Texas mammals

Eastern Mole in Texas

Scalopus aquaticus

Native to Texas S5 Secure in Texas

Not listed as nonindigenous in Texas by USGS NAS; native to its Texas 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 Texas, by the numbers

Common in Texas 58th most recorded of 197 mammals logged in Texas

340 occurrence records
330 with iNaturalist photos
Jun 22, 2026 Last seen in Texas

Records from 2000–2026.

340 total records count every Texas occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 324 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Eastern Mole in Texas

Most sightings fall in April to June.

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

Monthly Texas records (table)
MonthRecords
January20
February20
March19
April46
May53
June35
July25
August15
September19
October22
November17
December33

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

Seasonality

Year-round in Texas, with recorded sightings peaking in April–June, with a smaller rise in December.

Occurrence map

Where Eastern Mole has been recorded in Texas

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

300 Texas records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Bastrop State Park 3
Padre Island National Seashore 2
Mustang Island State Park 2
North Padre Island 2
Pineywoods Native Plant Center 1
Goose Island State Park 1
Lake Meredith National Recreation Area 1
Alazan Bayou Wildlife Management Area 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 Texas

CountyRecords
Tarrant County 51
Denton County 32
Montgomery County 27
Harris County 20
Bastrop County 12
Parker County 8
Wise County 6
Aransas County 6
Wilson County 6
Smith County 6
Kleberg County 6
Liberty County 5
73 other counties 155

The complete county distribution, spread across 85 Texas counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Eastern moles rarely surface, so most records trace back to the telltale ridges and molehills they push up while tunneling for earthworms and grubs, and Texas’s cluster at Aransas, Padre Island, and Brazoria national wildlife refuges tracks the soft coastal-plain soil this species needs to dig through easily.

Reports peak in May, the clearest single-month signal among nearby Texas mammals, likely tied to spring soil moisture making fresh molehill activity easier to spot rather than any real change in how many moles are working underground. With 340 records, the species ranks common, at the 71st percentile among the state’s mammals, and NatureServe carries it as S5, Secure statewide.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

More mammals in Texas 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"