We've Got Beaucoup Movement!!

[Le Braconnier 49]

Cheers LB.

 

So far I've had the honour of going out in sunshine, rain, high winds, snow, frost and just an overcast average day. None of it has remained constant for a while so I have no reference as to how a few days of rain or sunshine affects them. God bless these weather systems.

 

I've got the setting of the trap and the securing it at both sides so it doesn't wobble all over the shop, the thing I am trying at the moment is cutting a shallow groove int he tunnel floor to let the trap loops on the tunel traps sink into to see if that prevents giving the game away there is some wire knocking about the place. I think I may have to tweek them a littel bit more too as the Talpex caught moles were riight little tubby things so I'll have to make the tunnel trap loops a bit wider than what i made them already, see if that stops te detection and detours. It's funking good fun though

 

If you are using Flatpack tunnel traps then you don't need to change anything to alter their dimensions. If moles are filling the traps then you are either taking too much soil out of the side walls or have not adjusted the trigger properly. Check back on the video. I'm sure it will explain how to do that. Once the trap is placed and secure, take the weight of the spring by pushing down on it and with a finger or thumb on your other hand carefully move the trigger latch back so it only just holds on the catching loop. That way the slightest touch will set it off. Then gently sprinkle soil over it so all the holes are covered.

 

My money is on you excavating too much soil out. Forget cutting a groove. Just ensure that your hole is only just big enough for the trap. And also, keep your dogs away from the traps and the hole that you excavate. I've a feeling that they might not be helping you.

[davedavedave 69]

Great write up by the way Hutch - looks like you have been well and truely bitten by the mole catching bug

[hutch6 550]

Right, just been up to check the traps. I had put them where I had found moles to be before but nothing had been triggered nor touched in two days so I upped them all moved them.

 

I started probing a mole hill just to have a dig about really, see what was what as it's a glorious day up here, and by chance I discovered one where the tunnel goes straight down to about a foot in depth. The tunnels down there are as smooth as anything so I guess they are used quite a bit and they are dry as a bone so I also guess they don't get used for worms. The tunnels I have been setting on have been about 3-4inches under the Earth's crust so these are new discovery for me. I have slung a tunnel trap and a talpex down there to see what happens. Are these tunnels types worth bothering with? Have I discovered the mole highway? They are about 3ft from the boundary of two walls.

Edited February 27, 2013 by hutch6

[Le Braconnier 49]

These are the types of tunnels I look for. You'll find that there are less chances of getting traps back filled in the deeper runs.

[FENN 24]

Putting the traps deeper at the moment is a good idea as it is still quite cold

[hutch6 550]

Excellent news. I await the results and will take the spade next time as digging that far down with a trowel just ain't cricket,

[Probuk 93]

I use scissor traps all the time, but once the trap is set i dont fill in with soil. I place grass in but not so it goes into the run, keep the run clear.!! Once Iv got the grass in place i put the soil on top of the grass..I dont seem to have problems using this method, the run is compleatly clear of soil and grass and he confidntley carrys on running through the run till he hits the trigger mechinisem. With the talpex trap, i put a bridge of compacted soil right under the trigger so the mole has to dig into it and sets off the trigger.

 

Marty.

[hutch6 550]

Well YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHAW!!! Grandma!! Slap my thigh with a canoe paddle. I got my first double!!

 

I set the traps along the edge as the runs in the middle are cleared up now (or so I thought) and then the snow came down in drifts as tall a girrafe so it was some time before I could get to most of them under 364ft of snow but the day arrived when the arctic went back home drunk. I pulled out a tunnel trap to find that one end was clogged with a half eaten mole and the other had been triggered but kindly fille din with mud so there was another beasty in the depths soemwhere. The trap got reset and replaced and I carried on with bodging about with the other jobs on the fields.

 

I returned last night to find both sides had been sprung and low and behold my first ever double catch.

 

 

I like to think fo them having a good chin wag or doing that dance with each other we do when we're walkign towards someoen and we choose left and they choose right so we switch right and then switch left and on it goes until you bash together.

 

Anyway, I lit a vicotry cigar and wandered my conquered lands to enjoy the battle and ponder the war when i noticed all the way around the edges where the previous moles had been cleared from were little holes, holes just big enough for a mole or a mouse or both. I thought there were just one or two but when i walked further I saw loads. What the hell are they? The only appeared after the retreat of the polar ice caps? Are they more moles moving in? Does the onslaught of their forces never end? Do they not know when they are beaten?

 

I've put my flame thrower down for scale.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have I awoken the mothership or are they fleeing whilst they still have their lives?