Mole Trapping - The Guardian article March 2017

[Nicepix 5,650]

Some of you will have seen this or be aware of the shyster Geoff Nicholls and his attempts at world domination. A customer sent me the link today. I found it very conveniant that the first trapped mole shown to the reporter was still alive. One of many according to Nicholls. Hmmm....   Whatever happened to investigative journalism?

Going underground: inside the world of the mole-catchers | Animals | The Guardian

WWW.THEGUARDIAN.COM

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The Long Read: A bitter battle is raging within the mole-catching community over the kindest way to carry out their deadly work

 

Edited July 31, 2022 by Nicepix

[mole trapper 1,646]

Blokes a bloody cock womble, he started out OK, but now?

[earth-thrower 490]

"Rob Atkinson" , who I've also had correspondence with in the past,....his attitude is indeed thought provoking,....sure, there's also some former Welsh mole catcher,  (more recently) who obviously also had some writing talent (hence a book,  deal, apparently),....now advocates the mowdies shouldn't be culled, but instead tolerated,......

[earth-thrower 490]

20 hours ago, earth-thrower said:

"Rob Atkinson" , who I've also had correspondence with in the past,....his attitude is indeed thought provoking,....sure, there's also some former Welsh mole catcher,  (more recently) who obviously also had some writing talent (hence a book,  deal, apparently),....now advocates the mowdies shouldn't be culled, but instead tolerated,......

'How to catch a mole' , by Marc Hamer,....I think it is. Maybe I should read it, for the enlightenment. (although I've always wrestled with myself, regarding this occupation,  in truth,...)

[Nicepix 5,650]

The gist of the report is that Nicholls seems to be trying to get the authorities to insist on mole trappers making daily visits to the trap sites as, in his claimed experience very few moles die as a result of the trap going off, but languish in the traps still alive. As if by magic he produced a still live mole that had been trapped around the middle.

Now in my very limited experience there are several things come to mind:

If the mole is caught by the middle then the trap hasn't been properly tuned

If the mole is still alive the trap is too weak. I can't get a pencil into the gap between loop and body in a Flatpack Duffus

If most moles are dying several hours after being trapped as Nicholls claims why aren't they all puffed up like they are with wrist captures? 

The report also says that government tests on traps have found them to be inhumane. The questions are: were the traps fit for purpose and properly tuned and set? Cos if you get a Chinese trap off ebay and set it straight out of the box it ain't going to perform like a tuned Flatpack in the hands of a pro'.

[Nicepix 5,650]

25 minutes ago, W. Katchum said:

I want my traps in an out in 24 hours for no other reason then they’re earning more on a diff job rather than sat in a garden or field where I’m confident the moles already dead, fcuk that

And do you find moles still alive in the traps? Nicholls claims the majority aren't killed instantly. 

I have traps in my garden that are checked daily. Funnily enough all the trapped moles have been dead.

[earth-thrower 490]

4 hours ago, Nicepix said:

The gist of the report is that Nicholls seems to be trying to get the authorities to insist on mole trappers making daily visits to the trap sites as, in his claimed experience very few moles die as a result of the trap going off, but languish in the traps still alive. As if by magic he produced a still live mole that had been trapped around the middle.

Now in my very limited experience there are several things come to mind:

If the mole is caught by the middle then the trap hasn't been properly tuned

If the mole is still alive the trap is too weak. I can't get a pencil into the gap between loop and body in a Flatpack Duffus

If most moles are dying several hours after being trapped as Nicholls claims why aren't they all puffed up like they are with wrist captures? 

The report also says that government tests on traps have found them to be inhumane. The questions are: were the traps fit for purpose and properly tuned and set? Cos if you get a Chinese trap off ebay and set it straight out of the box it ain't going to perform like a tuned Flatpack in the hands of a pro'.

Some valid points, you make.

[earth-thrower 490]

3 hours ago, W. Katchum said:

I want my traps in an out in 24 hours for no other reason then they’re earning more on a diff job rather than sat in a garden or field where I’m confident the moles already dead, fcuk that

Makes sense.

[earth-thrower 490]

"Welfare" for moles ? ..any proposed measure by whoever, just falls far short, anyway. If translocation could  prove to be a viable alternative, to any lethal control method,...i would adopt it, where possible, & as a way forward...but alas, any  preliminary field trial results (very limited, right enough) by the wildlife researchers, etc, in that regard so far, have proved inconclusive. I personally feel , there's scope , for further more extensive field experiments, nevertheless. (easier said than done, I don't doubt )

Edited August 1, 2022 by earth-thrower

[DIDO.1 20,877]

On 31/07/2022 at 15:31, Nicepix said:

Some of you will have seen this or be aware of the shyster Geoff Nicholls and his attempts at world domination. A customer sent me the link today. I found it very conveniant that the first trapped mole shown to the reporter was still alive. One of many according to Nicholls. Hmmm....   Whatever happened to investigative journalism?

Going underground: inside the world of the mole-catchers | Animals | The Guardian

WWW.THEGUARDIAN.COM

---

The Long Read: A bitter battle is raging within the mole-catching community over the kindest way to carry out their deadly work

 

The bloke who took the reporter out wouldn't of fixed things to show her a live one I can assure you. He's not a pal of mine but he would of been straight up. 

I often don't check mole traps for days....but that's just the economics of the large area I cover. I do think moles deserve better than the average kill they receive in most tunnel traps. For that matter I feel the same about fenn traps. Yes you can change how they are set or tune mole traps, but neither in huge numbers of cases are giving clean kills. I've addressed how and when I set fenns and I would never use them now in the way I did when keepering. Perhaps I need to address how I'm trapping moles and the type of traps I'm using. Admittedly the fact I'm trapping less moles and moles are even becoming an economic hindrance to my business, in that they take up time that would be better spent on other areas is making me give what I'm doing more thought 

 

[Nicepix 5,650]

As I said; I have traps in my garden that are checked every morning. I might get 12 to 15 a year from them and not one has been caught around the middle and still alive. I used to work for a Yorkshire sheep farmer out here. He had a habit of following me around and lifting the trap covers. If the wire was up he would take the mole out and re set it. They hadn't been in the ground 30 minutes in some cases. Not one of the moles were alive when trapped. The guy is making it up to fit his own agenda.

[comanche 2,799]

14 hours ago, Nicepix said:

The gist of the report is that Nicholls seems to be trying to get the authorities to insist on mole trappers making daily visits to the trap sites as, in his claimed experience very few moles die as a result of the trap going off, but languish in the traps still alive. As if by magic he produced a still live mole that had been trapped around the middle.

Now in my very limited experience there are several things come to mind:

If the mole is caught by the middle then the trap hasn't been properly tuned

If the mole is still alive the trap is too weak. I can't get a pencil into the gap between loop and body in a Flatpack Duffus

If most moles are dying several hours after being trapped as Nicholls claims why aren't they all puffed up like they are with wrist captures? 

The report also says that government tests on traps have found them to be inhumane. The questions are: were the traps fit for purpose and properly tuned and set? Cos if you get a Chinese trap off ebay and set it straight out of the box it ain't going to perform like a tuned Flatpack in the hands of a pro'.

Another way to look at it is that if a chap is openly admitting that most of the moles he catches are suffering lingering deaths he possibly isn't  the right person to be heading a Mole-catching Organisation. 

In fact he might benefit  from a few  basic trapping lessons rather than promoting himself as some sort of Tapidean Guru!

He also has stated in print that mole traps are worn out after an arbitory twenty settings and should be replaced . 

There was a thread on here some years ago concerning the fellow's Mole-catching Organisation  . I know several folk who had joined it - including me. In my case it was  through fear of being left behind if l didn't  become part of the rising trend for internet- based pest control registers. 

     I realised the error of my ways,  PDQ ; especially after seeing him on a stall at a country show.  For all his prothelising the use of quality traps l couldn't help notice that he was offering el cheapo far Eastern versions on his stall . That along with the giant toy mole he waved at kids while trying to persuade them that it was a life-sized replica of the real thing. To which my Grandson who was about four at the time responded with a scrunched up face and muttered "no they're not."

Oh and there was also the unknown(to me at least) snippet that moles were commonly reffered to as "Lawn Sharks".

As a ,then, member of his Organisation l thought  it polite to introduced myself but he was to say the least rather "cold" towards me   . Perhaps he was embarrassed at his public performance.

       Strangely, very shortly after l had mentioned these events on this very  forum l recieved an email  noting that there had been some criticism of his esteemed organisation and views on the internet . And by the way some wayward members of his regime had yet to sign his petition urging daily trap checks....

Coincidence surely

 

 

[comanche 2,799]

13 hours ago, Nicepix said:

And do you find moles still alive in the traps? Nicholls claims the majority aren't killed instantly. 

I have traps in my garden that are checked daily. Funnily enough all the trapped moles have been dead.

I may be cynical but l can't  help thinking that daily trap checks are as much about generating a payment per visit income rather than the payment per mole policy that a lot of mole- catchers have.

It favours the unlucky or incompetent trappers who take a week to catch a mole while penalising the trapper who endeavours to get a quick result.

It's  also a clever way of tying up  a mole-catcher with time consuming daily trap checks so they are prevented from straying too far in search of work  . Possibly onto the "Patch" claimed by a member of a Mole catching Organisation. 

It also penalises the general pest controller who has  ,  as DIDO mentioned,  has other work to do.  Thus turning mole- catching into a specialist trade in it's  own right and favouring the dedicated mole-catching Organisations. 

As l say,  l am cynical and very likely a bit wrong...   

Edited August 2, 2022 by comanche

[Wolfdog91 6,269]

This seriously an issue?......over.... moles.......

[comanche 2,799]

1 minute ago, Wolfdog91 said:

This seriously an issue?......over.... moles.......

Exactly Thank heavens we haven't  got racoons over here; it would be a matter of pistols at dawn for some people