THE UNIQUE STAR-NOSED MOLES

     Lancaster County, Pennsylvania harbors eastern moles in the shallows of soil in woods and some lawns, and star-nosed moles in the constantly moist ground of floodplains near impoundments and streams in woods.  A few times over several years, I have seen star-nosed moles quietly push out of damp soil near water, only to quickly retreat underground again.  But I saw them well enough to identify them as star-noses.  Although the related eastern moles and star-nosed moles mostly consume invertebrates, they don't compete much for space or food because of their diverging into different niches.   

     All the characteristics of star-nosed moles enable them to find the land and aquatic invertebrates, small fish and amphibians they prey on in their shallow, underground tunnels, and the bottoms of waterways and impoundments near their burrows.  These moles have strong, sharp front claws for digging tunnels in moist soil to encounter prey animals.  Their hind feet are broad and adapted to swimming.  They are good swimmers when in search for aquatic critters to ingest.  Star-nosed moles' small eyes and ears are largely covered by their dark-gray fur to keep soil out of them.  They have a good sense of smell, and even push bubbles of air out of, but attached to, their nostrils when under water.  They draw those bubbles back into their noses to smell them, which give the moles hints of what prey is nearby in the water.  

     But their most impressive, remarkable sense, and the one best developed, is touch on the 22 finger-like appendages surrounding their nostrils, [the star] which are unique to star-nosed moles, and give them their common name.  Those super-sensitive, pink projections, that have 25,000 touch receptors, are called Eimer's organs.  And they are ten times more sensitive than our fingertips.  Those receptors allow star-nosed moles to find their ways around their dark tunnels and locate invertebrate food in those burrows.

     Star-nosed moles live in northeastern North America, and are active the year around.  They are about eight inches long, including their tails, and each female has four or five young in her annual litter. Occasionally they are flooded out of their tunnels, and some of them fall prey to mink, weasels, hawks, owls, and large fish when foraging in water.  

     Star-nosed moles have unique touch receptors that enable them to get about and find food.  They have noses like no other mammals on Earth.

       

          

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