Ohio mammals

Eastern Mole in Ohio

Scalopus aquaticus

Native to Ohio SNR Unranked in Ohio

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

IUCN Red List status

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Photo: Bert Cash from Brunswick , USA · CC BY 2.0Eastern Mole (Scalopus aquaticus)Photo: Kenneth Catania, Vanderbilt University · CC BY-SA 3.0Front view showing the naked snout and paddle-shaped front feet

Eastern mole surfacing head-first with front digging claws splayed — Photo: Bert Cash from Brunswick , USA · CC BY 2.0Eastern Mole (Scalopus aquaticus)Photo: Kenneth Catania, Vanderbilt University · CC BY-SA 3.0Front view showing the naked snout and paddle-shaped front feet

Eastern Mole in Ohio, by the numbers

Occasional in Ohio 27th most recorded of 75 mammals logged in Ohio

388 occurrence records

165 with iNaturalist photos

Records from 2000–2026.

388 total records count every Ohio occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 378 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Eastern Mole in Ohio

Most sightings fall in May to June.

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

Monthly Ohio records (table)

Month	Records
January	7
February	11
March	18
April	39
May	66
June	50
July	29
August	29
September	25
October	49
November	42
December	13

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

Seasonality

Year-round in Ohio, with recorded sightings peaking in May–June, with a smaller rise in October–November.

Occurrence map

Where Eastern Mole has been recorded in Ohio

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

300 Ohio records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monument	iNaturalist records
Cuyahoga Valley National Park	1
Springville Marsh Dedicated Nature Preserve	1
Hueston Woods Dedicated Nature Preserve	1
Mohican State Park	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 Ohio

County	Records
Hamilton County	82
Champaign County	72
Clermont County	52
Warren County	23
Butler County	19
Franklin County	12
Delaware County	9
Lucas County	8
Erie County	8
Fairfield County	7
Highland County	7
Montgomery County	6
28 other counties	83

The complete county distribution, spread across 40 Ohio counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Almost nobody actually sees a live eastern mole. This species spends its whole life tunneling through soil, so most of Ohio’s 332 records likely come from spotting its raised ridges and volcano-shaped mole hills in lawns and fields rather than the animal itself. That distinction matters more here than for almost any other species on this list.

Records climb sharply in April and May, right as spring rain softens the ground and fresh digging becomes easy to spot after a winter of snow cover hid it. Ohio hasn’t given the eastern mole a numeric NatureServe rank (SNR, unranked); it’s one of the state’s most widely distributed small mammals, just rarely noticed for what it is.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Full species profile Eastern Mole Scalopus aquaticus Size 14.8 cm5.8 in Weight 75 g2.6 oz Lifespan Up to 6.2 yr View the full profile

More mammals in Ohio 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"