Moles can be beneficial to man by eating insect larvae such as cockchafers and carrot fly. Also, their tunnels help drain and aerate the soil. Originally found in broad-leaved woodland, they have spread into agricultural habitats and pastures. Males and females are solitary for most of the year, occupying exclusive territories. At the start of the breeding season males enlarge their territories, tunneling over large areas in search of females.
Moles sometimes construct very large mounds with a network of tunnels and one or more nest chambers.
They are usually removed by trapping but occasionally poisoned worms are put down their tunnels. Ploughing and re-seeding land significantly reduces earthworm populations, thus moles. The impact that the removal of hedgerows, areas of rough land and the use of agricultural chemicals has had is unknown.