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Mole Food

A reader asks: What do moles eat? I've heard they eat termites.

Dear Reader: Having listened to people complaining about moles for so many years, you would think moles eat everything including the kitchen sink. Certainly you have heard they thrive on chewing gum, caster beans and probably a good, rare Porterhouse steak. So, it doesn't surpise me to hear they eat termites, too. In fact, it makes a whole lot more sense than the chewing gum theory.

Moles live a secret underground existance so observation is difficult. Without having constant visual access, it would be nearly impossible to determine if they purposely seek out termites as a food source.

We do know that ground moles are omnivores. Its diet includes mostly insect larvae and earthworms, but it also eats other invertebrates, including slugs and centipedes, as well as roots and seeds. In captivity, moles will eat ground beef, dog food, mice, and small birds. (See! I told you they are reported to eat almost anything not bolted down.) The mole can't be too picky about what it eats because each day the Eastern mole eats 25 to 50% of its own weight in food.

Although there are no specific studies, we can surmise the following. Termites are insects. Moles eat insects. Therefore, moles eat termites if they happen to tunnel into them.

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