Washington mammals

Coast Mole in Washington

Scapanus orarius

Native to Washington S5 Secure in Washington

Not listed as nonindigenous in Washington by USGS NAS; native to its Washington range.

IUCN Red List status

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Photo: Riley Pollom · CC BY 4.0Coast Mole (Scapanus orarius)Photo: Grant Chovil · CC BY 4.0Coast Mole (Scapanus orarius)Photo: Sam Beaumont · CC BY 4.0Coast mole on bare soil facing the camera, showing spade-like front paws and pink snout

Coast Mole in Washington, by the numbers

Occasional in Washington 65th most recorded of 145 mammals logged in Washington

472 occurrence records

101 with iNaturalist photos

May 19, 2026 Last seen in Washington

Records from 2000–2026.

472 total records count every Washington occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 457 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Coast Mole in Washington

Most sightings fall in May to August.

457 Washington occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly Washington records (table)

Month	Records
January	16
February	14
March	30
April	21
May	77
June	74
July	57
August	55
September	40
October	35
November	27
December	11

Monthly coast mole occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Washington, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in Washington, with recorded sightings peaking in May–August.

Occurrence map

Where Coast Mole has been recorded in Washington

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

300 Washington records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monument	iNaturalist records
Ross Lake National Recreation Area	22
Washington State Department of Natural Resources (WADNR) State Resource Management Area	5
Mount Rainier National Park	4
Daniel J. Evans Wilderness Area	3
Trapper Creek Wilderness	3
Olympic National Park	3
Gifford Pinchot National Forest	2
Cape Disappointment	2

Protected places with the most coast mole sightings, from the USGS Protected Areas Database plus named mountain ranges, good spots to look, not a full breakdown, so they don't sum to the total.

Where it's recorded in Washington

County	Records
King County	129
Whatcom County	49
Pierce County	38
Kitsap County	37
Yakima County	34
Walla Walla County	21
Clallam County	21
Jefferson County	19
Snohomish County	17
Skamania County	16
Thurston County	15
Skagit County	12
14 other counties	64

The complete county distribution, spread across 26 Washington counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

In this state overlay, coast mole appears in 472 combined occurrence records. iNaturalist supplies 101 records and GBIF 440, a contrast explaining why the combined total is not a simple sum. That evidence yields a Washington atlas rank of 59 out of 126.

Records crest in May at 77 and reach their floor in December (11). The most concrete location detail is Olympic National Park, associated with 2 records. Those signals belong to reporting history and should not be treated as relative population size.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Full species profile Coast Mole Scapanus orarius Size 12.3 cm4.8 in Weight 62 g2.2 oz Lifespan Up to 3 yr View the full profile

More mammals in Washington in the atlas

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources:

GBIFCC-BY 4.0occurrence records behind the range map, elevation, and record counts
iNaturalistCC0 / CC-BY / CC-BY-SAobservations, photos, and audio recordings
NatureServe ExplorerCC-BYthe state conservation rank
IUCN Red Listattributed factthe global conservation status
USGS NASpublic domainnative / introduced status
Natural Earthpublic domainthe relief basemap
USFSpublic domainnational-forest boundaries
USGS Protected Areas Databasepublic domainthe named parks, forests, and refuges behind "notable places to look"