Wisconsin’s occurrence databases hold 83 star-nosed mole records, one of the thinner tallies among the state’s mapped mammals, gathered almost entirely from saturated ground near water.
Tunnels that open straight into the marsh
A star-nosed mole’s tunnels often open directly into water, and Wisconsin’s wettest ground gives it plenty of places to do that: the saturated soils of Horicon National Wildlife Refuge’s marsh, the boggy wetlands strung along the Ice Age National Scenic Trail, and the damp shoreline forest of the Apostle Islands all match the wet meadow, stream bank, and marsh habitat this mole needs. It swims as readily as it digs, hunting aquatic insects, worms, and small crustaceans both underwater and in its tunnels.
The fastest touch organ on Wisconsin’s mammal list
The ring of twenty-two fleshy rays around its nose gives the star-nosed mole a sense of touch fast enough to identify prey almost the instant it brushes against it, useful in the dark, saturated tunnels near the Mississippi backwaters at Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge where sight would do little good anyway.
Status in Wisconsin
NatureServe ranks the star-nosed mole S4, apparently secure, in Wisconsin, and it’s native to the state. Its records track wetland connections across the state, from Lake Superior’s shoreline bogs to the marsh at Horicon, wherever saturated ground and clean water stay linked.
