Moles are animals belonging to the Talpidae family and come
from the order Soricomorpha. Known as blind nocturnal creatures, moles are
small cylindrically shaped animals with invisible ears and distinctive front
digging paws. Moles are invertebrates native to America,
Asia, and Europe and make their
life under the ground.
With a special chemical in their saliva for paralyzing
earthworms, moles store their diet staple in underground caves and can have
hundreds of worms stored for future consumption. They also eat small rodents and bugs when
earthworms aren't available. Moles eat
very fast and use their powerful front paws to push the insides out of the
worms before eating.
The word "mole' comes from a Nordic term for soil thrower. Interestingly,
despite being native to the European continent no species of mole has ever been
found in Ireland.