Star-nosed Mole 83 



tailed mole is currently known from Avery, Buncombe, Caldwell, 

 Jackson, Haywood, Macon, Mitchell, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, 

 Wilkes, and Yancey counties in the Mountains (Lee et al. 1982, NCSM 

 files). The late Joseph M. Bauman (personal communication) also 

 reported specimens from Cherokee County. The eastern mole apparently 

 occurs throughout the state (Lee et al. 1982, Webster et al, 1985), 

 and is in most places the most common mole. 



Differences in habitat preference by the three have been noted 

 by several authors. Star-nosed moles are known to prefer, if not require, 

 wet areas as habitat (Hamilton 1931, Burt and Grossenheider 1976, 

 Yates and Pedersen 1982, Webster et al. 1985). Nearly all North 

 Carolina specimens for which habitat information is available were 

 collected in such areas. A possible exception is the Bladen County 

 specimen listed above, which was found dead in a dry, sandy area 

 apparently not near a wetland (T. M. Padgett, personal communication). 

 The eastern mole has been reported to avoid "the wet soils preferred 

 by the Star-nosed Mole" (Lee et al. 1982). The hairy-tailed mole 

 reportedly occurs in similar habitats as the eastern mole, but usually 

 at higher elevations, with most specimens being taken at above 2,000 

 ft. (610 m) (Lee et al. 1982, Webster et al. 1985, NCSM files). Lee et 

 al. (1982) reported the hairy-tailed mole to be "considerably more 

 common than the Star-nosed Mole," but this may not hold true at all 

 montane localities. In Watauga County, for instance, Condylura apparently 

 is more frequently encountered than Parascalops (R. W. Van Devender, 

 personal communication), and there are overall more Condylura than 

 Parascalops from the North Carolina mountains in the State Museum's 

 collections. 



The ecological niches of the three moles may thus be loosely 

 described as Parascalops and Scalopus frequenting well-drained soils, 

 often with an altitudinal separation between them, and Condylura 

 utilizing wet, low-lying areas at a wide range of elevations. However, 

 some syntopy may occur. All three species may occur at some montane 

 localities, as is the case in the vicinity of Highlands Biological Station 

 in Macon County at ca. 3,900 ft. (1,190 m) in elevation (NCSM 

 files). In Ashe County at ca. 2,880 ft. (878 m), I found a dead eastern 

 mole (NCSM 7251) in a wet sedge meadow bog, a site which appeared 

 more suitable for a star-nosed mole. Eadie (1939) reported having 

 trapped Condylura and Parascalops in the same tunnel at a New 

 Hampshire site. Undoubtably, the distributions and interspecific zrelationships 

 of North Carolina's three mole species merit further study. 



The possibility that Condylura cristata occurs at low densities 

 or at scattered localities throughout the state, and that the Mountain 



