Moleworm

Mob= Item=

"Hiding from the light, huh?"

- Willow

The Moleworm is a passive Mob in the Reign of Giants DLC. They are indigenous to the Grasslands and Deciduous Forest Biomes. Moleworms live in a Burrow, underground, but can occasionally spawn from Tumbleweeds and Earthquakes.

Moleworms travel underground similar to a Depths Worm. They will seek out and collect items that are lying on the ground, including Minerals, Thermal Stones, Charcoal, Ashes, Gunpowder, Ice, Old Bells, most Turfs, and most Gravedigger Items. After collecting 2 stacks of items, they will return to their Burrow to drop them off.

A live Moleworm can be obtained by attacking it (one time) with a Hammer, after it surfaces. Moleworms will slowly starve in the inventory, if not fed minerals. They respawn from Burrows (similar to Rabbits). A Burrow can be permanently destroyed using a Shovel. Burrows drop minerals and any items that a Moleworm has stashed inside it. If a Burrow is destroyed before killing the Moleworm, it will wander off and eventually dig a new one.

Moleworms have the same health as Rabbits and can be killed with a single hit from an Axe or Pickaxe when wielded by characters with normal damage multipliers. Wendy and Wes must wield a Spear or better to kill it in one hit.

Tips

 * Minerals and other items can be used as bait to catch Moleworms. Without the bait, Moleworms emerge from the ground only occasionally and for very brief moments.
 * Moleworms cannot be trapped. In addition, they activate traps that have been laid down. They also shake Spider webbing, although spawned Spiders will ignore them.
 * When a Moleworm takes Gunpowder, it triggers an explosion; killing the Moleworm and leaving a small fire where it died. It will drop a Cooked Morsel.
 * When a Moleworm takes an Old Bell, it will trigger one use and summon Bigfoot.
 * Moleworms can be farmed to provide a renewable source of stone and other minerals, especially if most Boulders have already been mined. This is done by destroying the Burrow with a Shovel (leaving the animal alive). The Moleworm will then appear from underground, along with all scavenged resources. Hit the Moleworm with a Hammer and pick it up. After collecting several Moleworms, build walls and drop them inside the enclosed walls. They will rebuild a new Burrow after a few days, then rinse and repeat.

Trivia

 * Moleworms lack hind legs. Instead, they have a segmented, fleshy tail like a worm, explaining their name. This can be more easily seen when the Moleworms are in the inventory.
 * The ability to knock a Moleworm out with a Hammer is a reference to the popular game, Whac-A-Mole.
 * The Moleworm's appearance is based on the Star-Nosed Mole.
 * Moleworms vomited up by a Catcoon (wild or tamed) cannot create a Burrow. It is unknown if this was implemented to prevent infinite Moleworms from spawning or is simply a bug. However, picking it up and dropping it allows it to create a burrow.
 * Like Depths Worms, Moleworms are not able to pass Walls, despite moving underground.
 * Creatures like the Moleworm began to starve in the inventory after the A Feet of Strength update.
 * Abigail can attack and kill Moleworms that are traveling underground.

Bugs

 * When playing as Wendy, Abigail will attack a Moleworm when "whacked" with a Hammer. If the Moleworm is picked up at the same time that Abigail attacks, it will drop its items and appear in the inventory, but disappear shortly afterwards.