On Tue, 1 Jun 2004 19:04:17 +0100, Jane Ransom
wrote:

In article , Stephen Howard
writes

I'm giving the mole the benefit of the doubt - I'll try to catch it
and release it in the woods.

Apart from the fact that that is illegal, don't you think you are being
rather selfish by passing your problem on to someone else?

Is it illegal? Please state your references. When I called DEFRA about
this they seemed a bit puzzled...the local rep is getting back to me -
but in the meantime the only reference I could find to the legality of
relocating trapped moles was a DEFRA publication that states that it's
'not recommended' - the reason given that there hasn't been any
research into what happens to relocated moles ( plenty of research
into ways of killing them though ).

Similarly the Mammal Society knew of no such legislation regarding
moles ( unlike that which applies to, say, grey squirrels ). In fact
they seemed to think it was an excellent idea - assuming I could catch
the mole in the first place.

Seems a bit odd that it's legal to kill them but not, supposedly, to
trap them and release them back into the wild given that they don't
pose a health risk to humans, nor are they particularly rampant in
their breeding habits.

As for the charge of being selfish - how does the decision not to kill
an animal who's only crime is that its foraging habits are
inconvenient come across as selfish?
Is it perhaps the case that you'd rather other people decimated
wildlife on your behalf so as to prevent your having to deal with it
at some point?

As regards releasing into the woods - how could this be construed as
passing the problem on to someone else?
Surely, if a wood doesn't have a comprehensive range of wildlife then
it's not really a wood - more like an untidy back garden.

When conducting your research into the legality of relocating moles,
please bear in mind that the woods I refer to are on my land.

Regards,



--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{whoisat}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk