Pest Control: A Cumbrian Molecatcher
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- čas přidán 13. 01. 2015
- There is an estimated 33 to 40 million European moles (Talpa europaea) in the UK that create a lot of damage that requires a great deal of time and money to correct. As a result, mole trapping is now big business.
I made the journey to the Georgian harbour town of Whitehaven in Cumbria, England to meet one of the best mole catchers in the business: Bob Merrin is a great character of the British countryside and a living legend. Aged nearly 70, his mind is still pin-sharp. He has the ability to spot, create, build and trap almost anything with a pulse. He is a font of knowledge of all things countryside; his forté is being a master at catching moles. He is living proof that skills honed over many decades are just as, if not more, effective than the quick chemical fix and the certification mentality that modern society demands.
He removes thousands of moles each year, which succumb to his homemade traps. Little wonder, then, that he needs no certificate to persuade would-be customers of his skills. Aluminum phosphide is the only chemical compound legally authorised to control moles, but with trapping you know you have got the culprit and it doesn’t harm the environment.
Bob uses a unique trap designed by the late Bill Troughton. These traps were originally made out of ash but the wood degraded. Bob discovered that gas piping does the same job yet withstands Mother Nature. In the hands of beginners and experts alike, his full-barrel mole traps have caught moles, but how do they work? “Get inside the head of the mole, think like a mole and you will catch your mole,” is Bob’s motto. - Sport
Great to watch an old fashioned expert who is kind enough to share his knowledge . Mole catching is not easy and is time consuming . It's also important for farmers . Nothing worse than seeing a field ruined .
Again another great film from an expert of the Dark Arts
This was great! Love to sit in this man’s company and just talk. Great stuff!
I've learnt a lot watching that what a great video
a true molecatcher, who knows his stuff, great.
Great video from a fellow Cumbrian . Master of his trade .
arthur I am glad you liked it. Bob is a legend.
This film has had a lot of positive feedback from the professional mole catching community where the law is quite simple. There is no legal requirement to check traps on a daily basis and anyone can manufacture traps as they do not have to be approved as in the Spring Traps Approval Order. Common sense dictates that where possible traps should be checked on a daily basis as best practice but it is not a legal requirement. I hope this will clear up any confusion about the legality of checking mole traps.
Iv been doing this for years, its like many things easy when you no how! The hardest part if any is finding the rite run and angle!
Thanks Bob 👍🏻
I've given up on every other trap and going with the metal tunnel trap seen here. You have to catch them in their main runs or feeding runs which they use every day... What do you do all with the no longer alive moles? Mole soup?
are the moles he traps used for anything
Thank you Grandpa Bob !
I have a compost bin and of course the mole has built his home in the middle of my compost bin in the rectangular aerator. The mole built a straw cover under my plastic cover which he chewed into. What is my best approach to catch this mole? How many do you suspect there are?
Is it still there. He must be huge now
Thought moles were solitary/ territorial animals so how does that trap catch 2 moles. It kinda cancels out putting the dead mole back in the run to discourage other moles if you can catch 2.
you said in the past people did have a use for them. which time period and what did they use them for?
mole skins have been used for hundreds of years up until around 1900s
trousers and jackets! hence the term moleskin Trousers now made from brushed cotton!
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Does anyone know where I can purchase these type of traps?
I searched "tunnel trap" on Amazon and eBay and this exact metal trap showed up
Has bob got a contact number? Would like to learn a thing or two off him.
I've got one of them plastic traps made by Bob himself
Any details on how they are made? Seems a rat trap mechanism would work on a narrow base.
No unfortunately the moles have no use for anything once trapped. In our past they have had a use but sadly in modern day society apart from fly tying I dare say they don't.
You can tan the hides, and line a hat or something it's the softest fur.
top draw
When I had a mole in the garden, I dug a hole and put an onion cut in half at the tunnel door. Then I sat quietly for a while next to it with my shotgun pointed at the onion. Finally the mole went for the onion and I shot it.