Does the star-nosed mole make you want to dig a hole and hide? Well, scientists have discovered something that might make you smile instead.
About the size of a hamster, this animal has a nose shaped like a star. That sniffer has 22 feelers, or tentacles. Each tentacle is like a superpowered finger. It can feel even the smallest movement as the mole digs underground. That’s how the mole finds worms to eat.
Living in areas of North America, the mole spends time underground and underwater. Scientists found that it blows bubbles as it swims—but not for fun! The mole sucks the bubbles back in to smell them and help it find food. The water shrew is the only other mammal known to smell underwater.
So if this mole creeps you out, just try thinking about bubbles—and smile!