ample movement. Additionally, the fur can bend smoothly in any direction. (Compare this to petting a dog or cat, which has a definite right way and a wrong way.) These features allow it to easily switch directions if the mole hits an obstruction, or if a predator, such as a snake or a weasel, is approaching.

One thing a mole is not so good at is seeing. Moles do have eyes, but the eyes are small, hidden, and serve only to distinguish between dark and light. After all, a subterranean life doesn’t require “eagle-eye” vision.

With diminished sight, other senses come to the fore. We know that a cat’s whiskers tell the cat a lot about its surroundings. Moles have something even better than whiskers. They have “Eimer’s organs” on the end of their small snouts.

These are packed with nerve endings, the better to feel things with. By continually touching the nose to the surfaces of the tunnel, the mole has a complete picture of its surroundings.

While we’re on the topic of noses, moles have another adaptation in their toolbox: stereo smelling. Hearing in stereo is fairly common in mammals, but moles can smell in stereo as well. With this talent, a mole can pinpoint the source of a smell based on the molecules arriving differentially in each nostril.

Lots of people mistake mole tunnels as signs as gopher activity, but there are some significant differences between moles and gophers. Gophers make fan-shaped piles of dirt, whereas moles create volcano-shaped mounds.

Gophers spend their entire lives underground, just like moles, but they are more likely to surface once in a while. (If you see a mole above ground, it’s mostly likely dead.) Plains pocket gophers, the species indigenous to Illinois, are found in the central portion of Illinois. They are generally absent from Kane County. The eastern mole is found here in Kane County, and throughout Illinois.

The most important difference between moles and gophers is diet. Moles eat invertebrate animals. They’re classified as insectivores, although any small creature without a backbone will do (e.g., worms). Gophers, on the other hand, are herbivores. The gopher is a rodent, and its diet includes bulbs, roots, and rhizomes.

Moles, lowly as they are, have made it into literature, mythology and folklore. “Mole” is the first character in the 1908 classic “Wind in the Willows” by Kenneth Grahame. Grahame used considerable poetic license in the character of Mole, who bears few ecological features of true moles.

In some Native American cultures, Mole is a clan animal. Zuni mythology, Mole guards the inner earth. Flathead and Nez Percé stories place Mole as Coyote’s wife.

When you see mole tunnels in your yard, don’t despair. They’re a sign of healthy soil. Give ‘em a break, and thank them for the free pest control service they provide, year in, year out.

• Valerie Blaine is the nature programs manager for the Forest Preserve District of Kane County. You may reach her at blainevalerie@kaneforest.com.