On 9 Jan, 21:08, David in Normandy wrote:
Thanks. I'll google on the revised spelling.
Maybe it only deters French moles?

In Normandie don't they call them 'campagnoles' instead of 'taupes'?
It's so cute ...!!

On Wed, 9 Jan 2008 14:19:09 -0800 (PST)
wrote:

On 9 Jan, 21:08, David in Normandy wrote:
Thanks. I'll google on the revised spelling.
Maybe it only deters French moles?

In Normandie don't they call them 'campagnoles' instead of 'taupes'?
It's so cute ...!!


Sorry, not so. Un campagnol is what we know as a vole, I believe. Anyway
the cat catches many, and the do quite a bit of lawn damage also although
not the same sort. In Normandie as elsewhere, "il y a de la taupe mais pas
que de taupe."

David, a solution for finding a "taupier" (if you're willing to pay, as I would be)
has just occurred. La Poste. They've got a program, I think called "Genius"
that fills small jobs locally. Every farmer's kid knows how to trap moles, I'm
sure there are many out of work who would be happy to spend a few afternoons
ridding you of them for SMIC wages. The Poste will put you in touch with the
right characters.

As for plants, sound etc, I think that may work in an area without major mole
overpopulation, but in most of Normandy there is just no where for the moles to
go, all the local territories are inhabited. The downside is of course that you will
always be invaded, so the problem can only be controlled not eliminated.

As I've mentioned our fellow (who works for the occasional bottle of wine, although
he doesn't drink himself) does a fine job of keeping them in check. When he was
ill last year I had a young guy between jobs helping out in the garden (hedge cutting
and ivy removal mostly) who did some trapping. He was successful having learned
from his farmer uncle.

Good luck,

-E


--
Emery Davis
You can reply to ecom
by removing the well known companies
Questions about wine? Visit http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

Emery Davis says...
On Wed, 9 Jan 2008 14:19:09 -0800 (PST)
wrote:

On 9 Jan, 21:08, David in Normandy wrote:
Thanks. I'll google on the revised spelling.
Maybe it only deters French moles?

In Normandie don't they call them 'campagnoles' instead of 'taupes'?
It's so cute ...!!


Sorry, not so. Un campagnol is what we know as a vole, I believe. Anyway
the cat catches many, and the do quite a bit of lawn damage also although
not the same sort. In Normandie as elsewhere, "il y a de la taupe mais pas
que de taupe."

David, a solution for finding a "taupier" (if you're willing to pay, as I would be)
has just occurred. La Poste. They've got a program, I think called "Genius"
that fills small jobs locally. Every farmer's kid knows how to trap moles, I'm
sure there are many out of work who would be happy to spend a few afternoons
ridding you of them for SMIC wages. The Poste will put you in touch with the
right characters.

As for plants, sound etc, I think that may work in an area without major mole
overpopulation, but in most of Normandy there is just no where for the moles to
go, all the local territories are inhabited. The downside is of course that you will
always be invaded, so the problem can only be controlled not eliminated.

As I've mentioned our fellow (who works for the occasional bottle of wine, although
he doesn't drink himself) does a fine job of keeping them in check. When he was
ill last year I had a young guy between jobs helping out in the garden (hedge cutting
and ivy removal mostly) who did some trapping. He was successful having learned
from his farmer uncle.

Good luck,

-E




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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

--
David in Normandy

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
You can reply to ecom
by removing the well known companies
Questions about wine? Visit http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

On 10/1/08 15:02, in article , "Emery
Davis" wrote:

snip

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

Some years ago we had a mole infestation (as we thought) of a large area of
a big garden. We were surrounded by fields, too. When we got the mole man
in he said that it was almost certainly all done by one mole. IIRC he used
strychnine worms but this was back in the early 80s and I think that may be
illegal now.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 15:12:40 +0000
Sacha wrote:

On 10/1/08 15:02, in article , "Emery
Davis" wrote:

snip

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

Some years ago we had a mole infestation (as we thought) of a large area of
a big garden. We were surrounded by fields, too. When we got the mole man
in he said that it was almost certainly all done by one mole. IIRC he used
strychnine worms but this was back in the early 80s and I think that may be
illegal now.

Hi Sacha,

IIRC strychnine was made illegal on the European level around 10 years ago:
there was an outcry from the farmers because one of their "tools" was being
revoked by those "d*mned technocrats."

They got over it.

Actually probably not a bad idea to make it illegal, I believe it's pretty nasty
for the environment and all who live in it.

Hope the wind is dying down in your parts, still blowing like mad here!

-E


--
Emery Davis
You can reply to ecom
by removing the well known companies
Questions about wine? Visit http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

On 10/1/08 22:22, in article , "Emery
Davis" wrote:

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 15:12:40 +0000
Sacha wrote:

On 10/1/08 15:02, in article , "Emery
Davis" wrote:

snip

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

Some years ago we had a mole infestation (as we thought) of a large area of
a big garden. We were surrounded by fields, too. When we got the mole man
in he said that it was almost certainly all done by one mole. IIRC he used
strychnine worms but this was back in the early 80s and I think that may be
illegal now.

Hi Sacha,

IIRC strychnine was made illegal on the European level around 10 years ago:
there was an outcry from the farmers because one of their "tools" was being
revoked by those "d*mned technocrats."

I'm pretty sure it was being used legally in Jersey about 5 years ago but
maybe being autonomous and only partly in the EU, those rules didn't apply
there.

They got over it.

Actually probably not a bad idea to make it illegal, I believe it's pretty
nasty
for the environment and all who live in it.

It's extremely effective but not a pleasant method to consider, no.

Hope the wind is dying down in your parts, still blowing like mad here!

Much quieter now, thanks. It was appalling all day - blowing great guns and
sheeting with rain.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'