The Mole Files
This is a page about the time I act ually owned a mole. An Eastern mole to be exact. People keep mice, ferrets, snakes, rats, and other Redwall creatures as pets right? So why not a mole? Well, read on and you'll discover why cute little moles may not be a good choice for a pet.
Where I found him: I found him crawling along the ground by my backdoor where I had recently disturbed, (okay...dug up,) his tunnel. I had been interested in moles and had thought having one for a pet would be awesome so I was VERY excited when I spotted one of them right there in broad daylight.
How I caught him: I quickly grabbed a shirt and gathered him up in it. No easy task. Picking him up was like trying to hold a slippery eel and when he made it to the ground he'd try and start tunneling away. I hurriedly got him before he could do this, but boy was he fast at digging!
What I called him: I was inspired by Wind in the Willows and called him "Mole". Not very Redwallish I know, but I had no idea if he was a boy or girl anyway.
What I kept him in: I kept Mole in a Rubbermaid plastic storage bin. They are something like $3.99 at Walmart and are good for storing quilts, clothes, and other stuff in. They come with a lid, but I didn't use it with Mole inside. I used newspaper and paper towels torn up into long shreds as bedding.
What I feed him: Worms, like garden worms and nightcrawlers, and in emergencies I fed him ground beef. I can't stress enough that Mole ate a LOT. I got his nightcrawlers at Walmart. They are $3.99 for a plastic cup of 24. I had to buy at least 3 or 4 of them a week! Yes, garden worms were free, but the puny things weren't hardly satisfying at all to little Moley. I did find the occasional beetle, but not near enough to give him them regularly. Ground beef is only good for emergencies, like if you run out. Mole prefered worms and although they're supposed to eat the occasional vegetable matter, Mole turned his nose up at any I gave him. Mole got his water from the food he ate so I didn't have to give him any. Whenever he would start tunneling I would know he was hungry.
Way of the Mole: When Mole was awake he would scurry around and around the bin, "tunneling" his way through the bidding. I could tell he was hunting so I would toss him 3-4 nightcrawlers or 6-9 worms. Mole would then pounce on them. He would hold them down with his claws while he began to eat the head. If he needed to, Mole would use his long nose like an elephant's trunk to scoop the worm into his mouth. What worms he didn't eat right away, he would bite off their heads and put them away in "storage" somewhere in the bin to eat later. When Mole slept, he would curl into a little furry ball. His fur was super soft, even more so than a rabbit's, and it could go in two directions. Mole had to be kept cool, he wasn't a desert animal after all so I had to make sure he was kept cool by a fan. I had a little themometer on the side of the bin to make sure he didn't get over 80 degrees, even 80 was a little too hot, but it was the best I could do. Normally, they live in the 60-70's.
What he looked like: Mole was grey and about the size of an adult's hand. His nose, hands, back feet and claws were flesh colored. Each hand had five digits and each claw was like a scoop. They weren't like "hand-hands" really, but were more like paddles. When Mole tunneled he would move his body super fast and moved it side to side much like a snake. He was impossible to hold. His teeth were sort of like a dog's, all pointed and with big fang teeth. Moles DO have eyes by the way, they are very tiny and are white with a small, VERY small, black dot in the middle. Mole's back feet were the normalist part of him, they looked much like a mouses except that they were bigger and with longer, more hardy claws. The back claws weren't nearly as big as the front ones of course.
Death of Mole: I had recently acquired 5 kittens and their mother. Once they started getting a little bigger nothing in my place was safe. One morning they woke me up as usual with their play and I saw that Mole's bin was knocked over. Fearing the worst, I searched my apartment carefully with no luck. But, just as I had given up hope and thought Mole had been eaten, I saw a familar furry body curled in a ball and asleep under a folded cardboard box under my bed. I grabbed a shirt and grabbed him and put him safely back in the bin. Apparently, when the kittens had knocked over the bin it had scared them so they'd ran off momentarily...giving Mole enough time to scurry away. Luckily, Mole was unharmed...or was he? Sadly, Mole died a couple weeks later. Was it the kittens fault? I dunno. Before I buried Mole I looked to see if he had any eyes and what his teeth looked like etc., I also discovered that he had a very small patch of white on his chest.
Lessons learned: Unless you own a worm farm a mole does not make a good pet. Mole was cute but he ate so darn much! The chances of you finding a baby mole would be nearly impossible, unless you want to dig up your yard, and an adult one couldn't be tamed...in other words, while you can stroke them as they are tunneling around, they're not really a pet you can hold and cuddle. I didn't dare let him sniff my hand in case he thought my finger was a worm. They like darkness and it was obvious Mole didn't like all the openness. He spent his life in the closeness of his tunnels so he was afraid and nervous.
Where I learned to take care of him: I found articles and things about Moles all over the internet.
In closing: I guess it's just as well Mole died. He died right before winter and just a couple weeks after he passed away Walmart stopped carrying nightcrawlers until Spring. Mole probably would've had to ate ground beef all winter, not a good thing.