The mole is a subterranean mammal characterized by its powerful, shovel-like forepaws and a life spent almost entirely underground. Moles create extensive networks of tunnels, which often brings them into conflict with homeowners and gardeners. Understanding the mole’s diet clarifies the animal’s behavior and the true nature of its impact on a landscape.
The Primary Diet of Moles
Moles are classified as insectivores, meaning their diet consists predominantly of invertebrates found within the soil. They are opportunistic carnivores that consume virtually any small creature they encounter in their subterranean environment. Earthworms represent the staple of their diet, often comprising 80 to 90 percent of their total food intake.
Due to their rapid metabolism and continuous need to expend energy digging tunnels, moles have a voracious appetite. A mole will consume a massive amount of food daily, often eating between 70 and 100 percent of its own body weight every 24 hours. Going without food for more than a few hours risks starvation. Beyond earthworms, their diet also includes insect larvae, such as beetle grubs, snails, slugs, centipedes, and millipedes.
Specialized Hunting and Tunnel Foraging
A mole’s tunnel system functions as an active foraging tool, operating much like a passive insect trap. As earthworms and other invertebrates move through the soil, they fall into the open tunnels, allowing the mole to quickly patrol and collect them. The mole locates this prey using an acute sense of touch centered in its sensitive snout.
The snout is covered in thousands of tiny, dome-shaped sensory receptors called Eimer’s organs, which allow the mole to detect minuscule movements and surface textures with precision. Once prey is located, the mole’s hunting speed can be astonishing. To prepare earthworms for consumption, the mole often squeezes them between its paws to remove excess dirt from the worm’s gut.
Moles store food for later consumption, particularly during periods when prey is less abundant, such as in winter. The mole’s saliva contains a paralyzing toxin injected into earthworms. This toxin immobilizes the worms without killing them, allowing the mole to store the still-living prey in underground caches, or “larders.”
Addressing Misconceptions About Plant Consumption
Homeowners often mistakenly believe that moles eat plant roots, bulbs, or vegetables due to the damage observed in their yards. However, moles are not herbivores and do not typically consume plant matter. The destruction of roots and bulbs is usually collateral damage caused by the mole’s aggressive tunneling.
As a mole excavates, its tunnels can sever or lift plant roots, causing the vegetation above to wilt and die. When true feeding damage is present—such as gnawed roots or missing bulbs—the culprit is nearly always another subterranean animal, most commonly the vole. Voles are rodents and vegetarians that frequently use mole tunnels as protected runways to access and eat plant parts, leading to the misattribution of the damage to the mole.