Theme · Moles
Children's books about moles: an invisible animal, and four myths
A mole is the animal children know best without ever having seen one. Here's why this invisible animal takes up so much room in children's imaginations, and four things picture books show the wrong way round.
Why moles
The mole lives in the one place a child can't look: under the lawn they're standing on. What happens there has to be imagined, and that's exactly what books do.
There's also the evidence. Molehills in the garden are often a child's first encounter with a wild animal they'll never see. The proof is right there, you can touch it, and the animal stays invisible.
What we don't claim: that mole books offer something other animal books don't. No study looks at one species in particular; two studies on humanised animals are on our page about animals.
Four things picture books get wrong
Few animals are so stubbornly misdrawn in picture books. Each point can be put right in a sentence, and each makes a good remark while reading.
1. It isn't blind. A mole's eyes are about the size of two pinheads and hidden in its fur. It can tell light from dark.3 Hearing and touch matter more: it finds prey through differences in temperature and the smallest vibrations in the ground.3 At the tip of its snout is Eimer's organ, with several times more nerve fibres than a human hand.4
2. A molehill isn't a front door. It's spoil. The mole pushes surplus earth upwards with its head and snout, and molehills also air the tunnels.12 The picture of a mole looking out from the top of its molehill is more common in books than in gardens.
3. It doesn't eat roots. Its menu: earthworms, caterpillars, snails, insect larvae, spiders and even mice. The nibbled carrots in the vegetable patch are the work of voles or slugs.2
4. There's no mole family. The mole lives alone and tolerates nobody in its territory outside the breeding season; that territory can reach 3,000 square metres. Nor does it hibernate: all year round it does its rounds every three to four hours and stores earthworms.2
Or a story of their own
If your child should be the hero
- Every morning your child finds a new molehill in the garden, and one night sets off to explore the tunnels with the animal that lives there.
- A mole who can barely see but hears everything guides your child through a dark tunnel where only touch shows the way.
- Your child has to prove to an angry gardener that it wasn't the mole that ate the carrots, and investigates.
Frequently asked questions
- Are moles blind?
- No. Their eyes are tiny, about the size of two pinheads, but they can tell light from dark. To hunt, they rely mostly on hearing and touch, especially Eimer's organ at the tip of the snout.
- What do moles eat?
- Only animals: earthworms, caterpillars, snails, insect larvae, spiders and sometimes mice. Roots and nibbled vegetables in the garden are the work of voles or slugs.
- Why do moles make molehills?
- A molehill is surplus earth the mole pushes up while digging its tunnels, with its head and snout. Molehills also air the tunnels. They're not entrances.
- Do moles live in families?
- No. A mole lives alone and defends a territory of up to 3,000 square metres, except in the breeding season. It doesn't hibernate either.
Sources
- 1.NABU: Buddeln als Lebenszweck, der Maulwurf. (in German)What it confirms: Surplus earth pushed up with the head and snout; the network of tunnels and chambers underground.
- 2.NABU: Aus dem Leben des Maulwurfs. (in German)What it confirms: A diet of earthworms, caterpillars, snails, larvae, spiders and mice; plant damage from voles or slugs; a territory of up to 3,000 square metres; no hibernation, rounds every three to four hours; molehills that air the tunnels.
- 3.NABU Baden-Württemberg: Sind Maulwürfe wirklich vollkommen blind? (in German)What it confirms: Eyes the size of two pinheads; telling light from dark; hunting by differences in temperature and vibrations in the ground.
- 4.Deutsche Wildtier Stiftung: the mole. (in German)What it confirms: Eimer's organ, with several times more nerve fibres than a human hand; a solitary animal defending its territory.
Other themes: Animals, Autumn, Dinosaurs, Rabbits, Elephants, Witches, Unicorns and Fire engines. Read also: Potty training. Or children's books by age, growing up, topic by topic and all the illustration styles.