If you’ve seen something that looks like a rodent in your house or in the garden, you may wonder exactly what type of pest you just saw. Was it mole or mouse? Surprisingly, both of them are almost similar to see that may make you confused whether it’s mole or mouse. However, they have some specific signs that make them different one from another. They are different in their size, food habits, habitats, and activities. If you have a proper idea about these signs you can find it out easily which pest destroying your properties. In this post, I’ve added a comparative discussion on Mole Vs Mouse. Let’s check the post to get a clear-cut idea about these creatures.
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Mole Vs Mouse | Noticeable Differences
Mole or Mouse, both of them have so many significant differences between them which makes them different from each other. There is a short list of the differences between them that will clear your confusion about these pests.
Size and Appearance
Moles have a hairless pointed snout, tinny eyes, and ears that are not visible. They use their enlarged front feet for digging the soil. On average, a mole grows to 4 to 7 inches and their tails add 1 to 1.6 inches of length. The weight of moles is usually 2.5 to 4.5 ounces. The black-to-brownish-grey fur has no grain which allows them to move easily forward and backward in the tunnels.
A mouse is a small rodent with a furry round body, pointed nose, large ears, and a long often hairless tail. Mice usually grow from 1 to 7 inches in length including the tail and weight between 20 to 40 grams. Generally, mice are much smaller than other rodents. Some of them are very tiny and others are around the size of a baked potato. They come in a wide variety of colors such as white, brown and grey.
Habitats or Haunts
Moles are found all the way through North America, but mostly it can be seen in north-western and eastern regions of the United State. They prefer to live in urban areas, grasslands, or any area that has moist soil where they can dig tunnels. In addition, moles like to stay away from acidic soil and mountainous area.
On the other hand, mice are strong creatures that can be found in nearly every country and type of terrain. These tiny creatures can live in grasslands, forests, and manmade structure easily. Additionally, mice love to live with humans so they can find their foods easily. They usually have a hole underground if they live out in the wild.
Meal Preference
There is a misconception about mole’s food preference that moles burrow into lawns to eat the roots of the plants. They are actually carnivorous creatures and prefer to eat earthworms that are found in garden soil. They also can eat grubs and other insects which live under the ground. Among all kind of moles, there is only one type that chucks the plant’s root. Otherwise, all other types of moles eat insects and invertebrates.
Mice actually prefer to eat seeds, grains, and fruits. As they are omnivorous, so they can eat both meat and plants. Moreover, house mice will eat just about anything they can find. In fact, if food is scarce they will even eat each other. Mice have voracious hunger, they eat around 15-20 times a day. So, they build their nest near the area where they can find food sources easily.
Dirt Pile and Tunnel
As digging asks for really hard work, moles need a lot of protein meals which come from eating insects. They love to eat earthworms so much that they almost eat as much as their body weight. To search for their meals, they made tunnels continuously that sometimes become much larger that look like a little mountain. A hungry mole can dig 18’ within an hour. As they prefer to live into the tunnel, so you cannot find out them easily.
Field mice, on the other hand, create problems mostly above the ground. They like to eat flowers, leaves, and other things that are located on the surface. However, mice also made holes and runways appear like a full trail system. They made runways in search of their foods. Nevertheless, unlike moles, mice don’t create any dirt piles on the ground.
Behaviour or Habit
Do you know that? Moles are considered such loners mammal. They spend most of their lives alone and underground in their tunnels. In fact, that 3 to 5 moles per acre is considered a lot. Moles spend most of their times in digging tunnels and searching for meals. A permanent tunnel is typically around 2 inches in diameter and 8-12 inches below the ground. On the other side, temporary tunnels are typically right under the surface of the ground.
Generally, mice are nocturnal, that means they prefer to sleep during the day. That’s why house mice or pet mice can be heard searching or playing during the night. Most of the wild mice are faint toward humans and other animals but they are very social with other rodents.
Destructive Activities
Moles do not create much trouble for the garden plants. They eat worms and other insects reducing the number of bugs from the yard. Even though, moles don’t eat plant roots or plants still they cause destruction. You will find many tunnels in the garden due to their extensive digging habits in search of foods. They also create soil hills on the ground and sometimes pull-up root of the plants.
When compare to moles, mice can cause more destruction than moles. Mice not only damage the garden surface but they also damage the whole root system, plants or even ornamental plants. However, not only for the garden mice also destructive for inside your home. As I mention it before, house mice can eat almost everything whatever they found. They can damage your cloth, wooden furniture, electric wires, and food storage. They can cause even fatal disease of you and your family.
Final Verdict
Finally, you learned everything about Mole Vs Mouse now it’s time to know how to prevent them. You can prevent them through various ways but the most effective and common way is setting a trap to catch them. There’re various types of mole and mouse traps are available in the market you can get your needed one easily. Once they stuck in the trap you can easily release them away from your place. However, you can use chemicals to prevent moles or mice but it could be harmful to your health. Instead of chemicals, you can apply natural methods to control these pests it would be safe for you and your family.
