What causes dead baby moles in Michigan?

Question

In the past two summer months, I have seen about five or six dead baby moles on three or four acres of wooded countryside property in MI. They are .75 to two inches long, not counting the tail of .5 to 1.5 inches long. They don't have any bite marks or obvious physical damage, and other predators don't seem to eat their bodies. I don't see any dead adult moles. I never used to see dead moles, and still don't see other dead animals (we have live deer, rabbits, woodchucks, turkeys, etc.). Could they be poisoned somehow? Many hundred yards away (e.g., at the neighbors) lawn treatments might be applied, but nowhere close to where I find the bodies. What would kill the babies but not adults? Should I be worried about disease? Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

I live in MI also.  I heard from a client that he has been seeing lots of dead birds.  He went everywhere he could to find out if it was West Nile but no one test the animals because there was no funding.  I heard him on the phone and they said it was more than likey West Nile but they couldn't really do anything about it unless larger birds like crows and blue jays started dying.  I heard on the radio a few weeks later to call someone if any larger birds were found dead and not to touch them.  I am not sure if moles could get this disease but I would look into- call your health department.  West Nile if more dangerous to babies and elderly humans so maybe this is true for other animals also.  If you are really worried call everyone you can think of- universities, hospitals, etc.  That is what my client did and I believe he is probably responsible for our county recognizing the problem.  By the way he lives in the Clio/Flint area (Genesee county).  I hope this is helpful but you never know what it could be unless you get someone to test it.

Answer 2

people would kill the adults, it's just that they were caught in the traps and disposed of, while the babies were left to starve.

it's sickening, but it's better to kill moles than dirt piles!

Answer 3

If you are worried about disease, by all means contact the local office of the DNR or your county extension office. I'm also in Michigan, 1/4 mile from nearest neighbor on my side of the road. From time to time we see the dead moles, both babies and adults. Our best guess is that the mothers remove the babies from an area where danger is perceived (poison, fumes from moth balls, CO fumes) and then drop them when the babies have died or the mother is too weak to continue to carry them. We do remove the corpses so that the dogs, crows, coyote and neighborhood cats don't ingest possibly poisoned vermin, but I'm not too worried about them. The pesky critters destroy the little bit of lawn that we keep, they create dangerous ruts in the pasture that injure the cattle, horses and neighboring alpaca ... they should go back to the golf course where the owners don't object to using powerful pest control to get rid of them.

Answer 4

you can send the bodies to the captial and theyshoudl beable to tellyou and give you report i would do this and find out.

Answer 5

live baby hawks.