Kansas mammals

Eastern Mole in Kansas

Scalopus aquaticus

Native to Kansas S5 Secure in Kansas

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

IUCN Red List status

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Eastern Mole in Kansas, by the numbers

Common in Kansas 32nd most recorded of 93 mammals logged in Kansas

105 occurrence records
72 with iNaturalist photos
Jun 22, 2026 Last seen in Kansas

Records from 2000–2026.

105 total records count every Kansas occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 103; the monthly chart covers the 103 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Eastern Mole in Kansas

Most sightings fall in May to June.

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

Monthly Kansas records (table)
MonthRecords
January6
February5
March6
April6
May24
June15
July8
August2
September11
October9
November5
December6

Monthly eastern mole occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Kansas, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in Kansas, with recorded sightings peaking in May–June.

Occurrence map

Where Eastern Mole has been recorded in Kansas

103 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

103 Kansas records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Sandhills State Park 1
Clinton Wildlife Area 1
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve 1
Kanopolis State Park 1
Saline State Fishing Lake 1

Protected places with the most eastern 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 Kansas

CountyRecords
Pottawatomie County 13
Douglas County 11
Johnson County 10
Jefferson County 10
Riley County 7
Leavenworth County 7
Sedgwick County 6
Stafford County 5
Cowley County 4
Shawnee County 3
Reno County 2
Brown County 2
19 other counties 25

The complete county distribution, spread across 31 Kansas counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Eastern moles spend nearly all their time underground, so what people in Kansas usually report isn’t the animal but the raised ridges and mounds it leaves pushing through soil. That gap between an animal rarely seen and its very visible digging helps explain a modest record: 105 Kansas reports in all, 72 from iNaturalist and 82 in GBIF, two overlapping sources.

Reports rise through spring and peak in May, when soil warms, earthworms move closer to the surface, and moles push new tunnels most actively, though the timing likely also reflects when people are out in yards and fields noticing the damage. Flint Hills grassland and the tallgrass sod at Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve offer the loose, workable soil this species favors, and similar ground near other state parks should support it too, even without a report on file. NatureServe lists the species as secure (S5) across Kansas, consistent with a habitat generalist that just happens to stay out of sight.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

More mammals in Kansas 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"