Moles

[farmerm]

I‘ve been catching moles for 35 years and have never had a white one.

Must have caught many thousand.

I think I recall my old man catching one and I believe his father before him found one alive which he kept as a pet for a few weeks!

 

[Scholsey]

That's the one. Best version was the one with the remote ignition. You just need to set up an ignition system or be brave. The art is the amount of gas. Don't do the same as the boys blowing the ATM's up where they blew the front off the shop and one snuffed it. As was stated in the cowboy film, you were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off.

cowboy film?!? that quote is from the Italian job!

 

[Breakthru]

cowboy film?!? that quote is from the Italian job!

Also in a cowboy film where they blew the whole carriage into shreds and notes were floating about. Same statement, one copied the other I think.

 

[long gone 12398536]

Why is it some moles fill traps with soil? My heart sinks when I pull up a trap with soil because if they fill one they seem to fill them all and they are devils to catch. What am I doing wrong? Talpex traps

Pay, a molecatcher,..

 

[long gone 12398536]

I have the same problems with duffus traps

Frustrating

Get a pro, in

 

[long gone 12398536]

Anyone else stick a marshmallow inside the trap ? I laughed at this at first but seemed to catch a few more moles. Not working at the moment, perhaps because it's Lent.

Unbelievable,...

 

[Dry Rot]

Why is it some moles fill traps with soil? My heart sinks when I pull up a trap with soil because if they fill one they seem to fill them all and they are devils to catch. What am I doing wrong? Talpex traps

I was told it's because moles are routinely deepening their runs, which makes sense as they must be constantly falling in from above. Firm the run below the trap or put a flat stone and they have to run through the trap.

 

[long gone 12398536]

Try putting propane gas down the hole. Secret is lighting it without getting burnt or covered in earth. There are professional versions. You get a mixture of gassing the beggar or blowing his #ss off. Bonus is the runs collapse so they have to start again. I am lucky and like the old dog have a cat that waits for them to surface and catches them. You can always tell as the top of the hill is levelled. Don't know what he does with the bodies, eats them ???

On the contrary, burrow blasting devices, aren't authorised, to be used when the target animal, is occupying the burrow,....its illegal, therefore. Monstrosities anyway, & should never have been approved for use here.

 

[long gone 12398536]

View attachment 948502View attachment 948503Are white ones rare? Got one yesterday and another today in same field. Tempted to move traps if it’s a rare colony. Caught one three years ago in same field when we last had traps there.

You got the colour mutation moles, in the freezer , by any chance ?

 

[long gone 12398536]

I was told it's because moles are routinely deepening their runs, which makes sense as they must be constantly falling in from above. Firm the run below the trap or put a flat stone and they have to run through the trap

I was told it's because moles are routinely deepening their runs, which makes sense as they must be constantly falling in from above. Firm the run below the trap or put a flat stone and they have to run through the trap.

" routinely deepening their runs " ,...thats not strictly accurate,......tunnel depth can vary,...depending on conditions , time of year, temperature, soil types, prey abundance/ availability, are factors

 

[long gone 12398536]

My dog caught one and tried to eat she started frothing at the mouth and spat it out and wiping her mouth on grass think there is something on the moles fur that causes this

They are supposed to have scent glands, which are distasteful, to some predators.

 

[long gone 12398536]

It was always illegal if you didn’t empty the runs first...

Iirc Phostoxin is still available, but need a training certificate to be able to buy it, and crazy expensive now.

Correct,...

 

[long gone 12398536]

Forgive me if I’m telling Grandma how to suck eggs, but Talpex traps are designed to work in the soil, so you fill it with loose soil yourself, then Mr Moley pushes/digs through it thinking it’s a collapsed run, triggering the trap.

I got on really well with them when I first tried them, but find duffus traps more reliable now. I save the Talpex & Puttange traps for those that have learnt to fill the duffus traps.

I have to confess that I’ve had a mole man in as well for the last 2 years, trying to get on top of where I’ve not been anywhere near active enough. He had 250 last year, and another 189 this winter! That’s on top of the 60 or so I tidied up behind him too.
He’s cleared the bulk of the bad areas now, so I just need to keep on top of them properly again.

" I have to confess, I've had a mole man in " ,......Good on you, for that ! (He'd have been glad of the job, no doubt)

 

[Dry Rot]

" routinely deepening their runs " ,...thats not strictly accurate,......tunnel depth can vary,...depending on conditions , time of year, temperature, soil types, prey abundance/ availability, are factors

Excuse me for not having a fully detailed explanation. Farmers are pretty multi-skilled and would probably work that out for themselves. The rule "it all depends" usually applies.

 

[long gone 12398536]

Why is it some moles fill traps with soil? My heart sinks when I pull up a trap with soil because if they fill one they seem to fill them all and they are devils to catch. What am I doing wrong? Talpex traps

Depends how your setting your Talpex , I would suggest,....& its far better using the genuine Dutch one

 

[long gone 12398536]

Excuse me for not having a fully detailed explanation. Farmers are pretty multi-skilled and would probably work that out for themselves. The rule "it all depends" usually applies.

Sorry, thought I was being constructive,...."routinely deepening their tunnels" ,...didn't sit right, with me,..

 

[long gone 12398536]

It can be bought from certain online Chinese trading sites without a certificate, so I have been told.

,...certainly, wouldn't recommend that, route !

 

[TexelBen]

I've been inundated with moles since Christmas, just ordered some stainless half barrel traps from Flat Pack mole traps, look decent and just down the road.
Did alright last year, until I forgot to remove the traps, they got pushed out and I flat packed them with the pasture topper

Any tips to make more of a dent in them?
Reset traps in the same place if stuffed or move them?

 

[neilo]

" I have to confess, I've had a mole man in " ,......Good on you, for that ! (He'd have been glad of the job, no doubt)

Don’t you worry, he has plenty of work on. I’m quite capable of catching them myself, and get a great deal of satisfaction from doing so, but had a few years of not catching up with them enough so outsourced the job to get back on top of it (at great expense).
Still got a few to go at though, before the little beggars breed up too much again. As with badgers, none of us want them wiped out, just numbers kept under control.

I have to admit that I didn’t envy him spending 8 hours on his hands and knees setting traps in wind and rain a couple of days. Not a bad little earner as a side job though, once you have a decent round of farms built up.
Mind you, those bloody mole men are always pleading poverty, but I’ve never met a skint one yet.

 

[MRT]

Depends how your setting your Talpex , I would suggest,....& its far better using the genuine Dutch one

Ok.... care to elaborate? I had worked out I was doing it wrong all by myself...!