Pitchcare Classifieds SPORTS SURFACE CONTRACTORS
Sports Ground Contractors Ltd
of the best ways to control moles.
There are several types of traps in common use now. The half barrel trap, or Duffus as it is called, is double ended so is capable of catching two moles in a single setting. Other types include the scissor, the claw and the trapline which are inserted along the inside of the tunnel.
I prefer the claw trap as it is quicker and easier to set. I put it in the run and half fill it with soil. It is then triggered by the natural upwards movement that a mole makes when clearing the soil out of the run.
As well as traps, I carry a dibber with me to poke into the soil to find the run, a narrow spade to cut a trap width out of the turf, and a trowel and a sharp piece of wood for clearing out the hole.
When trapping, I prefer to use too many traps rather than not enough. It is said that moles are solitary, but that is not always the case as territories
sometimes overlap and, during the breeding season, the moles are not as territorial as they are looking for partners, and you can sometimes catch two moles if you put two traps at a junction.
There are many myths about ways to catch moles, such as laying sharp things in their run or putting bottles or windmills nearby to cause vibration; there is very little evidence that these work.
If you want to catch them, the best way is to set traps, you can pick up the information in articles or off the internet, but I think the best way to learn about mole catching is to get someone qualified to show you. I was taught on a golf course by a very well known mole catcher who, at the end of his lesson, said "Well lads, off you go and, when you can catch a mole in a trap before you have left the site, you can call yourself a mole catcher". So, I can honestly call myself a mole catcher, as I have on several occasions.
I enjoy going out mole catching. I get to see places and countryside I'd otherwise never
have the opportunity to see and meet people from all walks of life; millionaires, owners of country mansions, farmers and everyday country folk.
I do sometimes get strange reactions from folk, not all of them agree with the trapping. One lady kept on going into the farmer's pasture, removing the traps and throwing them into the hedge. Another thought I was planting trees and, when I told her what I was doing, got very upset and lectured me on
D W Clark DRAINAGE LTD
SPECIALIST SPORTSTURF CONSTRUCTION & DRAINAGE CONTRACTORS • Gravel Banding • Sand Slitting
• Top Dressing • Renovation • Irrigation Unit 7, Brailes Industrial Estate, Winderton Lane, Lower Brailes Banbury, Oxfordshire OX15 5JW
Tel: 01608 685800 Fax: 01608 685801 email:
jim@dwclarkdrainageltd.co.uk Web:
www.dwclarkdrainageltd.co.uk
Natural & Synthetic
the error of my ways. But the most bizarre one was when, removing traps, I was approached by a policeman who demanded to know what on earth I was doing digging around in the field? When I said moling, he had no idea what I was talking about and it took quite a time to convince him that it was a genuine activity. I later found out that certain ne're-do-wells in the area had been concealing drugs in nearby fields. I'd like to know how long he had been staked out watching my marked traps.
If you decide mole catching is for you, good luck, but just watch out for angry ladies and suspicious policemen!
John Sedgewick may be contacted on 07971 694005
Renovation - Drainage - Maintenance Sports Pitch Design - Construction
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JUNE/JULY 2013 PC 139
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