Mole: what feeds and how does this underground hermit live

О кротах слышали все, однако мало кто может say about what saw them in their natural habitat. Even fewer people know that they love to eat. However, all these questions do not prevent summer residents and gardeners from seeing the enemy in an animal: if ruts appeared on the site and the harvest began to disappear, then the mole is always to blame. What does this little “saboteur” eat, and what is his lifestyle?

Considering that he is in the familyinsectivorous, then most of its food is made up of worms, beetles and insect larvae. However, the mole (which feeds on, we will tell in more detail) is a real predator, and therefore sometimes it can completely eat a mouse, a small lizard or a frog.

The size of food strongly depends on the amount of food.animal: in optimal conditions, it can grow up to 25 cm. Contrary to the conventional notion, moles are not completely blind. Of course, in the majority of individuals, the eyes completely atrophied as a result of the evolutionary process.

But occasionally there are moles in which eyes can be distinguished. They cannot be called a full-fledged organ of vision, since at best they can give the animal an idea of ​​darkness or light.

What do you think the mole cannot do without what sense organ? What feeds on a blind creature that cannot see its prey? Of course, he cannot live without a well-developed sense of smell.

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

Most of the small mole mole takesarea responsible for finding food. Any mole (which eats what we have already figured out) is a small mammal with a mad metabolism. His body needs so much food per day that this amount exceeds its own weight.

And so round the clock this relentless eaterbreaks new moves, constantly needing a source of energy. It is through such a tireless activity that the molehills sometimes stretch for dozens of kilometers, intertwining into such complex systems that only the owners themselves can understand them.

In general, the mole’s habitat itself impliesthe constant abrasion of his skins, and therefore it has a rare quality. Due to the difficult "operating conditions", mole fur coats are fully updated three times a year. Any woman of fashion knows that the fur of the mole is unique: it has no direction, as its owner is forced to give up, bend, reaching for particularly tasty worms, and even turn around on a tiny square.

If his skin was different, it would have peeled off after a couple of months of such a life.

Given their terrible gluttony, do notwonder that moles are forced to live alone, in need of a large hunting area. They occur only during the mating period, after which they diverge, and the female alone gives birth and nurses 5-10 young. Only two months they are with the mother, after which they leave for free swimming.

So you learned about what a mole eats and what its lifestyle is like.