A muscular cylindrical body equipped with oversized front feet that look like clawed paddles allows the mole to scrape through the earth in a swimming-like motion. Forefeet push the soil against the side of a tunnel and compact it. Back feet grip the tunnel wall for leverage. In good soil, moles can travel up to 30 yards an hour and will easily do 50-plus when in rut. They can run 80 feet per minute in an established tunnel.
Moles create elaborate tunnel systems below the ground.
Here they breed, raise young and catch insects. In the spring, when the soil warms and insect activity increases, moles bear their young in nests. A female usually has two to four hairless babies. By early summer the young are out on their own, which accounts for the large amount of tunnelling at this time. Much mounding and tunnelling also occurs in the fall, when the moles migrate to other areas searching for more food.