Star nosed moles
English: Star-nosed Mole (Condylura cristata) range (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Star Nosed Mole
Condylura cristata
The Star Nosed Mole live near water locations usually near river streams, swamps and lakes. They may also choose wet areas of meadows, fields, leaf litters and forests. Gardens, lawns and golf courses can also be a habitat by these species.
These moles are different from other moles with regards to the tunnel systems the work upon. They often dig their burrows in spots near bodies of water. They also prefer wet soil. Unlike other moles, these species have capabilities to dive into water. They are semi-aquatic and have been known to be good swimmers. Their tunnels are created with shallow undulating paths.
The diet of these moles include small water mammals and invertebrates. Their food sources include young amphibians, little fishes and mollusks. They may also eat worms, larvae and other insects. The mole's unique star shaped snout allows them to smell and detect their prey in the soil as well as in the water.
The star-like nose of the mole has given the name for this species. They usually have twenty to twenty two appendage tentacles on the star nose. The Star-nosed mole have an average length 3.9 to 4.1 inches.
Their color can range from charcoal, black to dark brown. The tail of this wildlife animal is around 2.8 to 3.0 inches. Unlike other mole species, their tail is long and covered in several fur hair. They have long scooping claws in their black scaly feet. Their average weight can be around 1.90 to 2.10 oz.
mole-star-nosed-5 (Photo credit: Brandon Motz)
Studies show these moles to be gregarious. Their tunnels are two types: deep and shallow. Their deep burrows belong to their food storage, nest, and mating place. The shallow tunnels are used to capture the worms and other invertebrates. These moles may live with groups of other moles where they share their burrow systems.
The Star Nosed Mole can produce two to eight young babies in a year. Some studies show they breed anew with their mate if they failed to reproduce offspring within the year. After winter is the usual mating season of the star snout moles. The mother moles born their offspring from April to around August. The baby moles don't have hair, can't see, can't hear and still weak to use their star appendage. The young depend on their mothers from two to three weeks. From the fifth to sixth week, the young mole mole eventually break free from the care of their mothers to find food. The young moles became sexually active adult after tenth to eleventh month.
Compared to other moles, the star nosed species can be active in winter. They can also be seen above the surface, though they often move fast and undetectable by most people. They can be more active in digging tunnels deep underground, causing the appearance of a lot of mole hills in lawns, golf courses and gardens.
The Star Nosed Moles can mostly be seen in Tennessee, South Carolina, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, Indiana, Minnesota, North Dakota, Michigan, Illinois, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and Eastern parts of Canada.
If you need to remove a Star Nosed Mole from your property, contact a wildlife removal company. They have specialists and experts on wildlife animals, nuisance digging creatures and general moles species. Mole trapper, lawn pest removal methods and mole trapping are usually used.
