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iseremarc

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Everything posted by iseremarc

  1. iseremarc
    He should stick to what he knows.
  2. iseremarc
    Perhaps not. But it's too spikey for me.
  3. iseremarc
    Don't want to appear too health and safety, but if I was using a spade with a spike on top of the shaft I'd be worried about impaling myself on it. Or merely gouging an eye out.
  4. iseremarc
    No, they call it a guillotine trap to describe it's action rather than the final result. The trigger wires release a spring-loaded stainless tube that shoots down and breaks or crushes the vole's ribcage or neck. If you go to any of the retailer's sites, sit down before you look at the price... https://youtu.be/j9KUBp3QCUY
  5. iseremarc
    In-tunnel infra red video of a french vole inspecting and being caught in a Topcat guillotine trap. The text says that the vole is wary when it approaches the trap as it has previously marked the tunnel with scent glands on it's flanks, and the trap breaks the scent trail - I don't know if that's true or not. The traps are swiss, and very expensive. https://youtu.be/S-oMIua82fk
  6. iseremarc
    Never used mole poison and I wouldn't know how to, but I've had a look through a few french pest control supplier's sites, and the ag ministry approved products, and it appears the alphachloralose 97.5% used to powder worms was taken off the authorised for sale list over here from, at the latest, the beginning of 2013.
  7. iseremarc
    I only catch the occasional mole, but I did have a mini-splurge on books, old and new, and dvds, when I first started. In the photo are; A Fenland Molecatcher by Arthur Randell : What Matt said The Natural History of Moles by Gorman and Stone : Deals mostly with european moles but also african golden moles and desmans. Plenty of information, tables, statistics, shear forces involved with moles digging actions,etc etc. Interesting, but not a how-to book. The Mole by Dr. Kenneth Mellanby : Another book built around scientific studies of mole – apparently a young mole's testicles
  8. iseremarc
    PK, I haven't tried a Talpex yet, just putanges and duffus. Rat taupiers aren't using their tunnels as worm traps in the same way as moles do, they're targeting existing roots, from grass to garden vegetables to trees in commercial fruit orchards, so I'm not sure how they'd react to a filled run. Worth a try though.
  9. iseremarc
    Steve, Thanks, PM sent.
  10. iseremarc
    Steve, No, not as yet.
  11. iseremarc
    Steve, yes that's Arvicola amphibius, formerly arvicola terrestris ( UK water vole but in this area they're mainly land-dwellers . In fact I've never seen one in water. They thrive in medium altitude environments, low alpine pasture etc). I've seen much worse damage than that shown in the photo - they have population explosions every six to seven years apparently. I'm not a pro trapper, (yet) just help out a couple of mates when their smallholdings are invaded. We've just used a few flat-packs to nail some rat taupiers that were backfilling the putanges... Nicepix, interesting tactic for t
  12. iseremarc
    That would explain the all the expat customers... Over this side the major pests are the rat-taupiers
  13. iseremarc
    Which département are you in Nicepix ?
  14. iseremarc
    Mole guns are on sale in most garden centers and farm stores here in France. Two of the most common types shown below. One uses specific cartridges, the other uses 410's. Followed by can happen to your hand, if you set it wrong, or your child's hand if they decide to pull it out of the lawn...
  15. iseremarc
    If my experience of the French is anything to go by, telling them you have a recipé for mole involving white wine and crème fraiche will have them phoning you for the bodies.
  16. iseremarc
    Mally Badgers can be hunted as " game " during the normal hunting season in France ( september to february in my area ), although I've never heard of anyone setting out specifically to shoot them. In this departement ( isere ) there are 24 teams/clubs/associations that specialise in digging out badger, fox and coypu with terriers. You'll find plenty of pictures on google images under " venerie sous terre ". Electric fences are sometimes used to keep them out of vulnerable crops, I've occasionally seen them, they're set lower than the fences for wild boar. They're not classed as " vermin "
  17. iseremarc
    Steve, you can kill water voles in France, they are classed as animals " sans statut juridique" ( of no judicial status), as are rats and moles, and can be trapped, controlled etc. They certainly do tunnel and create mounds of dirt. Some infested fields round here look like the Somme, huge problem for farmers when population explosions occur.
  18. iseremarc
    I use a 50lb reflex/deflex split-bamboo longbow, and the majority of my hunting is done on mixed meadow/sweet chestnut coppice through my Parish Hunting Club ( if you're not in the club, you can't hunt in the parish ). French hunting laws can seem pretty complicated. Don't take your bow over to France and think you can hunt anywhere even if the landowner gives you permission - he may not have the sporting rights on his own land. And a lot of the rifle/shotgun hunters dislike/do not understand bowhunting... someone will spot you and shop you. You need to do a lot of research. There are quite a
  19. iseremarc
    Hello I live and bowhunt in France, roe deer and wild boar, essentially.
  20. iseremarc
    The grass is always greener...I can't wait to move back to the UK...
  21. iseremarc
    I successfully made a traditional buckskin from a roe deer hide last year. I followed the very clear instructions in the book " Deerskins into Buckskins (How to tan with brains, soap or eggs)" by Matt Richards. ( I used eggs ).There is also a excellent dvd of the same name. Website is www.braintan.com.
  22. iseremarc
    I re-kon you would Mr John. Better than the French guy has of selling me those traps for three times the price I can get them for elsewhere. I posted the video link because I thought it was "an advanced case of kidology". It's in the post. The question of odour on traps still seems to be discussed in various books and web postings though...
  23. iseremarc
    Hello First post. I’m just getting into trapping and I’m particularly interested in moles. I'd like to get myself booked onto one of the available UK courses, but as I’m living in France, I thought I’d try to find a French course first. Any internet search over here inevitably finds http://www.taupegreen.com. This guy appears to have a thriving business treating golf courses and chateaux around paris and also franchises his company name to molecatchers around France. He has a handful of websites and if you plough through them there are a couple of ( I think ) interesting vid
  24. iseremarc
    Hello all Mark here, long-term expat Brit living in the Alps. Used to rough shoot and do a bit of wildfowling on the Lincolnshire coast, but since I've been down here I've switched over almost exclusively to bowhunting roe deer and wild boar with a locally made bamboo recurve-decurve style longbow. No success yet...We also have a couple of walked up Pheasant days each year with bows - a lot of arrows in the air but very few pheasants killed. Great fun though. I'll be taking the French Hunting Federation's official ( and legally required ) trapping course next month, it's a bit short, one d
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