Mole Trapping - The Guardian article March 2017

[Daniel cain 42,890]

1 hour ago, Wolfdog91 said:

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

over any type/form of hunting...always some f***ing hater,running their mouths off if someone's doing more than them

[Wolfdog91 6,270]

17 minutes ago, Daniel cain said:

over any type/form of hunting...always some f***ing hater,running their mouths off if someone's doing more than them

But....moles......

[earth-thrower 490]

3 hours ago, comanche said:

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 

How discerning of you ,..but  insightful !    Reality for me is, it still doesn't adequately address, the issue of any foul caught mole, or inadequate trap, etc,  anyway  ?   Catching pregnant & suckling doe moles, what about that ? ,....if I stopped trapping end of March/ beginning of April up here , i could avoid more potential suffering, than the latter proposed measure,  perhaps.  (Be out of a job too, but  ! )

Edited August 2, 2022 by earth-thrower

[earth-thrower 490]

58 minutes ago, Wolfdog91 said:

But....moles......

How , whats your thinking, does the mole not warrant the level of respect, as regards , any control measures  ?????  (just asking)

[earth-thrower 490]

12 hours ago, DIDO.1 said:

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 

 

Interesting stuff,..

[Nicepix 5,650]

7 hours ago, comanche said:

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...   

I think you are spot on as usual.

If daily checks were compulsory then many mole trappers would go out of business as many customers would be unwilling to foot the bill. Regards the efficiency claims; there must be hundreds of versions of Duffus type traps. I used to be  given them by unsuccesful customers and most were unfit for purpose. But opening the Pandora's Box of traps having to be officially tested and authorised means that manufacturers would have to put their trust in the tester's ability and integrity. 

And then there is the issue of tweaking / tuning which to me is just as important as the trap itself. 

[tank34 2,178]

I had 20 plus defender tunnel traps rest are flat pack , UK purtangs supplies and Pest stop I used to get the odd mole still alive an it was the defender traps there out of my kit now an don't get alive moles , good traps putting traps in strate runs then only should be dead moles in traps

[Nicepix 5,650]

You can tell by the expression on the mole's face. That look of surprise is a dead (sorry) giveaway.