Mole: what feeds and how does this underground hermit live

Mole heard about everything, but few can say that I saw them in their natural habitat. Even fewer people know that they like to eat. However, all these questions do not prevent the villagers and truck farmers from seeing in the animal enemy: if there were potholes on the site, and the harvest began to vanish, then the mole is always to blame. What does this little "saboteur" eat, and what is his way of life?

Considering that he belongs to the family of insectivores, most of his food consists of worms, beetles and insect larvae. However, the mole (what we eat, we will tell in more detail) is the most real predator, and therefore sometimes it can quite well eat a mouse, a small lizard or a frog.

The size of the animal depends on the amount of food: under optimal conditions, it can grow up to 25 cm. Contrary to the generally accepted view, moles are not completely blind. Of course, for most of the individuals, the eyes completely atrophied as a result of the evolutionary process.

But from time to time come moles, from which you can discern eyes. Call them a full-fledged organ of sight is impossible, because at best they can give the animal an idea of darkness or light.

What do you think, without what sense organ can not the mole manage? What does a blind creature eat that can not see its prey? Of course, he can not live without a well-developed sense of smell.

The nose of a mole has long been reborn into a locator resembling a small pink trunk. He constantly checks the space around the animal, telling his master about the proximity of potential food, about enemies or sexual partners.

Most of the small mole brain is the area responsible for finding food. Any mole (what we eat, we already found out) is a small mammal with rabies metabolism. His body needs a lot of food per day, which is more than his own weight.

Therefore, around the clock, this relentless eater breaks through new moves, constantly in need of a source of energy. It is due to such tireless activity that molehills sometimes stretch for tens of kilometers, weaving into such complex systems that only the owners can understand them.

In general, the very habitat of a mole presupposes the constant abrasion of its hide, and therefore it has a rare quality. Due to the difficult "operating conditions", the mole coat is completely renewed three times a year. Any fashionist knows that the mole fur is unique: it has no directionality, since its owner is forced to turn back, bend, getting to especially delicious worms, and even unfold on a tiny square.

If his skin were different, he would have cured in a couple of months of such a life.

Given their terrible gluttony, do not be surprised that moles are forced to live alone, needing a large hunting area. They are found only for the period of mating, after which they disperse, and the female alone gives birth and feeds 5-10 young. Only two months they are with their mother, after which they go on a free voyage.

So you have learned about what the mole feeds on and what his way of life is.