Mole reproduction.

I have tried to read everything thing I can about moles. It doesn’t appear to me that much research has been conducted on mole reproduction. I live in central Illinois and I am curious about when the Eastern Mole young are born. If anyone has a recommendation for research that has been done concerning Eastern Mole reproduction I would really appreciate it. Other wise I would like to start the conversation here and some of you with experience can chime in if you’d like. I think I will start checking the female moles I catch to see if I can determine when young are being born. Please chime in if you are interested in this topic or have something to share.

The below Illinois site says about the same thing as other sites I have seen. It also reflects my experience with eastern moles in Alabama.

Illinois eastern mole reproduction.

From my experience our moles on average are born in early to mid-April. That is based on the fact that I start catching juvenile moles in early to mid-July and have some traps fired with no catches at that time of year. That usually indicates that the young moles are traveling in the tunnel network but are too short to be caught with the traps that we use. Shrews can cause the same problem as well at times due their body length.

According to "field guide to the mammals" eastern moles have their young in March in the south and May in the north.
Northern range is south of great lakes.

Thank you for the replies. Thank you LA Trapper for the Illinois mole information. I have read that but I do not know who wrote it. I feel that some of our moles in the fall are small juveniles. I wondered if they possibly have two litters per year. Perhaps some of them breed later and that is why we have juveniles in the fall. I have struggled finding scientific studies on mole reproduction. I have found the same information copied from one site to another.

I've seen them both early in the summer, and fall, but early is way more common. I dont think I've ever seen more than 2 young at a time, so I think they have small litters.

Two is what I usually see also.

I thought I would share this today. Two fetuses in this one from today.

Around me seems litter mid April-May typically catching juveniles July-August.