Rolfe

Thats an interesting reply.......Thankyou...! The client has a specialist lawn treatment firm to spray the turf so i expect they will have access to the correct treatment product. The crane flies are just begining to emerge now that was why i was thinking along the leather jacket lines as these will be near the surface, as another poster has mentioned.... I have witnessed Rooks damaging fairways on the golf course before now but this was the work of a snout rather than a beak. The Chafer grub is one i hadn't thought of so you could be correct, the soil is indeed very light and sandy..... b

I was called in today to look at some lawn damage that had appeared overnight. The once finely manicured lawn looked like somebody had chain-harrowed it. My guess was that a badger was responsible whilst searching for leather jackets just under the surface but i know foxes will also do similar damage. There is a badger sett not to far away so i am guessing that that is where culprit came from........Remedy........The lawn is being sprayed to kill off the leather jackets so hopefully with the food source gone the problem will resolve itself.........Has anyone else had a similar problem?

Thanks for the nice comments guys..........!

There have been some spectacular sunsets of late; Here's one over Pheasant Covert...!

Nor me. I have seen 'vertical' runs, but I always assumed they were either a way of getting to a lower set of runs, or somewhere to store half eaten worms. I can't see water being that important to an animal that eats worms which are mostly water. Nor Me.............must have missed that one then about wells...........As you rightly say Matt moles obtain a lot of moisture from the worms they eat..........but they will move to wetter areas in periods of drought as this is where the worms will be most active...! ATB Rolfe

Unless I have missed something i don't see any post that state moles dig wells? The concensus of opinion seems to be that moles like to inhabit areas that are more moist in periods of drought..........commom knowledge i would have thought.....!

Just to add to the above.........if mole catching in drought conditions and there is no watercourse nearby then try looking along wire netting fencing for runs, the netting catches condensation during the night and drips it beneath the fence line making it a source of moisture for worms and moles

If you bed the trap into the ground and cover with seived earth the trap becomes invisible as with Imbra's. The trap is set to catch rabbits coming out of the hole, but you can set it to catch them entering if you turn it round. The jaws are angled back towards the treadle plate to to take the rabbit cleanly around the chest and neck area, if you use a setting stick and not your fingers to disengage the safety catch there is no risk whatsoever. You can set the trap either way round and it will still catch rabbits BUT it is designed to take rabbits approaching from the treadle plate side. Good

You have hit the nail on the head there Jack..........Most just see membership of such organizations as a badge that somehow makes them "Qualified" in the eyes of the public and makes them legitimate. The only qualification you require to be classed as a good molecatcher is "Experience" and lots of it. When you can look at any mole job, no matter how big, and not be daunted by the prospect of clearing up the problem then, and only then, will you be qualified to describe yourself as a professional mole trapper. Youve summed it up very nicely there, Rolfe.One of the best 'statements' ive read

You have hit the nail on the head there Jack..........Most just see membership of such organizations as a badge that somehow makes them "Qualified" in the eyes of the public and makes them legitimate. The only qualification you require to be classed as a good molecatcher is "Experience" and lots of it. When you can look at any mole job, no matter how big, and not be daunted by the prospect of clearing up the problem then, and only then, will you be qualified to describe yourself as a professional mole trapper.

Yes scarring ........the ears had been completely sliced off.......clean as a whistle...!

I was dressing out some rabbits I shot as they started the harvest and came across this young fella.........its a young rabbit of the year and I can only assume it lost it's lugs as a little un when they were cutting silage. The ears are completely healed over so couldn't have been done this harvest as they only started a couple of days agao......! Interesting anyway....!

If you are good at what you do, why would you want to join ANY organisation on the off chance you might get a couple of jobs out of it? I can catch moles consistantly and regularly on any job I undertake, most of my work is by word of mouth so I must provide good value for money or I wouldn't be in the position I am in now where I have a waiting list of customers. Where will it all end........we will have the Mk6 Fenn Club, The Institute of Imbra Trappers, The Bodygrip Bunch and the Snaring Society of Gt Britain before we know it.........It's all meaningless drivel if you ask me......!

Anybody can put up fantasy figures and claim what they like, the original post is like saying how long is a piece of string.........it's meaningless. Most of the skilled trappers I know (of any species)keep their own council and say nowt........they get on with their job without the need to exaggerate or proclaim how skillful they are, they don't crave adulation from their so called peers, who are usually bullshitters anyway........Still waters run deep as they say around here....! ATB.........Rolfe.

5 chicks last time I looked so fingers crossed......!