On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 11:37:13 +0100
David in Normandy wrote:

Thanks Emery, I'll bear that in mind. The thing I've found
with traps is that without the accompanying expertise in
exactly where and how to set them, they just sit in the
ground and rust. My scissor trap has been tried on half a
dozen occasions and has never triggered, despite setting it
like a hairpin trigger.


Yes, there appears to be a fair amount of skill involved.
For professional reasons I need to be careful of fingers, otherwise I'd
try to learn to set the traps myself. But at one point my one neighbor
did it for me, and he was no where near as proficient as our current
mole hunter.

What baffles me is the seeming lack of moles in all the
surrounding fields. There is pasture land below our garden
and not a sign of any mole hills. On the other side is a
cultivated field. Presumably the annual deep ploughing
deters the moles from that area.


That is surprising. The amount of moles, everywhere here,
is astounding.

Our lawns look like some WWI trench battle is been fought
on them.
I will certainly give the plants a go, mixed in with the
flower beds. At least if it deters them from that area it
would be something.


At best it will keep them from the beds, which is already something
but won't help your lawn.

The Mrs tried the technique of inserting a short stick into
the ground with an upturned plastic bottle on top. The
theory being that the wind rattles the stick and the noise
deters the moles. I don't know where she heard of this
method but it didn't work. A mole hill even appeared under
one of the sticks tipping it over, so clearly the moles
couldn't care less.


We tried everything, the little beggars laughed it off. I remember
one day we leveled all the mole hills, and stuck bramble down
every hole. The next day we counted over 100 new mole hills,
many with bramble ejected from the ground some feet away.

I'm a little hesitant to get someone in to lay traps at the
moment due to the potential cost, even if it is smic wages.
Due to the number of moles it could still prove expensive.
However, if all else fails I may need to pay an expert mole
catcher. Perhaps the best thing would be to learn from them
exactly what they do so I can do it myself. There is
clearly more skill involved than just finding a run and
inserting a trap.

Contrary to what you may have heard, a single trap spot can catch several
moles. Also, 1 mole makes up to 10 hills per day, so it doesn't take
that many to do a lot of damage. I don't think it would be that expensive
if you got someone who knew what they were doing. That's always the
trick, of course.

-E
--
Emery Davis
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