Title: An Intro to Moles, Voles, and Shrews - The Infinite Spider
Headings: An Intro to Moles, Voles, and Shrews
An Intro to Moles, Voles, and Shrews
What's the Difference Between Moles, Voles, and Shrews?
A Quick Chart and Guide
Know Your Moles, Voles, and Shrews
Pictures of Moles, Voles, and Shrews Oh My!
Eastern or Common Mole ( Scalopus aquaticus ): 5-7"
Meadow Vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus): 4-5"
Least Shrew ( Cryptotis parva ): 3" or less
Feature
Mole
Vole
Shrew
Feature
Mole
Vole
Shrew

Content: The word "insectivore" is still accurate, as in mammals that eat insects, but insectivores are now classified into Orders of Soricimorpha, Erinaceomorpha, and Chrysochloridea. A picture is certainly worth a thousand words, but you also need a bit more information to tell if you have a mole, vole, or shrew in your back yard. Here's a chart to help you, followed by pictures of what to look for: Feature
Mole
Vole
Shrew
Family
Talpidae (not rodents)
Cricetidae (related to rats, mice, and hamsters but not rodents)
Sorcidae (not related to rodents or moles)
Lifestyle
Fossorial (digging and living underground)
Cursorial (running above ground)
Cursorial but can dig tunnels
Social Status
Anti-Social (only 1-2 around at a time)
Social, many can live together in high volumes
Unlike other shrews they are social and can live in groups
Where it Lives
Meadows, pastures, fields, open woodland; avoids wet soils, clay, and sand
Meadows, fields, marshes, grassy areas, open woodlands (also grassy)
Open fields, tall grassy areas, open woodlands and brushy areas
Signs to Look For
Volcano shaped mole mounds (2-3" above soil), sometimes dead grass trails (but not chewed) that are slightly raised
Surface runways about-1 1/2-2" wide that are chewed or grazed free of grass, golf ball sized holes, also can tunnel under ground; may run in other animal's tunnels
Rootles through loose leaf litter for insects, can tunnel through soil like moles but not destructive; usually dens/lives in shallow tunnels under rocks, paving stones, or logs
What it Eats
DOES NOT EAT PLANTS OR PLANT ROOTS, only earthworms and grubs
Grass, seeds, sedges, herbs, grains, bulbs, tubers, garden plants, and bark in fall
DOES NOT EAT PLANTS OR PLANT ROOTS; feeds exclusively on insects, sow bugs, grasshoppers, grubs, and other garden pests
How It's Beneficial
Moles are not after your garden plants, they eat earthworms and harmful grubs in your garden. Yes voles tear up lawns, but they reproduce so rapidly that they are a major food source for ecosystem predators such as birds and foxes
Eats and removes garden pests
Nifty Facts
They have kitchen and storage chambers underground; their saliva can paralyze earthworms and they are often found hoarding hundreds of worms in one chamber
Voles can feed on bark in the winter, if you mulch your trees in winter/early spring then voles may girdle the trees by eating the bark while safely staying under the mulch
They can eat 60-100% of their body weight in insects a day;