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Nicepix

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Everything posted by Nicepix

  1. Nicepix
    France (or possibly one or two other european countries) is the place to be a 'moleman', now,....lol Its finished here, too many at it now,...lol I tell you, if i was even a bit younger id be over there, but im too set in my ways now.Even a camper van, or similar, would have sufficed initially, to go over with, see if you could get established. ? Yes, you are right to an extent. The banning of Strychnine along with milder winters and wetter summers has seen a mole population explosion in France and probably other countries too. Not in all areas of France though. And the agricultural
  2. Nicepix
    Darren, the latest 'Ultimate' stainless traps I bought differ significantly from the original 'Ultimate' stainless traps I bough three years ago. They are stainless, but all the metal; wires and body, are made out of thinner steel, and the width across the bodies has increased from 65mm to 73mm. They are probably still the best on the market but it boils my pi$$ that I've paid the same price for an inferior trap AND the company take me for a mug in denying that they've changed the spec'.
  3. Nicepix
    I hope that something comes of this. I lost one of my original 'Ultimate' Flatpacks last week when some dozy tart ran over it with a lawnmower. It had to be one of those, not the later ones She paid for it, but the problem is I can't replace it.
  4. Nicepix
    The Putanges are ideal for those jobs where the mole isn't passing through daily. I have several gardens that have been cleared and there are two or three pairs of Putanges on sentinel duty mopping up any moles passing through. I take a large wedged shaped clod out of a main run, put the traps in and peg them down then replace the clod and mark it with orange paint so the customer or gardener can go over it with the lawn mower without damage. I'll check them whenever I'm passing.
  5. Nicepix
    It will be the more moist areas Gary. At this time of year more than others I find that moles share feeding areas that have some humidity in the soil. They will commute a long way through dry dusty tunnels to get to the damp areas to feed. I did the grounds of a château last week where the stables and other large outbuildings had no guttering. Quite common out here in old buildings. All the moles were caught coming from neighbouring land into the channel that was still damp under the surface owing to the drainage from those buildings. This year has followed last in the patterns of calls I
  6. Nicepix
    I look a bit like Lofty when I've got my shorts on.
  7. Nicepix
    Just back into it after two weeks off mole trapping and the temps have soared up to the low thirties making the job a bit of grind. The soil in some of the areas I've been working was like dust and just opening up a tunnel results in is collapsing and running away from me so the hole can end up far too long. That's where the Putanges come in handy. In other areas the clay ground has gone like iron and the probe barely goes in. Its been a case of searching out the more moist areas and working out where the commuting runs lead to. Often several moles are travelling into the same damp patch to f
  8. Nicepix
    I agree. I'm no expert on these matters but when I've come across a bird carcase where a buzzard has been on it there has been a circle of feathers or other debris around the carcase.
  9. Nicepix
    Talking of raptors; this lunch time I was sitting outside and spotted a BOP very high, soaring, but no mewing. I got the binos out and managed to keep it in sight long enough to ID it as a golden eagle. There has been a report on the ex-pat pages about someone spotting a pair and getting the usual grief from those that think they know best. Little Wife and her sister also managed to get a good look through the binos. We lost sight of it for a while and then we noticed that it had been joined by another eagle and were lower than before. The two birds wheeled away to the west and while I was wat
  10. Nicepix
    Over in France common buzzards of which there are a hell of a lot compared to in Blighty are often referred to as 'chicken hawks'. They are known to take chickens and they keep coming back for more. But the description of carcases doesn't sound like an avian predator. Kites are also much more common locally. Now I've had the pee extracted from me for recounting this tale but it is a genuine observation, not a made up story. I used to rent a cottage on a farm estate that had sheep in parkland type enclosures of fifty to eighty hectares. I've seen kites harrying sheep at lambing times, but
  11. Nicepix
    You apply for a licence and have to explain and justify the whys and wherefores.
  12. Nicepix
    Given that it is being marketed by someone with fishery experience I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't this stuff rebranded and the price hiked: http://www.anglingbaitclub.co.uk/liquids/worm-juice.html
  13. Nicepix
    I'm out!
  14. Nicepix
    You are not supposed to bath in it
  15. Nicepix
    So that's why mole catchers need metal detectors. They've forgotten where they have buried their traps for weathering. It's all clear now p.s. Can't imagine the reaction of a farmer of Yorkshire or Scottish descent when some Walt appears at his door armed with the new wonder juice offering to clear his moles at forty quid a head
  16. Nicepix
    Just Googled and it appears that it is being sold by a Shropshire company who are also marketing the Otterstop fencing for fisheries. David Marvell is behind the company.
  17. Nicepix
    I think that courting moles is still allowed in some parts of Wales
  18. Nicepix
    You mean like printing maps off the Internet, laminating them, marking the the areas with noughts and crosses while on the ground and using a mobile phone as a voice recorder? Now who does that?
  19. Nicepix
    Would have helped if you'd remembered which county you lost it in
  20. Nicepix
    Lol lol,.. i know mate,got me thinking about any 'adders' (in uk) using the tunnels ? cause im not too brave that way, either ! ,...(preparing the tunnels , with your hands,etc ?) ha ha Even if it was a 'grass snake' or 'slow worm', you would still s..t yourself, if one appeared ? lol I was opening up a tunnel on farm land when I thought I'd come across an old copper bracelet. Turned out to be a slow worm. Another time the head of a black snake appeared as I pulled a Talpex up. There was a hole down one side. Then I saw that the 'snake' had legs and yellow patches on it. It was
  21. Nicepix
    The customer e-mailed me last night to say that there was a dead snake sticking out of the ground at the trap site so I knew it was already dead. He had tucked it in before I got there. I reckon that it had gone over the trap the wrong way and that prevented the trigger going over and triggering the trap as I have a retaining cord that only allows the trigger to go one way; back towards the eye and away from the jaws. It looks like during its contortions it triggered the trap and the wire spike I put in prevented it from going anywhere. It is a grass snake as far as I'm aware. I've had mic
  22. Nicepix
    Or not as the case may be...................... The other trap was undisturbed so I reckon it had gone into the tunnel through a gap in the clod and slithered through the left hand trap the wrong way it had been set for. I've had 32 moles from that garden in the last four months or so. Most of them came from that trap site.
  23. Nicepix
    I agree Uncle P, I was sorting and checking my Duffus traps yesterday and it is noticeable how strong the wire still is on the three year old Flatpacks. To adjust the trigger angle I have to use pliers to hold the lower end while I push the loop. On the latest ones this can be done using hand pressure alone. Similarly when adjusting the latch I need to apply much more effort to make the adjustments on the earlier traps. On the latest non stainless type the wires are as soft as some cheap Chinese made traps I've got. It isn't all about the softness to bend though. When
  24. Nicepix
    It's beyond me. Have you seen the palava about setting them? I can't see these selling in any numbers.
  25. Nicepix
    Let us know when you get your first skull cracker
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