Field signs
The most obvious are molehills which are spoil heaps formed during the excavation of permanent tunnels.
Habits
Their main habitat in Kent is deciduous woodland and adjoining pasture, followed by hedgerows, grassy road verges and the margins of waterways and fields, often persisting in a strip just two metres wide.
The mole is predated upon by foxes and rarely by badgers, but in general co-exists with them on account of its subterranean habit. Other predators are tawny owls, buzzards, stoats, cats and dogs.
Moles play an important ecological role by aerating the soil and consuming invertebrate larvae, contributing to soil health and nutrient cycling, as highlighted by sources such as the IUCN UK Peatland Programme.
Reproduction and life cycle
Moles can live for up to six years but few live beyond three. They are territorial and solitary until the breeding season when males enlarge their territory in search of females. Within their tunnel systems, one or more spherical nest chambers are built and lined with plant material. The nests are used for sleeping and raising young. A litter of usually three to four young are born in spring, followed by a second later in the summer. The young start to disperse from the nest after 33 days and leave their mother’s territory at five to six weeks. Dispersal of Order: Erinaceomorpha 67 the young takes place above ground and is a dangerous time for them. Young moles become sexually mature in the following spring.
Distribution, status and conservation
Moles are locally common and may be declining as a result of urban and industrial development as well as intensive agriculture. However, their distribution is seriously under-recorded, and moles can be difficult to detect in woodland and hedgerows where tunnels may show little disturbance at the surface. Sometimes they disappear from a locality during a period of drought and fail to re-colonise when more favourable conditions return. The mole is best searched for during the winter months when molehills are generally more numerous and obvious. Often they are regarded as a garden or agricultural pest and eradicated; this sometimes occurs when they attempt to re-colonise a former habitat e.g. a housing estate.
Their use of woodland habitats led to part of Rochester Forest bearing the name of Molehill Wood centuries ago. The woodland in this area was replaced with conifers in the 1960s which resulted in a serious drop in mole numbers, as worm numbers are generally lower in coniferous woodland and moles tend to inhabit only the fringes of this habitat. Surprisingly moles are absent from some seemingly suitable habitats. This is sometimes due to isolation by busy roads, but often there is no obvious reason for their absence. Perhaps the number of earthworms, the single most important prey species, is just too low or the soils too dry, unduly shallow or unstable.
Winter surveying for moles appears to be more effective, as worms are thought to be generally closer to the surface and the tunnels need higher maintenance as they are prone to collapse. This gives rise to more ejected earth above the surface. Often along a hedgerow the tunnels are so stable that the mole rarely needs to create a molehill, so careful and frequent monitoring is essential.
As Kent remains a well-wooded county there is no immediate threat to the mole’s status.
