Jump to content

Mr Muddy

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content Count

    326

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Mr Muddy

  1. Mr Muddy
    Thanks for the replies. I’ll definitely contact the BBKA. I’ve no problem with destroying them, and obviously I could just spray the dust and block up the holes. But then I’d be worried about rotting honey seeping through the interior walls or out through the window frame. Would that happen? Would there even be any honey this time of year? I can’t help thinking there’s an awful lot of knowledge needed to do a bee job properly, and I don’t want to be just another cowboy.
  2. Mr Muddy
    Had call one for wasps so far, which turned out to be honey bees. Apparently I was the 2nd person they called - the 1st bloke sprayed dust on them for £40 and then refused to come back when the bees were still alive. I was perfectly honest with the lady; told her I didn’t know enough about honey bees to do a proper job and walked away (all she really wanted was another £40 dusting, which I refused to do). I would like to learn how to professionally deal with bees that are pests though; removing honey comb, catching swarms, etc. Are there any courses I could go on? Books I could read?
  3. Mr Muddy
    I've got some from KG (so definitely for European moles), and the tops of the prongs are 55mm apart when set - but I'm having the same results as you
  4. Mr Muddy
    Hello Chaps, I expect you probably all already know that from 1 June 2016 only holders of an approved certificate should be able to buy professional SGAR products. I personally have seen/heard a bit of confusing disinformation on what you will actually need (having to join certain trade associations, etc, etc.) But I’ve now found the link below with a PDF detailing the actual qualifications you’ll need on the webpage. Hope you find it useful. http://www.thinkwildlife.org/approved-proof-of-rodenticide-competence-certificates-announced/
  5. Mr Muddy
    Bad business that mate. Same thing happened to me – went right off them after that.
  6. Mr Muddy
    I’m going to buy a proper Beekeepers suit for this summer – I’ve been making do with a cheap observers’ jacket & veil so far. Any recommendations or preferences for brands or styles? I don’t mind importing one; there’s still plenty of time. I’ve also seen some camo pattern ones - Any merit in that, do you think? Would wasps be tricked by camo? Thanks.
  7. Mr Muddy
    Good point raised there Shropshire re: more non-bias product reviews in the magazines. I’m still uneasy with names of supposedly ‘professional use only’ products being bandied about on open public forums though. I personally find it’s more cost effective to use a separate G.R. that can be added as a tank mix as and when I need it – and I doubt anyone who isn’t a pro will know the products I’m talking about there.
  8. Mr Muddy
    Please don’t think I’m taking the piss here but you might want to think about doing one of the one-day insect courses run by KG, SX etc. they’re really very good, even for just updating your product knowledge. Not that you shouldn’t ask on the internet, but I can give you an example of a bloke I met last year: he had obviously seen the words ‘Maxforce Quantum’ on a site like this, he had somehow bought a syringe of it online (just the syringe – not the applicator gun or needles) and was spreading it all over the garden; presumably by pushing his finger down the back.
  9. Mr Muddy
    Thanks everyone. I went out today and bought a pair of the very biggest, most heavily padded knee pads I could find. So big in fact, that now when I kneel down I can pull my hood up and cast a shadow that looks a lot like a cock & balls; which IMO is well worth buying them for on its own. Anyway, here’s the interesting thing; on the packet there was this Health & Safety warning: ‘Kneel upright, do not sit on heels and move around.’ So, who knew, there’s a right and wrong way to kneel down! Might be where I’m going wrong.
  10. Mr Muddy
    My first winter doing moles full-time and my knees now hurt like buggery. They’ve even started making popping noises when I stand up. Any advice?
  11. Mr Muddy
    Here's a tip: If you're going to use a metal detector to find your traps, don't do what I did and wear boots with steel toe-caps. Very good for finding the ends of your own feet, very bad for finding anything else.
  12. Mr Muddy
    That's precisely what I was trying to get at talpa ; but leave the trap just laying on the bottom of the run and, like Nicepix also said, the mole discovers it and back-fills it - so you're dammed if you do & dammed I you don't. But, like I said earlier: I do think it's a issue that could be solved with a slight design tweak.
  13. Mr Muddy
    Thanks myersbg, I assumed they would be to ‘long’ for moles: ie jaws too far from the trigger. I haven’t seen one in real life, so please correct me if I’m wrong, and I’ll place an order.
  14. Mr Muddy
    My problem is as much in the way I set the traps: I bed the shaft of trap into the earth to avoid the very real problem of back-fills. This obviously risks the mole climbing over the trigger and spring retainer and unfortunately sometimes getting pinched in the belly. This is always worse in shallow runs, where the mole can push-up the roof of the run. So, from my own point of view, my suggestions are perfectly ‘valid’. No denying SA is as successful a mole trap designer/manufacturer as anyone alive; and I’ve no reason to expect him to redesign anything for my fifty-traps-a-year orders or
  15. Mr Muddy
    I really, really want to like the Traplines; I think the design’s innovative, they’re so quick and easy to set, they last forever and they’re so small you can keep enough in your pockets to do a domestic job without carrying round a bag/bucket. The massive draw-backs are the large amount of foul catches and the moles that actually escape from the traps, leaving nothing but a tuft of hair between the jaws (and you have a job catching those ones again). More recently I’ve almost always used Putange instead of Traplines (except in one specific type of tunnel; that I’m not prepared to give aw
  16. Mr Muddy
    I think it sounds like a good laugh bryn – if only this was a more private forum I’d play along (see I'm trying to make out that I'm a pro there ). You could do a ‘spot-the-mole’ like the old ‘spot-the-ball’ in the football pools: try and guess where you catch one - Christ knows what you’d give out as a prize though.
  17. Mr Muddy
    Do you know: ever since I changed my location to Surrey I seem to be getting a disproportionate amount of criticism from people ‘Up North’. Honestly - IMO you should really be very grateful that someone from Surrey is prepared to take the time to talk to you.
  18. Mr Muddy
    Sound like this is the type of thing you're describing bryn; hope that's some help. I use a duffle bag myself, but it sounds like most of you cover a lot more ground, per job, than I do. http://www.philipmorrisdirect.co.uk/musto-xl-carry-all-bag/product/?gpsr=Carbon&gpsc=XL&utm_source=GoogleBase&utm_medium=organic&gclid=CKLdsfygk8QCFTHLtAodWkYAOg
  19. Mr Muddy
    I’m really glad you posted that Trapper, I’m now in the situation where I’m getting established enough, doing gardens/paddocks, that people have started recommending me to farmers they know. I really like the idea of roaming the countryside all day; but I really, really don’t like the idea of ever turning down domestic work because of it. Still haven’t made a decision; but nice to know I’m not the only one to have had the problem. By the way: well done Bryn, good luck with your job.
  20. Mr Muddy
    Well I'm as happy as my moles
  21. Mr Muddy
    I’ll play along too. Here’s my disorganised bag of tangled chaos: I leave a big box of traps in the car and just take what I can carry - which is actually quite a lot if it’s mostly traplines and putanges.
  22. Mr Muddy
    Yes, thanks. I’ve tried the Black Pearl mouse bait, but with very little success – they just wouldn’t take it. I also understand it was used for pigeons, long, long before my time: I wonder if any of that found its way down a mole hole.
  23. Mr Muddy
    Probably already been said in the ultimate trap thread - I couldn't manage all eight pages of it - but I really do like the little holes, that's a very good idea; and the triggers being that bit closer to the loops. Nice work, good luck with it.
  24. Mr Muddy
    Morning, Only winding you up Old Chaps – like I would really give a monkeys. Actually, did want to pick up on the French Alphachloralose Wasp mentioned: sounds like it should be ideal for moles; fast metabolism, cold environment, etc. Anyone had any legal experience with it? Nicepix perhaps? Edit: legal experience using it on moles I mean.
  25. Mr Muddy
    …….I’m waiting.
×
×
  • Create New...