Facts about Moles
- 09
Paired scent glands in moles secrete pheromones that mark territorial boundaries spanning up to 2 acres, allowing them to communicate through chemical signals in complete darkness.
- 08
Velvet covering their entire body, moles shed this specialized skin layer up to four times yearly to maintain friction for burrowing through compacted soil.
- 07
During winter hibernation, moles enter a state of torpor where their body temperature drops by 8 to 10 degrees Celsius, allowing them to survive months underground without eating.
- 06
Underground tunneling creates enormous pressure on mole lungs, so they evolved hemoglobin with 40 percent higher oxygen-binding capacity than other mammals to prevent hypoxia.
- 05
Mole hearts beat approximately 600 times per minute, roughly four times faster than a human heart rate, enabling their high-energy underground lifestyle.
- 04
The star-nosed mole possesses 22 fleshy tentacles around its nostrils that contain over 100,000 nerve endings, making it the most sensitive touch organ of any mammal.
- 03
A mole's eyes are covered by skin and fur, leaving them functionally blind yet capable of detecting light through their sealed eyelids to regulate circadian rhythms.
- 02
Eastern moles possess 42 teeth arranged in a specialized pattern that allows them to crush hard-shelled insects and grubs found in soil.
- 01
Capable of tunneling at speeds up to 10 feet per hour, moles can excavate an entire football field's worth of burrows in just one night.