WHY THEY ARE BAD
Moles are burrowing creatures that create runways in your yard. These can either be just beneath the surface, giving the familiar above-ground mounds, or deep underground, connecting a network of tunnels. The mole is pound for pound one of the strongest mammals on earth. Oddly enough, their life expectancy is only three years. Moles have an extremely high metabolic rate, which makes it difficult to store food as fat. This means that moles virtually have to be looking for food or eating most of the day and night, consuming up to 100% of their body weight each day. Moles consume living food, including snail larvae, spiders, earthworms and white grubs. They typically do not opt for vegetation.
MOLES IN THE SPRING
In the spring, moles will give birth to one litter of young. This typically produces three to four babies, who stay with their mother underground for a month. They then set out on their own to begin tunneling, reaching adulthood in only eight short weeks. Females will not begin to breed until the following year.
WHAT THEY DO
Moles burrow year-round, creating more shallow tunnels for spring, summer and fall, then deep tunnels for the winter months. They can tunnel very quickly, around one foot per hour in ideal conditions. They prefer sandy soil, moist earth, lawns, gardens and woodlands. They typically are not found in heavy, dry clay soil. Their eyesight is terrible and they are very sensitive to light. The only time you would ever see them running above ground (if ever) would be at night. They prefer solitude, and will not ideally share a tunnel with other moles. Shrews, gophers and voles, however, typically try to invade their perfect tunnels.