Mole Problem

Grand Slam

Well-Known Member
After a bit of advice from anyone who has any knowledge in this subject.

I have acquired a new permission for Rabbits (pending Police clearance) and the Lady farm owner has a major mole problem on her Horse Farm.

Basically just after some advice on top tips for mole removal:


  • What weapon is best?
  • Methods used?

Any help would be gratefully received

ATB

​Adam
 
I used to professionally control moles. Some people can catch them and some people just can't. My best year I caught 730 and for those doubters, yes I have my books to prove it.

I used Duffus traps, these ones specifically
http://www.trapman.co.uk/mole-trap-catching-hints.htm

However there are cheap chinese versions and proper ones. Buy the proper ones.
They will need some fettling. Mainly to the hook and latch mechanism. Basically you'll need to re-bend the mechanism so as it goes off as smoothly as possible.
Next you have to learn how to locate appropriate runs. These can be shallow runs but generally anything from 3-6 inches is fine. Once you've found your run dig it with your hands. The process of getting down to the run will remove any scent and coat your hands in some earth. Make the hole as close to the size of the trap as you can get. Fill in around the sides and top of the trap with earth and pack it in so it doesn't move and it mustn't let in any light or air.

Unfortunately only practise will make you better and when you get a bugger of one to catch do what I did once. Get a freshly caught mole stick it in one end of the run and set your trap. They're so territorial that it'll rush the dead one and not pay any attention to your trap. Job done
 
Basically there is two choices. First is traps. Depending on the size of the area you wish to cover you may well need lots of them. A good tip here is remember where you put them. (A cane or similar is a good marker). There is a certain amount of skill in laying traps to achieve consistent success. You would have to learn and then spend a bit of time practicing your new found skills to become an effective trapper. Traps come in various designs, cost money and require to be checked.
Secondly is gassing. You require to be qualified to obtain/use the phostoxin tabs and there is a fair amount of safety equipment to be purchased to ensure your safety in application. Wrongly used/transported/applied/stored these tabs can be fatal to you. Certainly not to be messed with.
My suggestion is for the lady owner to hire the services of a qualified vermin controller who will deal with her moles very effectively.
 
Talunex or phostoxin capsules are professional use products now. The days of cymag or strychnine soaked worms are long gone.
Trapping is relatively easy if you can get someone to show you how. Dont worry about scent, moles are interested in 3 things. Territory, food and sex.
If you get the scissor type traps the work and you dont have to disturb them to check if theyve been sprung
 
Right, moles I was trained by an expert, now long gone. If you are doing fields, buy traps and leave them outside, scatter the molehills the day before you start. While we cleared a field we went to next area and scattered the hills. Little point in setting traps in an area they are no longer working. By the time you go back the fresh hill will show you where to set. Locate the run using a mole spade. The hole as neat as possible to the trap size. Round off the bottom of the run preferably tamping it with a dead mole. Contrary to already stated, scent is important to moles. The wipe the trap down with the mole. I used woollen gloves for his operation to make the scent as true as possible to mole only. Stick to mark the trap and rhubarb leaves over the top if available to cut out the light. Otherwise big dock leaves. Leave as little of your own signature as possible. Using this method we killed hundreds if not thousands of moles around Dunsinan estates. If you are doing it as an obligation tell the owner there is no charge but a horse steps on a trap you would like it replaces. I always found the tunnel type easier to set and had a better kill ratio to the scissor traps, jim
 
One of the most useful tools is a proper probe. A pointed rod about 6-8mm in diameter with a 10-12 mm collar about 15mm from the pointy end and 450mm long with a loop or ball on the end. A simple way to make one is to use studding, run a nut up it and hammer it so it won't move, file or grind the point and add a kids super bouncy ball on the other end and you are done. When you probe a run the larger diameter of the nut breaking in to the run allows the thinner rod to go loose so you know you are there. I use a small builders trowel, sharpened with a file on each side to cut in for the trap.
I use genuine Fenn scissor traps for most of my work, very light, easily set and very effective. I always rub both my hands and the trap in the soil from the mole hill nearest to the trap. Make sure there is not even the tiniest amount of air or light getting in to the run around the trap.
Forget about all this bunk regarding weathering traps, best place to season them is in a mole run. I have caught several moles with traps straight out of the box but never caught a single one in a trap hanging on a wall or buried in the garden.
One thing you will learn very quickly is to mark your traps but very discreetly. Some people have never bought a mole trap in their life but always seem to have plenty, others think they are saving nature by wazzing your trap up the dyke and if the owner puts a roller or a set of chain harrows over unmarked traps you will have a good hunt on.
The final tip. You either get them straight away or they avoid you for weeks.
 
After a bit of advice from anyone who has any knowledge in this subject.

I have acquired a new permission for Rabbits (pending Police clearance) and the Lady farm owner has a major mole problem on her Horse Farm.

Basically just after some advice on top tips for mole removal:


  • What weapon is best?
  • Methods used?

Any help would be gratefully received

ATB

​Adam


You want to speak with Woodfordfallow.....he is your man....
 
I used to professionally control moles. Some people can catch them and some people just can't. My best year I caught 730 and for those doubters, yes I have my books to prove it.

That is seriously impressive.

Great advice so far. I bought a place about 8 years ago that seems to be a bit of a mole magnet and you will either need to get someone in or just accept its a long term commitment. jimbo is absolutley right in that you need to make sure you are trapping a 'live' area. After a while its easy to spot new hills even in an area littered withh them but the best way is to harrow the field first. Personally I cant get on with the tunnel traps and use talpa traps. All the best.
 
I strongly feel that "putting in" is part of the job when controlling moles. That is levelling the mole hils. As said by others, its quicker trapping active runs than old workings and I feel it is part of the job to leave the place tidy.
Apart from anything else the owner can see the job has been done when it all stays down.
Harrowing is great as long as it is done BEFORE you have set. I have been done like that before.

I have the relevant kit and certifcates for Talunex gassing but never feel it is very effective. At least with traps you see the results.
 
The Flat Pack Mole Traps British-made mole traps - sell traps and kits and the probe and markers
Animal Traps, Rat Trap, Steel Palisade Fencing, Wire Baskets , UK – Bethel Rhodes sell traps as well. Ebay is best avoided.
Most useful tool is a 2 foot length of coat hangar bent into a long loop and epoxied into a file handle.
Used to scoop out loose soil from both ends of the mole run after you have dug to removed a rectangle of soil to place the trap.
This means that the mole will not be pushing soil into the trap and then triggering it, so you trap the mole and not the soil.
I use a builder's trowel sharpened on the edges to cut through the turf.

Gas does not work too well because you drop tablets into the runs with no idea where the mole is.
One mole can have a territory of an acre, so it is hit and miss as well as leaching into the atmosphere through sandy soil.
Much better on rats as they are all together in one nest.
 
Some great info here. It's an ongoing battle with us also. I thought the old boy at home was pulling my leg when he said he'd show me how to stalk and shoot them every three hours - but it does work. I don't recomend it for the busy or fidgety ones amongst you though and traps are a far better use of one's time.
 
At boarding school in the 70's I regularly used to accompany the mole catcher/killer. In thoose days he had a big pot of lobs and a tiny pot of strichenine. He carried a run locator which was like a modified poker. Locate the run, select a big lob, touch of poison on a small double edged blade stab into lob and drop lob into run and heal over the hole. Job done.

Clearly a H@S no no today.

Today: I use a very long bladed flat head screw driver to locate the run, pointing trowel to cut out the turf, clean out run and insert modified tunnel trap. Carefully replace turf. Mark spot with cane.

I used to cover the trap with a piece of ply but was told that no good as if it rained sounded wrong which could be true. Big leaves seems good idea. Old bit of carpet could be usefull.

My experience is limited to precious back lawns so not many traps or location issues.

D
 
Anyone remember the Jasper Carrot sketch about sorting his garden moles with a 12b!
 
I used to professionally control moles. Some people can catch them and some people just can't. My best year I caught 730 and for those doubters, yes I have my books to prove it.

I used Duffus traps, these ones specifically
http://www.trapman.co.uk/mole-trap-catching-hints.htm

However there are cheap chinese versions and proper ones. Buy the proper ones.
They will need some fettling. Mainly to the hook and latch mechanism. Basically you'll need to re-bend the mechanism so as it goes off as smoothly as possible.
Next you have to learn how to locate appropriate runs. These can be shallow runs but generally anything from 3-6 inches is fine. Once you've found your run dig it with your hands. The process of getting down to the run will remove any scent and coat your hands in some earth. Make the hole as close to the size of the trap as you can get. Fill in around the sides and top of the trap with earth and pack it in so it doesn't move and it mustn't let in any light or air.

Unfortunately only practise will make you better and when you get a bugger of one to catch do what I did once. Get a freshly caught mole stick it in one end of the run and set your trap. They're so territorial that it'll rush the dead one and not pay any attention to your trap. Job done

How do you know what side of the trap the live mole is on?????


Levelling the hills is a waste of time, its very easy to see which runs are active...

Start on the outside and work your way into the field as the moles are moving faster away from the hedge or dyke where they lie up and move out into their trap system which the runs are.
If it is a bad infestation it may be cheaper and less stressfull to employ a pro to get on top of them and try your luck afterwards,expect to pay around £10 per hr + £3-£5 per mole caught
 
an old friend of mine uses moth balls. he pushes a couple of moth balls into the mole run, the smell keeps them away. but i would say its only useful on a small patch, like your lawn or veg plot.
atb
simon
 
Like someone said earlier, it seems to be one of those things that some folk can do and others can't.

I've got my 10-year-old daughter on the job at the moment, 'cos she's really got the knack! Spent all her pocket money buying the traps, and now she's clearing out the farm of moles, which is something I've never managed to do. She's up and out early in the mornings before school doing the rounds of her traps, and then she shifts and re-sets them in the evenings when she gets home. She's only got 8 traps (scissor type), but she's catching at least a mole a day, sometimes more.

So, if you've got kids you might just have to swallow your pride and let them do it!
 
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