mole catching

[martinclay]

A few question on mole catching as i have been asked to clear some fields of moles.

 

What sort of price are people charging for mole catching?

What is the most common type of trape used?

What equipment is needed for mole catching?

 

Any help would be great.

 

Many Thanks

[jonevo]

I suggest you get some practice in before you ever start charging to catch moles

If you have never tried it or done it or you dont even have any traps LEAVE WELL ALONE

you maybe running before you can walk

[TJ91]

half barrel (doofus) traps ar emy favourite, seem to catch most with them but have used scissor and fenn traps with some succes

 

15quid per mole (tenner to the older folk)

but thats for trapping in the gardens

 

in a field its cheaper/easier to go buy a tube of gas pellets from agriculture/farm store

[henry c]

£15 quid is good going!

 

I used to trap for farmers and only got £1 per mole, got a bit more land to shoot on out of it though.

 

The only equipment I used to take was a small spade, a cane for feeling the runs and the traps.

 

As described the half barrel traps are the best, but more expensive than the scissor ones. they can double catch too!

 

I found that if you put the traps too close to the newly formed hills you tend not to catch. The moles seemed to be working these runs more and often they would be pushing soil in front of them which would set the trap off before the mole got to it.

 

Traps placed in runs nearer older hills usually stand more chance as the runs will be well clear and therefore there is less to get in the way of the trap.

 

 

Oh and bury your new traps in soil before using them, the moles can spook if they see nice shiny new ones!

Hope this helps!

Edited January 27, 2011 by henry c

[spiceychilli57]

Oh and bury your new traps in soil before using them, the moles can spook if they see nice shiny new ones!

 

:lol: :stupid:

 

moles are more as less blind for one and even if they have been to specsavers there shouldnt be any light around the trap for them to see anything anyway

[henry c]

Calm down, I meant smell. In my experience, new shiny traps wont catch as well as older dirty ones.

Edited January 28, 2011 by henry c

[HDAV]

Or do what my grandad used to do sit out in comfy garden chair near a new mound and dont move (for hours) with a single 12 aimed at the mound wait for the soil to come up and BANG, often when he got the mole out it was fully intact no holes just dead (something to do with the shock wave or something)

[demonwolf444]

grandad had one on his garden many a year ago every morning at 7 ish he would see it, so he got up at around 6 and sat a couple of paces away with a 12 sbs did the job...

[Cyffyllog]

I used to operate comercially with poison, but now use in the main scissor traps. I superglue a small fishing hook onto the top of the tongue of the trap and place a small worm on it. More often than not there will be a Mole in the trap on the first check! hope this helps.

[martinclay]

Thank for the help I am going out monday to set the traps so will see what happens.

[martinclay]

Thank for the help I am going out monday to set the traps so will see what happens.

[bignoel]

when setting your traps be sure the tunnels are soil free clear i mean as a mole will push the soil forward triggering the trap before he reaches it

[trapper man]

Give it a go mate just started myself but once you get the nack its easy best of luck

[aber]

In terms of clearing moles as opposed to catching them you need a 12 bore and a small spade! I work on a farm and have moles popping up all over the place. Last summer I got over 50. Flatten all the hills first. Then on sunny/bright/windy days walk or quad around until you see fresh hills that are moving. Approach from where you think he isnt so you're about 2m away. Wait until you see him moving and fire where you think he is. Dig like a fool and hey presto. He's either in bits or stunned/dead from the shockwave. Takes some practice but it's the most effective way we've found to get rid!

[TEMPER]

Aber not only is that time consuming It's also bloody dangerous! With the stones coming out the mole hills round here you'd end up in hospital. Scissor traps, small trowel, metal cane and some graft is all I use.

[farmerben]

In terms of clearing moles as opposed to catching them you need a 12 bore and a small spade! I work on a farm and have moles popping up all over the place. Last summer I got over 50. Flatten all the hills first. Then on sunny/bright/windy days walk or quad around until you see fresh hills that are moving. Approach from where you think he isnt so you're about 2m away. Wait until you see him moving and fire where you think he is. Dig like a fool and hey presto. He's either in bits or stunned/dead from the shockwave. Takes some practice but it's the most effective way we've found to get rid!

 

Would completely agree with this except you'll find they dig at certain times which can be established by keep flattening mole hills and checking for work. Once you know what time it's usually a case of driving round and waiting ten minutes at most. Wait for the second or third push and shoot the base of the molehill towards where you think the mole is - harder than you think! Very often they come in a loop from the last hill I to the side of the new one.

 

Aber not only is that time consuming It's also bloody dangerous! With the stones coming out the mole hills round here you'd end up in hospital. Scissor traps, small trowel, metal cane and some graft is all I use.

I would say bloody dangerous is a bit much as I doubt moles would push a rock likely to cause harm. Mole hills are soft fluffy dirt so I am pretty sure it would absorb almost all the energy even if there was some grit in it. Nonetheless perhaps wearing goggles is a good idea.

[highseas]

as a few on hear know i catch moles full time and get around 20 a day i charge £5 a mole up to 100 moles a week then it drops to £4 a mole if i get over 100 in the same 7 days. £15 a mole for the first mole in gardens the £10 for every other mole that day.

some tips for you

set traps in a line of hills rather than the ones all over the place `look for hills in a line of maybe 2-5 hills linking inbetween the clusters of hills. and place traps their

 

dont owrry about setting near new hills, dosent matter set in the lines of hills

 

if you have moles near a hedge again look for a line of hills comeing from the hedge top the feeding hills it may only be one hill but thats the place to catch him

 

dont put loads of traps in a group of hills i put no more than 2-3 traps in a avrage group of hills i have at times put 0ver 100 traps in a field thats got thousands of hills in it and got 40 odd moles next day

 

if you geta cleaver mole that fills in traps for 2 days in a row give him a rest or change type of trap

 

you dont need to weather bury traps but you will need to tune them so they got off easly.

 

and lastly you dont need to bait them with worms or any thing

[Martin g]

As said, traps don't need to be weathered, and you dont have to worry about sent, and dont need to be baited. If your using tunnel traps, have them sat tight in run.

 

If your like me Highseas, I bet you will be glad when all this bloody snows gone, putting me well behind..

Edited March 27, 2013 by Martin g

[highseas]

As said, traps don't need to be weathered, and you dont have to worry about sent, and dont need to be baited. If your using tunnel traps, have them sat tight in run.

 

If your like me Highseas, I bet you will be glad when all this bloody snows gone, putting me well behind..

no to bad hear just got frozen ground too often. buisness is a bit slow at the min tight ***** farmers only wana pay £1 a mole "because their dad only paid that"