals due to the abundance of earthworms and beetles in it - the main food of moles.

Animals do not tolerate overly compacted, shaded and dry soil. They try to leave such places as quickly as possible. But if your site is rich in leaf humus, expect guests - moles will not be able to get around such a “fat” place T.

The first sign of a territory being colonized by moles is the appearance of molehills and characteristic swollen ridges of earth. We noticed - get ready to fight, the war with them is not always simple and victorious.

How do moles live?

The animal's lifestyle is solitary. Adult moles prefer to have their own territory and do not intend to allow strangers into it. When two adult males meet, a fight invariably ensues, with the loser usually being eaten by the winner. The phenomenon of cannibalism among moles is common.

Animals dig two rows of tunnels underground. One of them is connected with bins, living chambers and a nest. The network of trenches goes deep into the earthen layer; the equipped nest can be located at a distance of up to 150 cm from the surface of the earth. Favorite places to “live” are under stumps, piles of moistened light soil on the edges or in sunny places.

From here there are passages to watering places - sometimes mole holes go straight to ponds, lakes and rivers. By the way, moles are good swimmers. If you see a swimming mole, you don’t have to be surprised - this is it.

Mole burrows (side view): 1 - nest, 2 - main passage, 3 - ring passages, 4 - vertical holes and molehills.

The second row is aft tunnels located close to the surface of the earth. It is through these passages that the mole moves in search of worms, larvae or other food.

Based on the above, it becomes clear that it will not be possible to unambiguously answer the question at what depth moles live. We can only designate an interval - from 20 cm in a hunt to 150 cm in a residential nest.

Interesting. The animal does not hibernate, activity is observed all year round. But in winter the mole has a much harder time than in the summer - the worms go deep underground, and the top layer of the earth can freeze. In such cases, the moles simply freeze.

After mating, females go to a secluded place, where they raise their offspring on their own. Usually, from three to seven moles appear in one litter, which at first actively play with each other, and after a month they begin to compete and disperse to different places.

Mole lifestyle

First of all, it is necessary to say a few words about the structure of the mole’s body. The animal's forelimbs immediately attract attention - they are developed, resembling inverted shovels with five strong fingers. The sixth finger, which represents an additional bony process, gives special power.

When digging passages, it is the front paws that are actively involved; with the help of the weaker hind paws, the mole pushes the earth out. In this case, so-called molehills are formed.

The body has a slightly elongated shape, the head ends with an elongated proboscis. The male usually weighs 120-145 grams, females - 80-100 grams.

Vision and hearing are practically atrophied, but the sense of smell and touch are extremely developed. There are active hairs on the proboscis and throughout the mole’s body, thanks to which the animal senses the presence of worms or beetles 50-70 cm away.

Eating food usually occurs in working passages, but if the mole is very hungry, it can deal with prey even on the surface of the earth. During the day, the animal eats as much food as it weighs.

The mole's fur is dense, thick and has no direction. Thanks to this fact, the animal can move backwards in tunnels: the fur does not interfere with movement, and the small tail is not a hindrance to this.

Adaptation of a mole to its environment happens quite quickly. This requires two main conditions - the absence of competitors and soft, moist soil. Hundreds of meters of underground trenches enable the animal to feel “at home” everywhere.

It makes sense to pay attention to the factors on which it depends how long does a mole live. At the most favorable conditions animals can live about 7 years. Once on the surface of the earth, the animal loses its agility, moves slowly and easily becomes prey for foxes, ferrets and birds of prey.

Cannibalism is also of no small importance; the meeting of two males always ends in the death of one of the two. To no lesser extent, the life expectancy of moles depends on possible diseases that beetles or animals can carry. Cold winters also significantly affect the survival of animals.

In addition, moles can swim. They are able to swim across small rivers. This is evidenced by the underground passages, which, having been interrupted before the reservoir, continued after. The animals are not adapted to exist on the surface, so they can be seen there extremely rarely. And even when the mole shows up, he behaves clumsily, since he is completely blind and is not used to perceiving any environment, different from his moves. Therefore, he moves by crawling. His vision is adapted only to distinguish light from darkness. And it is precisely thanks to these seemingly negative properties of its physical structure that the mole is ideally adapted to life underground.

Moles can be easily recognized by the following external signs:

glossy skin with short black fur;

an elongated proboscis, at the bottom of which there are nostrils;

large and widely spaced front shovel-shaped paws with palms facing upward;

small, poorly developed hind legs;

small eyes with underdeveloped vision;

body length is approximately 110–170 millimeters, and weight ranges from 60–150 grams;

short tail.

The life cycle of the mole family can be represented as follows:

in the period from the beginning of February to the end of May, the female brings up to four cubs in one brood;

up to nine weeks are spent on the formation of young animals into adults;

after six months (maximum), the parents leave their fully formed brood in the familiar network of underground passages and begin creating a new one.

Due to their incompatibility with other individuals, insectivores spend most of their lives underground alone, with the exception of the time when their offspring are formed. They rarely change their habitat, and basically their entire life is concentrated inside one tunnel system. Moles have two musk glands, with the help of which they produce a specific smell of musk, which can attract both other relatives and earthworms that serve as food.

To survive, a mole of average weight (eighty grams) needs to consume at least forty grams of earthworms per day. Main feature the network of tunnels dug by a mole is that various insects and worms penetrate them, becoming simple prey. For a long time, moles are able to retain their prey with bites to the head. The network of underground passages grows when the diggers begin to feel the need for food.

For full life, a mole of average body weight (80 grams) needs to consume about 40 grams of earthworms daily. The tunnels are designed so that there is enough easy prey in them in the form of various insects and worms. If the available “food” comes to an end, then the network of tunnels immediately begins to expand.

The length of underground passages can reach hundreds of meters. They can be divided into two types:

1. The passages are located almost at the very surface of the earth. Their purpose is to search for food. These are kind of traps for worms and insects. It is known that a mole can survive without food for only 10-15 hours.
2. The passages of the second type go deep and serve as the dwelling of animals. Since these animals do not hibernate in winter, deep passages provide them with an excellent place to survive the cold.

In addition, the animals naturally need water, so individual passages break through directly to nearby bodies of water.

Favorite habitats of moles and their types

The favorite habitat of the mole family is deciduous and broad-leaved forests. In addition, moles can safely be called the sworn enemies of gardeners, because their search for prey often leads them to gardens and fields - the main habitat of earthworms and other insects. Their networks of underground tunnels cause a huge variety of problems: from damage to appearance landscape and the formation of earthen hills on it until the destruction of many cultivated plants. Moles love fertile soil, and they cannot be found in peat or, for example, sandy soil.

But, oddly enough, the presence of moles in vegetable gardens and garden plots also brings benefits: by loosening the soil becomes softer and more moist, and they gradually begin to disappear from the garden. harmful insects causing irreparable harm to plants. Although moles destroy the root system, plants and root crops are not included in their diet.

Thus, the main habitats of colonies are:

1. Meadows.
2. Forests (mainly young birch trees and deciduous coppices).
3. Clearings.
4. Areas near roadways.
5. Garden plots.
6. City parks.

Preference is given to places that warm up well sun rays and contain a large amount of humus and food (worms, larvae, insects). The humidity of the area also plays an important role: it should be moderate.

Moles will definitely avoid dense large forests, pine forests, swamps and areas of soil on which crops with a strong root system grow.

The area chosen for residence should provide food all year round. The fact is that during dry periods and during frosts, worms move deeper into the ground and become inaccessible to blind hunters.

The choice of place to live depends, among other things, on temperature and frequency of precipitation. If the selected area is accompanied by unstable climate conditions, the animals will tend to move closer to the forest, where the ground freezes less during the winter and moisture is better retained in the summer months.

Moles are very sensitive, so they themselves regulate their descent into lowlands or migration to higher points until the conditions become comfortable.

What do moles eat and what do they eat?

Scientists have long been interested in the diet of moles. Numerous studies have established that what moles eat is exclusively of animal origin. Plant fibers enter the animals' bodies either accidentally or in the stomachs of eaten worms. And even once the vegetation enters the mole’s body, it cannot be digested and simply leaves the body.

The search for food is carried out by digging more and more new passages, when there is no one to hunt in the old ones. If there is a shortage of their usual food - worms, insects and larvae - moles eat small vertebrates and even frogs and rats.

In the process of constant work underground, moles spend a huge amount of energy, the restoration of which requires impressive amounts of nutrition. The animals have a very good metabolism, which also affects their appetite. During the day, the individual absorbs an amount of food exceeding its own weight (70-140 grams). If the mole is very hungry, then the caught victim in the form of, for example, a worm is eaten entirely on the surface of the earth. If the hunger is not brutal, the prey is carried away and eaten inside the passage.

The mole's metabolism is so good that the animal can digest 50 grams of food in just 30 minutes. And this is provided that the animal’s stomach holds only 20 grams. After 4-6 hours he is ready for the next meal. On average, several hours pass between such feedings, which are accompanied by a sleepy state.

In the cold season, animals are less voracious, since they dig less and, accordingly, spend less energy.

Diggers are very creative in securing supplies for the winter. They catch worms and then simply bite their heads. This immobilizes the worms, but keeps them alive. In this form, the worms are laid in rows along the walls of the passages.

In terms of water, moles are also very greedy. Therefore, they invariably live near some body of water to which access is provided.

Reproduction

Fertilization of females begins around the end of April - beginning of May. The gestation period is 5-6 weeks. An average of 5-6 moles are born in one litter. One female is most often limited to one litter during the year. But in some areas there are also two litters (for example, in Belarus).

The cubs are fed for 4 weeks. As the young grow older, they become aggressive towards each other. At the age of 2 months, their independent lifestyle begins.

Mass dispersal of individuals occurs from the beginning of July and ends at the end of August. This process proceeds quite quickly, since the average speed of movement of the animals is 5 meters per minute. In 20 hours, young individuals are able to cover a distance of 650 meters. Adults develop a dispersal speed of up to 50 meters in 20 minutes.

The following four species of the mole family are common in Russia: