Our velvet-clad friends

Taking a look beyond the hills...

If you're a fan of the numerous build-your-own-home reality TV shows, then moles are just another grand designer. When they make their move into a new territory, they create their own pad, complete with corridors (tunnels), bedrooms (chambers) and kitchens (well, a larder). A new mole home, however, usually brings these velvety mammals into conflict with their human neighbours.

We've become a tidy bunch of folk haven't we? We like seeing neat fences or stripes on our lawns; we're really not keen on things that disrupt these clean lines. If we can loosen our ideas, though, we'll be able to let nature back in and we'll all be better off for it. Take a moment to consider that 'unsightly' molehill that's just appeared in your lawn. Yes, it might cause an issue for the mower but just think about the nutrient-rich earth that the mole is gifting to you. Instead of bemoaning the mole, grab a trowel or shovel and scatter the soil onto your flower beds. Moles only live where there is plenty to eat and plenty of worms means healthy soil. Apart from the occasional renovation, once the mole has settled into its new home, the mounds will stop appearing.

Molehills in a field — Molehills by Anne Williams

The necessity to dig and excavate their own roads and homes means that moles have developed the most amazing spade-like front feet. If you're ever able to take a closer look, you'll see that they seem to have an extra thumb but this additional digit is an enlarged wrist bone that serves to widen their feet, helping them to dig. Experts estimate that one of these tiny mammals (they're 10-15cm long and weigh between 80g-120g) can move six kilos of soil through its tunnels in just 20 minutes! If you scale this up to human-size, it's something like a medium-sized man moving four tonnes.

Moles need to eat more than half their bodyweight every day so they live where the soil is healthy and chock full of life. They love nothing more than a good juicy worm and they don't just eat them on the go - they'll often decapitate them for safe storage and a meal at a later date. One mole larder was found to have 470 decapitated worms stored in it. Is the joke on the mole, though? Whilst this is clearly unpleasant for a worm, they are able to regenerate so if a mole doesn't make it back in time, they may find that some of their worms have wandered off.

Many's the time when I've seen the middle of a molehill move whilst the busy mole underneath has been excavating. But I've never been lucky enough to see a mole pop its head out of the top. They do occasionally leave the comfort of their tunnels to gather vegetation for nesting material but they're perhaps more often seen during extreme weather events. In hot and dry weather, worms head downwards and whilst some moles may follow them, others come to the surface to hunt for alternative food. If it's very wet you may also spot long ridges of earth as they make their way through drier soil that's closer to the surface.

Moles are active all year round so it's important that they can combat cold weather in order to conserve energy. This may be the reason why they're able to shrink their bones and organs in winter (by about 11%). Yes, you read that right. It's known as Dehnel's phenomenon and moles aren't the only mammals that do it - shrews, stoats and weasels do too.

Seasonal spot - moles (https://youtu.be/Qyl7SJrNJOw?list=PL9S15EJ13Rb1pDfAENmDYRu4bcp9C1p7J)

Whilst moles themselves aren't often seen, molehills are. Sightings of moles (or their hills) aren’t usually recorded but we’d love to know where they are and how their populations are doing. If you’ve got molehills or you’re lucky enough to see a mole, please let us know by filling in our short form and uploading a photo www.worcswildlifetrust.co.uk/wildlife-sightings Thank you.