Talpex In Action

[Rolfe 2]

There has been some discussion on how to avoid catching moles too far back along the body and therefore not inflicting a quick and clean kill. I would like to pass on a couple of tips to people who may be new to mole trapping to help them set traps correctly so as to maximise the chance of a humane kill every time.

I exclusively (well nearly) use the Talpex trap nowadays, mainly because of the very powerful spring action, i will at times where discretion is needed, still use the Duffus trap to ensure traps are not tampered with, but i will be refering soley to the Talpex trap in this short post.

When setting the Talpex in an upright position, make sure the tongue (trigger) is sitting just under an inch from the bottom of the mole run, this makes sure the mole cannot get too far into the jaws before triggering the trap, (as it tries to push underneath). Secondly, the setting pin should only just be held in the location hole on the tongue. By this i mean no part of the pin should protude through the trigger plate. This also means the slightest upward pressure from the mole fires the trap, and catches it at the front end.

The picture with this post shows three Talpex as pulled from the ground this morning, each and every mole had been caught right across the chest cavity, thus inflicting a quick and humane kill.

I pass on these tips with the hope that newcomers (and maybe some oldies) will learn how to trap moles as humanely as possible, which after all, should be the main criteria of any trapping exercise.

At the end of the day..........it's practical experience on the ground that is the best teacher and posts like this can only explain the very basic setting methods.

 

Rolfe.

[stephen58 1]

Hi Rolfe , great trapping and photo , that,s what I was trying to achieve , until I sussed it and the penny dropped next Mole job I,m going to use Talpex only ,and use your tip about cutting the " V " out , is that wee spade/graft a Bulldog by any chance , that farmers used to use to lift out Thishles/Ragwort , if so I have one or simular ideal size for the Talpex traps best regards Steve

[Rolfe 2]

Hi Rolfe , great trapping and photo , that,s what I was trying to achieve , until I sussed it and the penny dropped next Mole job I,m going to use Talpex only ,and use your tip about cutting the " V " out , is that wee spade/graft a Bulldog by any chance , that farmers used to use to lift out Thishles/Ragwort , if so I have one or simular ideal size for the Talpex traps best regards Steve

Yes Steve...........its a cut-down Spud-Thistle as we called them in these parts.........if you have one just cut it down to a foot length of handle and they make a perfect mole spade. The one i have is a Spear & Jackson believe it or not.

 

Best Regards

 

Rolfe.

[moley 115]

this is not a critisism , as i no longer do moles , but it looks to me like you have the trigger to one side rather than central , does this mean you set it that way and if so , what if a mole comes in from the other direction , its gonna get caught my the hips ?

[Rolfe 2]

this is not a critisism , as i no longer do moles , but it looks to me like you have the trigger to one side rather than central , does this mean you set it that way and if so , what if a mole comes in from the other direction , its gonna get caught my the hips ?

Hiya Moley,

No, all my settings have the tongue centrally located on the trigger bar.........i think the tongues have slid that way as i pulled the moles headfirst from the runs, or they have moved that way during firing. You are right it would be folly to set the tongue towards either end as, like you say, if the mole approached from the other direction it would produce a foul catch. I suppose i could have moved the tongues to the centre again for the purposes of the picture, but i wanted to show them exactly as they were pulled from the ground with no doctoring. Thankyou for your observations.

 

Best Regards

 

Rolfe.

[heart of wales 19]

Well finally gave the Talpex a try after reluctantly not using the duffus

Thanks for the Tips Rolfe

I tell you what I like about these traps in a field full of Ewes and lambs where these were set with the duffus you get a lot of tunnells colapsed due to the stock dont matter with these

Have just bought another Ten from KILGERM

[Rolfe 2]

Well finally gave the Talpex a try after reluctantly not using the duffus

Thanks for the Tips Rolfe

I tell you what I like about these traps in a field full of Ewes and lambs where these were set with the duffus you get a lot of tunnells colapsed due to the stock dont matter with these

Have just bought another Ten from KILGERM

Nice one mate........keep on with them and the setting becomes second nature........believe it or not i still have not had a miss with a Talpex yet...........every trap so far that has sprung has contained a mole.........sooner or later a stone or something will cause a miss.........but so far so good.

 

Rolfe.