### appearance:

Mole
* Many moles have a long, powerful tail
  - indicate an increased risk of melanoma skin cancer
  - survive off of worms, some prefer other insects
* Most moles are benign, but half of melanomas do appear in moles
  - brownish but they can be flesh colored, blue, or black
* Most moles are dark brown or black, but some are flesh-colored or yellowish
  - black, but some are skin-colored or yellowish
  - harmless, but some moles do have a greater chance to develop melanoma
  - tend to be light in color
* Some moles are present at birth
  - viral
  - belong to the same family as shrews
  - disappear with advancing age
  - produce dark, coarse hair.
  * ' are animals found in North America, Europe and Asia. There are 12 kinds of mole all over the world. They eat insects, larvae or tiny worms. Moles have velvety, soft fur. They have powerful front paws so they can dig. A mole has an extra thumb
* actively feed day and night all year long.
* also are similar to shrews, but are usually larger and have enlarged front feet
  - dig deeper permanent tunnels and burrows
* also eat many lawn and garden pests, including crane fly larvae and slugs
  - pests, including cranefly larvae and slugs
  - feed on carrion
* also have long, broad digging claws
  - no external ears and very small eyes
  - rely heavily on earthworms in their diet
* always take the path of least resistance when tunneling.
* are a good example of fossorial mammals
  - predictor of later skin cancer
  - member of the family of skin lesions known as nevi
  - pest that becomes evident in the fall and spring
  - small mammals that are most well known for living in tunnels underground
  - very shy animal
  - about the size of chipmunks and can weigh anywhere from three to six ounces
* are active all year round
  - year round and make regular use of their tunnels
  - year-round
  - almost-blind, burrowing mammals
  - also blind
  - apparently very sensitive to smell
  - blemishs
  - blind but they have a powerful sense of smell
  - built highly adapted for their underground digging way of life
  - capable of having one litter per year with approximately two to five young per litter
* are carnivores and prey on adult insects and worms
  - that make themselves at home in lawns rich in grubs and insects
  - carnivores, primarily feeding upon earthworms and insects
  - carnivorous animals that feed on insects, especially white grubs, and on earthworms
  - classified as nongame mammals and are protected in Pennsylvania
  - clever creatures, however, and can learn to avoid traps
  - clusters of heavily pigmented skin cells, either flat or raised above the skin surface
* are common animals in North America, Europe, and many other places
  - small tan or brown spots on the skin
  - determined in the genetic makeup just as eye color and hair color are
  - easily stunned and can even be killed by a sharp tap on the snout
  - enormous consumers of food
  - enormously adaptable animals, and their flexible diets vary considerably with habitat
  - especially fond of earthworms, unfortunately
  - examples of lots of melanocytes that have been grouped together
  - extremely common
  - far more difficult to catch than gophers
  - fictional characters
  - fossorial, which means that they live mostly underground
  - found through the United States and southern portions of Canada
  - generally solitary animals
* are growths on the skin that are usually brown or black
  - harmless to people or pets
  - highly territorial, defending and patrolling the burrow system
  - important to watch as they can become cancerous in rare cases
  - indigenous to Europe, Asia, and North America
  - insect and earthworm eaters
  - insectivores
  - mammal and nurse the young moles for several weeks
  - mammals that live under ground, burrowing holes
* are more common in lighter skinned people and typically have a hereditary basis
  - the late fall and again in the late winter through early spring
  - mostly solitary
  - nocturnal
  - often good indicators of cancer development
  - omnivores that primarily feed and hunt earthworms
  - on the go most hours of the day and night
  - one of nature's small mammals that have worked for a long time in moving soil around
  - part of a healthy ecological system
  - partly or all in the dermis
  - placental mammals
  - primarily a concern if they are changing in size, shape, or color
  - sauces
* are small bumps or areas of skin color change that can occur on any part of the skin
  - mammals that spend most of their lives in underground burrows
  - small, destructive burrowing creatures about five to eight inches long
* are solitary animals that come together only to breed
  - to breed once a year in late winter to early spring
  - creatures except during the brief spring mating season
  - creatures, coming together only to mate
  - specialized for life underground
* are spots on the skin that are brown, blue, black, or flesh-colored
  - strictly carnivores, feeding on earthworms, grubs, insects and larvae
  - strong and highly specialized in structure, particularly in the forepart of the body
* are the most common tumors
  - only fertile true hermaphrodites described up to now among mammals
  - quintessential Mexican celebratory food
  - tiny collections of pigment cells - cells that contain color
  - units of measurement
* are usually harmless collections of pigmented cells
  - one shade of brown
  - smaller
  - very robust animals and can survive in rather adverse conditions
  - well adapted for a life of digging
* breed in early spring with the female moles gestation period lasting about a month.
* breed in late winter or spring and have a gestation period of about four to six weeks
  - and have a gestation period of four to six weeks
* burrow and raise molehills , killing parts of lawns
  - beneath the spot which was interrupted and establish a new burrow underneath it
* can appear anywhere on the skin in various sizes and shapes
  - skin, alone or in groups
* can be active at all times of the day
  - beneficial to man by eating insect larvae such as cockchafers and carrot fly
  - brown, tan, black, red, blue or pink
  - destructive pests in lawns, gardens, nurseries, parks, golf courses, and cemeteries
  - either flat or raised, round or oval, and are smaller than a pencil eraser
  - flat or raised, and they remain constant in colour
* can be flat or raised, smooth or rough, and some contain hair growths
  - quite damaging to lawns and gardens
  - change from flat to raised any time during life
* can change over time and often respond to hormonal changes, such as during pregnancy
  - come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors
  - have hair
  - push up brick, and ants love to bring sand to the surface between the joints
  - tunnel at the rate of one foot per minute
  - undermine concrete slabs, driveways, pools, and even shallow foundations
  - wreak havoc in a lawn or garden, creating unsightly mounds and tunnels wherever they go
* come in many shapes, colors and sizes.
* commonly make denning areas under portions of large trees, buildings, or sidewalks
  - their denning areas under portions of large trees, buildings, or sidewalks
* construct a series of tunnels in the ground.
* create elaborate tunnel systems below the ground
  - tunnels for two purposes, traveling and feeding
* differ from shrews in several characteristics.
* dig a network of tunnels underground as they search for food
  - blindly through the soil and eat whenever they happen upon food
  - elaborate underground tunnels that extend in all directions
  - near the surface, so their tunnels are easy to spot
* dig their burrows close to the surface of the ground
  - tunnels in open pastures, meadows, and woodlands
* do eat grubs
  - have eyes, but they're tiny slits covered with thin skin
* eat earthworms.
* eat grubs, and moles stink
  - earthworms and just about any insect they can catch
  - harmful lawn pests such as white grubs
  - insect grubs and earthworms, while voles eat vegetation
* eat insects , earthworms , mice , fish , frogs , small crustaceans, and other small animals
  - live prey and cause little or no damage to perennial landscape plants
  - more than their own weight in earthworms daily
  - only live earthworms and grubs and a few insects
  - small amounts of plants parts only occasionally
  - three times their weight every day
  - underground insects and only cause problems by their tunnels and soil disruption
* feed on japanese beetle grubs and a variety of other insects
  - primarily on insects that feed below the ground
* find prey mainly by using their sense of touch.
* forage through the lawn in search of food.
* generally are timid animals, easily alerted or frightened by unfamiliar noises.
* get bigger, skin tags get bigger, even warts can get bigger.
* have a cylindrical body, very strong shoulders and broad, spade-like fore limbs with claws
  - habit of driving a rabbit raiser crazy
  - higher incidence of turning into melanomas
  - low reproductive rate
  - more cylindrical body and hedgehogs have a round body
  - strong, musky odor that most mammalian predators find unpalatable
  - very high metabolic rate and, therefore, have to consume large amounts of food
  - an uncanny ability to detect and spring improperly set traps
  - big white claws for digging and also for fighting off trespassing moles
  - bluish-black to gray fur
  - broad front feet, with claws that face outward for digging
  - extremely tiny eyes that are basically a thin membrane behind their snout
* have high energy requirements and thus have large appetites
  - large paddle-like forefeet used for digging
  - no problem adapting to their surroundings
  - one litter each year
  - slender hairless snouts and inconspicuous eyes and ears
  - small eyes and big claws for crawling through their tunnels
  - small, rounded bodies, pointy snouts and soft, fluffy brown or grey fur
  - strong legs, short necks and elongated heads
  - the potential to turn into skin cancer
  - tiny eyes and are virtually blind
  - two types of tunnels
  - very tiny eyes and lack external ears
  - voracious appetites, consuming more than their bodyweight in food daily
* hear well, though they have no external ears.
* heighten skin cancer risk.
* help control populations of harmful insects.
* includes brains
  - breasts
  - cell membranes
  - chest cavities
  - chests
  - corpi
  - cytoplasm
  - faces
  - nuclei
  - pedal extremities
  - piluses
  - plasma membranes
  - rib cages
  - sections
  - skulls
  - sterna
  - vacuoles
  - vertebrate feet
* lack external ears and their eyes are so small that at first glance they appear to be missing.
* lead solitary lives.
* leave cone-shaped mounds on the surface of the ground
  - volcano-shaped hills that are often made up of clods of soil
  - volcanoes and tunnels
* live a solitary life only tolerating others during mating season
  - for three to four years in the wild
  - in most of the continental United States in a variety of soils and habitats
* live underground and are specialized for life underground
  - in their tunnels
* lives in the ground.
* love to dig their feed pellets out of the feeder every day after being fed.
* make long, winding ridges in sod or soil as they tunnel just below the surface
  - their dens in areas under trees, buildings and sidewalks
* mass unit
* move slowly on the surface and are preyed upon by owls, hawks, and snakes.
* occur during the childbearing years
  - when cells in the skin grow in a cluster instead of being spread throughout the skin
* often come into conflict with homeowners when they burrow in yards
  - move into lawns from adjacent wooded areas, ravines or similar areas
  - scrape away dirt from the root system of plants in search of grubs and worms
* originally work from tree line areas along fence rows.
* play a beneficial role in the management of soil and control of undesirable grubs and insects
  - an important role in soil management and the control of grubs that destroy lawns
* prefer dark, cool climates
  - insects as their choice of food, where as, voles are plant eaters
  - loose, sandy loam soils and avoid heavy, dry clay soils
  - moist areas where the grubs and worms are plentiful
  - moist, sandy loam soils in lawns, gardens, pastures and woodlands
  - to hunt in loose, moist soil that is rich in grubs and earthworms
* push dirt through vertical tunnels onto the surface of the ground
* quickly repair damage to active burrows.
* reach sexual maturity at about ten months of age and breed in their first winter.
* remove many damaging insects and grubs from lawns and gardens.
* seek each other out only at mating time and typically have two to five babies at a time.
* sleep, feed and breed in their tunnels.
* sometimes construct very large mounds with a network of tunnels and one or more nest chambers.
* spend almost their entire lives underground.
* spend most of their time below ground in their tunnels they excavate
  - their lives underground with a few seen at the surface occasionally
* start out as a flat brown or black spot much like a freckle.
* stay underground, being most active in the morning and late in the evening.
* tend to go deeper into the skin than non-invasive lasers can penetrate.
* travel through the soil in a method that looks similar to the breast stroke.
* tunnel for food such as grubs
  - through the ground using a swimming motion
  - under turf hunting earthworms and grubs
* use their paws to tunnel through the ground searching for ants, earthworms and grubs.
* usually appear after birth
  - begin to form during the first twenty years of life
  - ridge up the surface of the soil, so their tunnels can be readily followed
* vary in size by type and region.
* work over the soil and subsoil.