Eastern moles turn up in 90 New Jersey records, a modest count for an animal that almost never shows itself. Reports come from Cape May’s sandy ground to Middlesex and Gloucester counties, whenever a mole surfaces, gets caught above ground, or leaves diggings too fresh to miss.
A full life spent out of sight
The mole’s paddle-shaped front feet and short, directionless fur are tools for one job, moving through soil. Below the lawns, fields, and forest floors of places like Wharton State Forest and Brendan T. Byrne State Forest it patrols a network of tunnels for earthworms and beetle grubs, and the surface ridges and conical mounds that vex gardeners are simply the overhead cost of that hunting. Built for darkness, a mole has little use for eyesight or speed in the open, and most people meet the species only through its diggings.
Peaks that mark the soil, not the animal
Moles do not hibernate, and they hunt in every month of the year, retreating deeper when the ground freezes or dries. New Jersey’s reports crest from April through June and again in September and October, the seasons when soft, moist soil lets a mole tunnel just under the surface and fresh ridges advertise its passing. The quiet months in between reflect deep tunneling, not animals that have left.
Status in New Jersey
NatureServe ranks the eastern mole S5, Secure, in New Jersey. The species is native to the state, and USGS NAS does not list it as nonindigenous.
Full species profile
