Good afternoon, Moles rarely come out of their burrows, particularly at this time of year. Are you positive that the animal in your recycling bin is a mole?
If it is a mole, it will be tricky to release the animal in the right place. The best bet is to do a search of your yard to look for mole surface tunnels (if you have a lot of snow cover in your area this will make it very hard to find the tunnels). By following the tunnels (the ground will look slightly pushed up) you may be able to find the burrow opening. If you can't find the tunnels, you will just need to release the animal outside and hope that it can find its way back home (wildlife are good at this). The sooner the better, so that the animal has time to find its burrow and is not above ground when night falls and the temperatures drop even further.
