BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Scapanus townsendii
Townsend's Mole
| Scientific Name: | Scapanus townsendii (Bachman, 1839) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Name: | Townsend's Mole | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 1993. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Second edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. xviii + 1206 pp. Available online at: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/msw/. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Vertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | M-SCTO | ||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Apr 2016) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S1 (Jan 2024) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Red | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | Endangered (Nov 2014) | ||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | 1 - Endangered (Jan 2005) | ||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 1 - At Risk (2005) | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | |||||||||||
| Global Reproduction Comments: | Mating takes place in February. One litter of averaging 3 young is born in late March or early April. Young are hairless at birth, grow rapidly, disperse from maternal tunnels mainly in May and June (van Zyll de Jong 1983). Sexually mature in about 10 months. | ||||||||||
| Global Ecology Comments: | Generally solitary and antagonistic toward other individuals. Home range up to at least 116 m in diameter. Population density may be as high as 12/ha (van Zyll de Jong 1983). Young disperse up to several hundred meters from natal site (mean around 170-180 m) (see Carraway et al. 1993). | ||||||||||
| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
|
Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
Y / N / N / na / |
||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
Agriculture / Pasture/Old Field / Facultative - frequent use
Forest / Mixed Forest (deciduous/coniferous mix) / Facultative - occasional use Grassland/Shrub / Grassland / Facultative - occasional use Grassland/Shrub / Meadow / Facultative - frequent use Riparian / Riparian Forest / Facultative - occasional use Riparian / Riparian Herbaceous / Facultative - frequent use Riparian / Riparian Shrub / Facultative - frequent use Subterranean / Sub-soil / Obligate |
||||||||||
| Global Habitat Comments: | In general, inhabits more open habitats with heavier soils with higher water content than S. ORARIUS (Verts and Carraway 1998). Generally found in pastures, prairies, and shrub habitats in lowlands and flood plains, and occasionally in true fir (ABIES) forests (Verts and Carraway 1998). Primarily fossorial, though juveniles often move on surface in spring and summer. Digs shallow foraging tunnels as well as deeper permanent tunnels. May vacate flooded area and return to home area when waters recede. A spherical breeding nest cavity is excavated 7-50 cm below ground level. It contains a grass breeding nest; 3-11 lateral tunnels may enter the cavity. | ||||||||||
| Food Habits: |
Invertivore: Adult, Immature
|
||||||||||
| Global Food Habits Comments: | Diet mainly consists of earthworms and insect larvae and pupae; also consumes centipedes, slugs, mature insects, spiders, and some vegetable matter. | ||||||||||
| Global Phenology: | |||||||||||
| Global Phenology Comments: | Active throughout the year. Little is known about daily activity patterns (van Zyll de Jong 1983). | ||||||||||
| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
|||||||||||
| Colonial Breeder: | N | ||||||||||
| Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | 24/ / 168 | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
||||||||||
| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | Extreme southwestern British Columbia southward through the Olympic Mountains (Washington) and Coast Range and interior valleys of Oregon (eastward to the foothills of the Cascades) to Ferndale, California, where restricted to the coast; from near sea level to at least 1677 m in the Cascade Mountains and 1615 m in the Olympic Mountains (Verts and Carraway 1998; Carraway et al. 1993). | ||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | HAMMERSON, G., REVISED BY S. CANNINGS | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Dec 14, 1993 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
B.C. Ministry of Environment. Recovery Planning in BC. B.C. Minist. Environ. Victoria, BC. |
|||||||||||
Banfield, A. W. F. 1974. The mammals of Canada. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Canada. 438 pp. |
|||||||||||
Carraway, L. N., L. F. Alexander, and B. J. Verts. 1993. Scapanus townsendii. Mammalian Species 434:1-7. |
|||||||||||
COSEWIC. 2003n. COSEWIC assessment and update status report on Townsend's mole Scapanus townsendi in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. vi + 24 pp. |
|||||||||||
Gorman, M. L., and R. D. Stone. 1990. The natural history of moles. Cornell Univ. Press. 208 pp. |
|||||||||||
Jackson, H. H. T. 1915. A review of the American moles. North American Fauna 38:1-100. |
|||||||||||
Nagorsen, D.W. 1996. Opossums, Shrews and Moles of British Columbia. Royal B.C. Mus. Victoria, BC. 169pp. |
|||||||||||
Sheehan, T. 1999. Townsend's Mole. B.C. Minist. Environ., Lands and Parks, Wildl. Branch. 6pp. |
|||||||||||
van Zyll de Jong, C.G. 1983. Handbook of Canadian mammals. 1. Marsupials and insectivores. National Museum of Natural Sciences, National Museums of Canada, Ottawa, Canada. 210 pp. |
|||||||||||
Verts, B. J., and L. N. Carraway. 1998. Land mammals of Oregon. University of California Press, Berkeley. xvi + 668 pp. |
|||||||||||
Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1993. Species Summary: Scapanus townsendii. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 10, 2026).