Washington mammals

Townsend's mole in Washington

Scapanus townsendii

Native to Washington S5 Secure in Washington

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

Live Townsend's mole in green grass, broad pale forepaw and pointed pink snout visibleAI-generated image: Townsend's mole half-emerged from dark soil at the grass edge. No additional license-safe photograph of this species exists. This image was generated with AI from verified reference material and reviewed by our editorial team for accuracyAI-generated image: Townsend's mole pushing through damp leaf litter. No additional license-safe photograph of this species exists. This image was generated with AI from verified reference material and reviewed by our editorial team for accuracy
Photo: Colton Veltkamp · CC BY 4.0Live Townsend's mole in green grass, broad pale forepaw and pointed pink snout visibleAI-generated image No additional license-safe photograph of this species exists. This image was generated with AI from verified reference material and reviewed by our editorial team for accuracyTownsend's mole half-emerged from dark soil at the grass edgeAI-generated image No additional license-safe photograph of this species exists. This image was generated with AI from verified reference material and reviewed by our editorial team for accuracyTownsend's mole pushing through damp leaf litter

Townsend's mole in Washington, by the numbers

Occasional in Washington 84th most recorded of 145 mammals logged in Washington

469 occurrence records
45 with iNaturalist photos
Jul 3, 2026 Last seen in Washington

Records from 2000–2026.

469 total records count every Washington occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 453 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Townsend's mole in Washington

Most sightings fall in May to July.

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

Monthly Washington records (table)
MonthRecords
January21
February10
March20
April23
May53
June81
July77
August42
September57
October28
November30
December11

Monthly townsend's mole occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Washington, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in Washington, with recorded sightings peaking in May–July, with a smaller rise in September.

Occurrence map

Where Townsend's mole has been recorded in Washington

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

300 Washington records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Daniel J. Evans Wilderness Area 13
Olympic National Park 9
Clearwater Wilderness 7
Washington State Department of Natural Resources (WADNR) State Resource Management Area 3
Willapa Hills Trail 3
Olympic National Forest 3
Lewis and Clark National Historical Park 1
Olympic-Willapa Hills-South Puget Sound Wildlife Area Complex 1

Protected places with the most townsend's 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 Washington

CountyRecords
King County 137
Pierce County 111
Clallam County 49
Snohomish County 46
Mason County 25
Thurston County 24
Pacific County 18
Clark County 17
Lewis County 12
Jefferson County 7
Cowlitz County 5
Grays Harbor County 5
4 other counties 13

The complete county distribution, spread across 16 Washington counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Washington’s 2000–2026 dataset contains 469 townsends mole records. A feed comparison finds 45 iNaturalist records against 459 in GBIF, with duplicates reconciled in the combined figure. Within the 126-species Washington ranking, that places it at number 74.

Reporting is most concentrated in June, with 81 records; February has only 10. At named protected lands, Olympic National Park leads with 1 record. The contrast describes documentation effort and timing; it cannot be read as a census.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Live Townsend's mole in green grass, broad pale forepaw and pointed pink snout visible
Full species profile Townsend's mole Scapanus townsendii Size 18.6 cm7.3 in Weight 138 g4.9 oz View the full profile

More mammals in Washington 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"