Look first at an animal’s feet and face; if you cannot see it, use the pattern of trails and damage. Broad, clawed digging feet point to a mole. A tiny animal with a long pointed snout and small feet may be a shrew. A mouse-like animal with visible eyes and prominent front incisors is more likely a vole. In a yard, raised soil ridges suggest mole digging, while trails through grass and gnawed plants are stronger clues for voles. A tunnel or hole by itself does not identify the animal.
What separates a mole, shrew, and vole?
These small mammals can leave overlapping signs, but they are built for different ways of life. Moles are adapted for digging underground and mainly eat insects and other invertebrates. Shrews are small, pointed-snouted hunters that search for insects and other small prey. Voles are rodents that feed on vegetation and often leave visible trails through grass. Their body shapes, feet, teeth, diets, and characteristic disturbances are more useful together than any one clue alone.
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| Clue | Mole | Shrew | Vole |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall appearance | Compact body; eyes and ear openings concealed in fur | Very small body; long, pointed snout; tiny eyes | Mouse-like body; relatively blunt face, noticeable eyes, and small ears |
| Feet and teeth | Broad, powerful forefeet with long claws for digging | Small front feet, not broad digging paddles | Prominent front incisors for gnawing |
| Typical food | Insects and other soil invertebrates, including worms | Insects and other small prey | Grasses, seeds, roots, bulbs, and other plant material |
| Useful yard sign | Raised underground ridges and soil mounds | May travel through tunnels made by moles or voles | Surface trails through grass, gnawing, or plant damage |
| Important caution | Tunneling can disturb roots even though plant material is not its main food | A shared tunnel does not establish that a shrew made it | Voles may use mole tunnels, so tunnel presence alone does not identify the cause of plant damage |
This is a general comparison, not a species-level field key. Penn State Extension’s guide is Pennsylvania-focused, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) also summarizes the differences. Local species and appearances vary, so use a regional wildlife or extension authority when you need a precise identification. Penn State Extension’s identification guide and NIEHS’s comparison provide the general distinctions.
How to identify the animal if you can see it
Try to get a clear view of the whole animal rather than deciding from a single feature. A pointed snout alone is not enough to call an animal a shrew, and a mouse-like shape alone is not enough to call it a vole. Check the forefeet, eyes, ears, teeth, body proportions, and snout together.
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Mole: broad digging feet and concealed features
A mole’s most telling visible adaptation is its forefeet: they are broad, powerful, and equipped with long claws for moving soil. The body is compact and velvety, while the eyes and ear openings are concealed in fur. Penn State Extension gives a general body length of about 4–6 inches for moles. Moles spend most of their lives underground and primarily eat insects and other invertebrates, including worms; they are not normally feeding on roots as a main food source. Penn State Extension describes these identification traits.
Shrew: tiny body, pointed snout, and small feet
A shrew is very small, with a long pointed snout, tiny eyes, and smaller front feet than a mole. Penn State Extension gives a typical body length of 3–4 inches in its Pennsylvania-focused guide. Shrews hunt above ground for insects and other small prey, but may use tunnels created by moles or voles rather than making conspicuous surface tunnels of their own. That behavior means a tunnel is not a reliable way to distinguish a shrew from the animals whose routes it may use. Penn State Extension explains the general appearance and habits.
Vole: mouse-like face and visible incisors
A vole resembles a short-tailed mouse, with a relatively blunt face, noticeable black eyes, small ears, and prominent front incisors. Penn State Extension gives a typical body length of 4–6 inches. Its front teeth are useful for identifying a rodent that gnaws vegetation, unlike the mole’s digging forefeet or the shrew’s small feet. Voles eat grasses, seeds, roots, bulbs, and other plant material. These size ranges are approximate descriptions in a Pennsylvania guide, not universal limits for every species. Penn State Extension provides the measurements and field clues.
How much should size matter?
Size is a supporting clue, not a stand-alone test. The Pennsylvania guide gives moles and voles a general body length of about 4–6 inches and shrews a typical length of 3–4 inches. Those ranges overlap at the margins, and they describe animals in a particular regional guide rather than every species everywhere. A measurement cannot settle an identification if the feet, face, or other evidence point another way. Use the length as one part of the picture and compare it with the more distinctive adaptations: a mole’s digging forefeet, a shrew’s pointed snout and small feet, or a vole’s mouse-like face and incisors.
If you are looking at a photograph, try to include the animal’s whole body and a familiar object for scale, without approaching or handling it. A close crop of the nose may make a pointed face look decisive when the rest of the animal would tell a different story. Feet and teeth can be hard to see in a distant image; record that uncertainty rather than guessing from what the photograph does not show.
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How to identify them from trails, mounds, and plant damage
When the animal is out of sight, look for a pattern rather than treating a single hole, ridge, or tunnel as proof. The strongest yard clues come from how the disturbance was made and whether there is evidence of plant feeding.
Raised ridges and loosened soil: look for mole activity
Moles tunnel below ground, and their digging can push soil into raised ridges or mounds of loosened earth. These signs point toward underground digging, especially when there is no accompanying evidence of gnawing or plant feeding. They do not prove that a mole ate damaged roots: moles primarily eat soil invertebrates, and tunneling can physically disrupt roots without making roots their normal diet. Penn State Extension’s identification guide and its vole overview distinguish mole digging from vole feeding.
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Trails through grass and gnawing: look for voles
Voles can make narrow surface trails through grass or low vegetation. Gnawed bark, damaged roots or bulbs, and other signs of plant feeding strengthen the case for voles because vegetation is part of their diet. A nearby mole tunnel does not rule out vole activity: voles may use mole tunnels, so assess the trail and feeding damage instead of assigning all nearby plant injury to the animal that made a mound. See Oregon State University Extension Service’s Oregon garden guide and Penn State Extension’s vole overview.
A tunnel or runway alone: inconclusive
Shrews often travel through tunnels made by moles or voles, and voles may reuse mole tunnels. So, the presence of a tunnel or runway cannot by itself tell you which animal made it, which animal is using it now, or which one caused plant damage. Seek another clue, such as visible feet, a surface trail, or characteristic gnawing. NIEHS’s comparison and Penn State Extension’s vole guidance describe the overlap.
Read the whole scene, not just the nearest sign
Several signs close together can still come from more than one animal. A soil ridge may indicate mole digging, while a surface track and gnawed plant nearby may indicate vole activity. A shrew can travel through a route made by either one. Keep each observation distinct: describe where the ridge, runway, feeding damage, or animal was actually seen. That makes it easier to avoid turning “nearby” into “caused by.” The goal is not to force every sign into a single explanation, but to decide which animal best fits each kind of evidence.
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What to do when plants are damaged
Start by separating direct feeding from soil disturbance. Voles eat roots, bulbs, bark, seeds, grasses, and other vegetation. Moles mainly eat invertebrates, but their tunnels can disrupt roots. A plant may therefore be affected near mole activity without the mole having eaten it. Look for surface trails and gnawing as well as underground ridges or mounds before deciding which animal is involved.
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- Look for signs that agree. A mound alone is weaker evidence than a mound plus the animal’s distinctive digging feet; a tunnel alone is weaker than a surface trail accompanied by plant feeding.
- Keep the clues separate. The animal that made a tunnel may not be the animal using it, and the animal near an injured plant may not have eaten it.
- Identify the animal before choosing a response. Management depends on which animal is present and what damage is occurring. Oregon State University Extension Service wildlife specialist Dana Sanchez put it plainly: “How you deal with them depends on what you have.” Read the regional context in Oregon State’s guide to identifying and managing moles, voles, and gophers in Oregon gardens.
That distinction matters because the same symptom can have different explanations. A plant declining over a tunnel is not proof of root consumption, while obvious gnawing or a cut trail through low vegetation is consistent with a plant-eating vole. Conversely, finding a vole runway does not establish that every nearby mound was made by voles. Match the suspected cause to the sign, and get local advice if you are considering management rather than making an identification only.
A practical identification sequence
Use this sequence to avoid over-interpreting an ambiguous sign. It does not replace a local species key, but it helps sort the broad categories.
- If the animal is visible, examine the forefeet first. Wide, outward-facing digging feet with long claws strongly suggest a mole. Small feet on a tiny, pointed-snouted animal suggest a shrew. A mouse-like body with visible eyes, small ears, and obvious incisors suggests a vole.
- Check whether the rest of the animal fits. Compare the eyes, ears, snout, body shape, and teeth rather than relying on one characteristic. A pointed nose is not sufficient to identify a shrew.
- If the animal is not visible, classify the disturbance. Raised ridges and mounds suggest mole digging; trails cut through grass or low vegetation suggest vole travel.
- Look for feeding evidence. Gnawing or plant damage supports vole activity. A mole’s tunneling can disturb roots, but its normal food is invertebrates.
- Treat a tunnel as a clue, not a verdict. Shrews and voles can use mole runways, so tunnel presence alone does not settle either identity or responsibility for damage.
- If signs conflict, document rather than guess. If it is safe to do so, take a clear photo with a scale nearby and note the location and habitat. Ask a local extension office or wildlife agency to help interpret the evidence.
When regional identification matters
The body lengths and descriptions above are broad guidance, not a global key. Penn State Extension’s guide is based in Pennsylvania, while Oregon State University Extension Service’s article addresses Oregon gardens. Species and the signs they leave can differ by location, and several animals can share or reuse routes. If you need to identify a particular species, check a local extension service or wildlife agency rather than extending a regional description to every place.
For a local adviser, provide the best evidence you can gather without handling the animal: a whole-body photo if available, an approximate size, the location and habitat, and a description of the soil disturbance or plant damage. A clear view of feet and face can be more informative than a picture of a hole alone. If the only evidence is an ambiguous tunnel, say so rather than presenting it as a confirmed identification.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsA general North American mammal field guide can also be a useful reference when you cannot get a clear view, but a broad guide may not resolve a local species question. In that case, the regional extension or wildlife authority is the better next stop. Keep the purpose in mind: first distinguish the broad group using body and sign; seek local expertise when the exact species or an appropriate response matters.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Common identification mistakes
- Calling a mole blind. For field identification, the useful clue is that its eyes and ear openings are concealed in fur; “blind” is too categorical.
- Assuming moles eat roots. Their primary food is insects and other invertebrates. Tunneling can still disturb roots physically.
- Identifying an animal from a hole or tunnel alone. Other small mammals may use or share tunnels.
- Calling every pointed-nosed animal a shrew. Compare overall body size, feet, eyes, and shape, not only the snout.
- Attributing every injured plant near a mound to a mole. Check for vole trails and gnawing, since voles feed on plants and may use mole runways.
- Applying a broad description as a species-level answer everywhere. Regional sources and local authorities are important where species identification matters.
- Assuming the animal that created a route is the animal causing current damage. Shared and reused tunnels make that conclusion unreliable without additional signs.
Sources and regional scope
Penn State Extension’s guide, updated December 15, 2025, gives the general comparison and approximate body lengths cited here. NIEHS provides an additional overview of the differences. Penn State’s separate vole page and Oregon State University Extension Service’s garden article explain the overlap between tunneling and plant damage. The latter is specific to Oregon; consult local authorities elsewhere.
- Penn State Extension: Identifying Moles, Voles, and Shrews
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences: Moles, Voles, and Shrews—Do You Know the Differences?
- Oregon State University Extension Service: How to identify and manage moles, voles and gophers in Oregon gardens
- Penn State Extension: Voles
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the quickest way to tell a mole, shrew, and vole apart?
If you can see the animal, check the forefeet and face together. A mole has broad, powerful digging feet with long claws and eyes concealed in fur. A shrew is very small, with a long pointed snout and small feet. A vole looks mouse-like, with noticeable eyes, small ears, a relatively blunt face, and prominent front incisors. If the animal is hidden, use the pattern of disturbance rather than one hole or tunnel.
Does a pointed nose mean an animal is a shrew?
Not by itself. A pointed snout is one shrew clue, but identification is stronger when the animal is also very small and has small feet and tiny eyes. Compare its whole body and feet; do not decide from a close view of the nose alone.
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Do moles eat plant roots?
Moles primarily eat insects and other invertebrates, including worms, rather than roots as a normal food source. Their underground tunnels can still physically disrupt roots, so plant trouble near a mole ridge does not prove that the mole ate the plant.
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Can a vole use a mole tunnel?
Yes. Voles may use mole tunnels, and shrews may travel through tunnels made by moles or voles. A tunnel alone does not show which animal made it, which one is using it now, or which animal caused nearby plant damage.
What yard signs point toward voles rather than moles?
Narrow trails through grass or low vegetation, gnawed bark, and damaged roots or bulbs fit vole activity because voles eat plant material. Raised soil ridges and mounds point more toward mole digging. Signs can overlap, so look for more than one clue and avoid assigning damage based only on a nearby mound.
How large are shrews and voles?
Penn State Extension’s Pennsylvania-focused guide gives a typical shrew body length of 3–4 inches and a typical vole length of 4–6 inches. These are approximate regional descriptions, not universal limits for every species. Moles are described there as about 4–6 inches long, so size ranges alone may not distinguish them.
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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallWhat should I do if I cannot tell which animal is responsible?
Do not guess from a tunnel or hole alone. If safe, take a clear photo with a scale nearby, note the location and habitat, and record whether you saw raised soil, a surface trail, gnawing, or plant damage. Contact a local extension office or wildlife agency for help, especially if you need a species-level identification or are considering management.
The Bottom Line
Use multiple clues: broad digging feet and raised soil ridges suggest a mole; a tiny pointed-snouted animal may be a shrew; and a mouse-like face with visible incisors, surface trails, or gnawing points toward a vole. Moles primarily eat invertebrates, while voles feed on plants, and shrews may use tunnels made by either. A hole, tunnel, or damaged plant alone is not enough to identify the cause. When signs conflict, document what you see and ask a local extension or wildlife authority.
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