A small, semiaquatic mole of wet lowlands in northeastern North America. Its nose is a star of 22 fleshy tentacles with over 25,000 touch sensors, which it uses instead of its eyes to find prey. It is active day and night, all year round.
Quick answers
What is it?Mammal
Carnivore?Insects only
Dangerous?No
Domesticated?No
Awake when?Day & night
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?No
Do people eat it?No
At a glance
Found inNorth America
HabitatWetland
ColoursBlack, Brown, Pink
SizeTiny
Legs4
Covered inFur
Lives alone
Lives for3–4 years
Can swim
In the wild
- Where it lives
- Moist, low areas of northeastern North America.
- What it eats
- Aquatic insects, worms, leeches, molluscs and small crustaceans.
Did you know
Identifies and eats prey in a quarter of a second, the fastest forager known.
It can smell underwater by blowing bubbles onto objects and sniffing them back in.
It swims well and has been seen tunnelling through snow and swimming under ice.
Often confused with
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