Connecticut’s occurrence databases hold 49 records of the star-nosed mole, a mix of iNaturalist observations and GBIF records. That’s toward the low end for the state’s mammals, which fits an animal that spends almost its entire life out of sight, underground or underwater.
Wet ground in three different settings
Records come from a spread of Connecticut’s wetter corners: the tidal marsh edges around Hammonasset Beach State Park on the Long Island Sound shoreline, the brook-cut terrain of Macedonia Brook State Park in the Litchfield Hills, and the damp forest floor of Meshomasic State Forest east of the Connecticut River. A star-nosed mole needs soft, saturated soil it can tunnel through and open water nearby, so it’s just as much at home in a tidal marsh as in an upland brook valley.
A nose built for the dark
Twenty-two fleshy rays ring its nostrils, packed with touch receptors the mole taps rapidly against soil, plants, and prey to decide almost instantly whether something is food. That sensory system, plus a dense, water-resistant coat, lets it hunt worms, insect larvae, and small crustaceans both underground and while swimming, a habit hardly any other Connecticut mammal shares. Records run through most months of the year, with more turning up from late spring into fall, when digging and swimming activity is easiest for anyone to notice.
Status in Connecticut
The star-nosed mole is native to Connecticut, and NatureServe ranks it S5, secure. Its low record count here reflects how rarely this mole ever surfaces, not how scarce it actually is.
