Many of us rarely if ever see an actual mole and apart from Moley in The Wind in the Willows, the other famous mole is ‘the little gentleman in black velvet’ toasted by Jacobites as William of Orange is said to have died following a fall after his horse tripped on a molehill.
We do however see signs of moles, their molehills. Moles breed in spring, between February and June and this is a time when we see new molehills that have been dug by male moles expanding their tunnel network in search of female mates. They also create spherical nests which they line with dry leaves and grass and the moles will sleep in these nests as well as rearing young there.
Male and female moles spend most of the year alone, living underground and feeling their way around their network of tunnels using their sensitive noses and also their tails. They have poor eyesight and are at risk from predators when above ground but underground they are in their element, using large, spade-like forelimbs to expand the tunnel network as needed. Most of the tunnels are permanent and quite deep and may cover hundreds of metres. Moles are fiercely territorial, familiar with their own tunnels and using them to suit the season. In colder or drier weather they head for their deepest tunnels where their main food, earthworms, will be found. A tunnel network is thought to last for many years, through several generations of moles.
Moles feed mainly on earthworms they create a winter ‘larder’ by storing earthworms in a chamber, keeping them alive but immobilising them with a bite to the head segment. Up to 450 worms have been found in one chamber.
Moles used to be killed in large numbers by trappers to make moleskin clothes from their pelt, and were thought of as a problem needing controlling. Actually, moles are both friend and foe to the site manager, friends as they eat many pests such as wireworms, slugs and snails and also aerate the soil with their tunnelling, foe as they throw up molehills which some see as a problem. There are numerous theories as to how to get rid of moles: burying glass bottles, garlic or elder twigs pushed into the molehill to name a few. Poison and traps are cruel and are not recommended. Actually, getting rid of your resident mole may not be a good idea as it leaves a territory open for another mole to move in. It may be best to learn to live with your mole and to press molehills back into the ground or move the soil to flowerbeds or planters. The bare ground they produce also makes space for wildflower seeds to germinate which may not happen in a tight grass sward. So all in all, moles add to the rich diversity of life found within our churchyards and we need to learn to love them!
All the best,
Harriet Carty
Diocesan Churchyard Environmental Advisor
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