Overview
The Coast Mole (Scapanus orarius) is a secretive, highly specialized subterranean mammal native to the moist, fertile coastal soils and temperate rainforests of the Pacific Northwest. Operating almost entirely underground beneath dense blankets of coastal sword ferns and Douglas firs, this powerful fossorial insectivore excavates intricate networks of foraging tunnels, aerating forest soils while consuming voracious quantities of earthworms.
Biology and Physical Characteristics
Scapanus orarius has a cylindrical, streamlined body clad in velvety, slate-black or dark charcoal fur that lacks a grain, allowing it to move forward and backward through tight tunnels with equal ease. Its forepaws are massively enlarged, spade-like, and permanently rotated outward, armed with heavy, broad white claws powered by massive pectoral muscles. Its tiny eyes are hidden in fur, it lacks external ears, and its conical snout is covered in sensory Eimer’s organs.
Behavior and Ecology
A solitary and territorial tunneler, the Coast Mole maintains two distinct tunnel systems: shallow, temporary runways just beneath the soil surface for immediate feeding, and deep, permanent highway tunnels down to a meter below ground that feature sleeping nests and sanitation chambers. It uses its sensitive snout to detect the minute vibrations of burrowing earthworms, often immobilizing them with a bite to store them alive in subterranean larder caches.
Conservation and Human Impact
Assessed as Least Concern by the IUCN, the Coast Mole is common and secure throughout its coastal geographic range. While frequently considered a nuisance by gardeners and golf course managers due to its excavated surface molehills, it provides invaluable ecological services by aerating compacted soils, improving rainfall absorption, and controlling garden pest populations.
Interesting Factoid
The velvety fur of the Coast Mole has no directional grain: its hair follicles bend flexibly in every direction, allowing the mole to sprint backward down its underground tunnels just as smoothly and quickly as it digs forward.