How do moles use their powerful forelimbs for digging?

Moles are highly specialized for an underground existence, utilizing powerful, outward-rotated forelimbs that function like oars on a boat. To excavate tunnels, they employ a fore-and-aft digging motion similar to a human performing the breaststroke.12

During this process, the mole braces its body against the tunnel walls to shear soil from the tunnel face, alternating between its left and right forelimbs. These limbs are equipped with large, circular hands featuring broad, spadelike claws that effectively loosen the earth. Once the soil is loosened, the mole typically turns around to push the debris through the tunnel and onto the surface using its forefeet, eventually forming a mound known as a molehill. In some cases, the loosened soil is also compacted directly against the side walls of the burrow.12