PRO MOLE TRAPPERS ONLY.

[mole trapper 1,703]

Just wondering today whether this is just a west country thing or a national phenomana, I reckon at a rough guesstimate i lose between 15-20 duffus traps a year to badgers taking them with a mole in, when you go to a garden or a bit of rough pasture and you see the tell tell signs of a badger chasing a mole you know to add on for a minimum of one trap.

These days i do not lose quite as many as i used to, because i try to find natural things to hand that will disguise the smell a bit, ie, fox or sheep shit, both generally available, especially the former because of their liking for curling one off on top of mole hills.

So my question is how many at a rough guess do you lose a year that you could confidently put down to old stripey and the rough geographical location.

PS, what a great year for them hey, (moles).

Good trapping, MT.

[heart of wales 19]

Phew thought it was only happening to me Moley,I use to loose at least 10 15 Duffus a Year dont tend to loose so many now as I tend to follow up quite quickly,What a cracking Year so far Plenty of moles to catch.I make a few bob more by also harrowing on the first visit here is the harrows I made they go behind the back of my truck or quad depending on the weather.

 

 

[Rolfe 2]

Just wondering today whether this is just a west country thing or a national phenomana, I reckon at a rough guesstimate i lose between 15-20 duffus traps a year to badgers taking them with a mole in, when you go to a garden or a bit of rough pasture and you see the tell tell signs of a badger chasing a mole you know to add on for a minimum of one trap.

These days i do not lose quite as many as i used to, because i try to find natural things to hand that will disguise the smell a bit, ie, fox or sheep shit, both generally available, especially the former because of their liking for curling one off on top of mole hills.

So my question is how many at a rough guess do you lose a year that you could confidently put down to old stripey and the rough geographical location.

PS, what a great year for them hey, (moles).

Good trapping, MT.

Well believe it or not i lost my first Talpex trap to old brock yesterday...........plenty of prints around the trap site to identify the cuprit..........searched the immediete area but no signs of the trap. If there is a sett nearby i often check these as often old traps get unearthed as brock refurbishes his home. This is only the second trap i have lost this year to badger predation.

 

Rolfe.

[proper job 1]

I will lose half a dozen or so a year, if the trap is missing, it's brock, if you find it 5-10yds away with mole still in, it's charlie.

[mole trapper 1,703]

Seen that set up of yours before, good idea that. My old man is still farming over near Newcastle Emlyn, you want to get over that way, people ask him all the time if he will clear their moles, he is 74 now though so he is not intereseted.

All the best, MT.

[mole trapper 1,703]

I will lose half a dozen or so a year, if the trap is missing, it's brock, if you find it 5-10yds away with mole still in, it's charlie.

i CAN HONESTLY SAY I HAVE NEVER YET FOUND ONE AFTER BROCK HAS TAKEN THEM, I ALWAYS JOKE WITH THE CUSTOMERS THAT IF YOU OPENED UP A BADGER SET YOU WOULD FIND MOLE TRAPS ON THE MANTLE PIECE AS ORNAMENTS. oops sorry about the shouting, cant be arsed to retype.

[Rolfe 2]

I will lose half a dozen or so a year, if the trap is missing, it's brock, if you find it 5-10yds away with mole still in, it's charlie.

i CAN HONESTLY SAY I HAVE NEVER YET FOUND ONE AFTER BROCK HAS TAKEN THEM, I ALWAYS JOKE WITH THE CUSTOMERS THAT IF YOU OPENED UP A BADGER SET YOU WOULD FIND MOLE TRAPS ON THE MANTLE PIECE AS ORNAMENTS. oops sorry about the shouting, cant be arsed to retype.

Well on one of my contracts i found 3 duffus traps in a single day outside a huge sett in a sandy bank. It had over 20 holes scattered over a wide area. Strange thing was........although i had lost duffus traps........none of those i found were mine. But they are now

 

Rolfe.

[stork 1]

Thieving gits pinched my only rabbit cage trap and destroyed it.

[moley 115]

I will lose half a dozen or so a year, if the trap is missing, it's brock, if you find it 5-10yds away with mole still in, it's charlie.

i CAN HONESTLY SAY I HAVE NEVER YET FOUND ONE AFTER BROCK HAS TAKEN THEM, I ALWAYS JOKE WITH THE CUSTOMERS THAT IF YOU OPENED UP A BADGER SET YOU WOULD FIND MOLE TRAPS ON THE MANTLE PIECE AS ORNAMENTS. oops sorry about the shouting, cant be arsed to retype.

 

i reckon it used to cost me about 200-300 quid a year to bloody badgers what with lost traps and the price of the mole that was in it , sometimes you found the trap not faraway , but most times it was gone

[mole trapper 1,703]

Hell this problem is way bigger than i imagined, Moley, would i be right in guessing you charge by the body count if you count them as a loss aswell ?, only reason i ask is that there is a bloke local to me trying to get in on the act at the moment , he is going around all the farms telling the farmers he only charges £10 a mole, the farmers are laughing him off the place, he says that is cheap, they say not when J has been here and had 15-25 out of one field and i have x number of fields.

 

All the best, and hope the new job going well.

[moley 115]

Hell this problem is way bigger than i imagined, Moley, would i be right in guessing you charge by the body count if you count them as a loss aswell ?, only reason i ask is that there is a bloke local to me trying to get in on the act at the moment , he is going around all the farms telling the farmers he only charges £10 a mole, the farmers are laughing him off the place, he says that is cheap, they say not when J has been here and had 15-25 out of one field and i have x number of fields.

 

All the best, and hope the new job going well.

yip , i was on per mole , just started out that way 21 years ago (scarey)and you kinda get into a rut , the lad thats taken over is on by the hour , better way as he,s not as good as me

 

was told by a customer that a couple of lad were touting for work last year and he asked what price , they reckon it worked out at £35 per mole and was he interested

[mole trapper 1,703]

Here is a few that those stripey buggers didnt get the two days leading up to me going into hospital. NO these arent out of the freezer!! "Can always tell those - they have white paws!!!"

 

Wouldnt do anything else

 

[heart of wales 19]

With that last photo you have probably answered my next question,started taking my dogs with me trapping,I enjoy the company and the terrier rose a fox from nearby braken on Sunday,chuffed to bits she is only in her first season,anyway laid a load of traps as I always do,checked em Monday probably had 50% back filled :sick: caught nine never had this before could it be to do with the scent of the dogs I thought???? today laid thirty twenty new traps never been buried didnt have time to much work on same farm different field fifteen caught including eleven in new traps

[heart of wales 19]

Seen that set up of yours before, good idea that. My old man is still farming over near Newcastle Emlyn, you want to get over that way, people ask him all the time if he will clear their moles, he is 74 now though so he is not intereseted.

All the best, MT.

Cracking part of the country use to work over there quite a lot once,to far for me to make it pay to be honest,lucky I got plenty on around here ,thanks for the tip off though ,how come you are not up there then.

[mole trapper 1,703]

Left twenty years ago after giving up milking the old mans cows for him for fifteen quid a week, 7 days a week, he insisted he was doing me a favour. We get on a lot better now i am 5 hours away.

Set up down here and now my only way out is to do the same as Moley, i am not quite ready for that yet unless a londoner with money burning a hole in their pocket wants to make me an offer i cant refuse.

My old man is always trying to get us to move back over, but it is pretty unlikely.

My dogs go everywhere with me, stupid as the Hancock haters may find it they have created so much extra revenue for me it is untrue, they are more famous on my patch than me, then that probably is not difficult.