Traplines

[earth-thrower 493]

I have had the traplines since 2009 and find them a great trap. |I do use half barrel and Talpex but rely on the traplines as my mainstay.

Foul catches and filled traps are most often due to mis alignment either hoizontally or vertically in the tunnel due to changes in gradients, bends in the tunnel or where a tunnel changes width/diameter.

I have had a few foul catches and have looked into why they occured.

Caught by a front paw because the mole had gone over or around the first trap and bumbled into the second trap firing it as it straddled the frame.

Caught by the belly because soft loose soil you are prone to push too much pressure on the spring retainercausing the jaws and frame to sink too low for a clean catch.

Never had a rear foot caught mole but can only think that the mole had gone over a trap that had been deeply bedded or had a cave-in and got best part throght the jaws over a pile of soil and dragged its belly on the trigger firing it to catch its foot.

I seem to recall that when I spoke to Steve Albano he said that he makes different size traps for moles as the US moles are different in size depending on species( ours are bigger I think), and asked for feedback on sample traps he sent over.

I have found recently that the jaw spread is too small for some of the old travelling tunnels and some areas of territory that have been used for years, but you just need to change to a Talpex or move to newer feeding runs, flexibility is the name of the game.

Great post, very informative.They dont deserve it , honestly ! ha ha ( im only joking)

[earth-thrower 493]

Yes, you are right. It should have read that too many false activations are caused by the mole going over the trigger hurdle then activating the trigger with its back leg.

 

The foul captures were mainly back end, around the hips and in at least one case the mole had managed to crawl to the surface. The trap had been pinned but in a very shallow run and it had hinged on the pin. I had more foul captures and blocked tunnels with the trap having gone off than was good for me so I stopped using them.

 

Just for further clarification; I wasn't the one who reported catching a mole by the stomach being pinched or the traps having bits of fur on them. That is another member.

Heres me thinking it was just me on the 'defensive' too,...LOL Dont worry 'Nicepix', i genuinely value your contributions, on here.

[Mr Muddy 141]

 

Caught by the belly because soft loose soil you are prone to push too much pressure on the spring retainercausing the jaws and frame to sink too low for a clean catch.

 

 

That's precisely what I was trying to get at talpa ; but leave the trap just laying on the bottom of the run and, like Nicepix also said, the mole discovers it and back-fills it - so you're dammed if you do & dammed I you don't.

 

But, like I said earlier: I do think it's a issue that could be solved with a slight design tweak.

[bryn27 89]

good thread this!

[Nicepix 5,650]

 

 

Caught by the belly because soft loose soil you are prone to push too much pressure on the spring retainercausing the jaws and frame to sink too low for a clean catch.

 

 

That's precisely what I was trying to get at talpa ; but leave the trap just laying on the bottom of the run and, like Nicepix also said, the mole discovers it and back-fills it - so you're dammed if you do & dammed I you don't.

 

But, like I said earlier: I do think it's a issue that could be solved with a slight design tweak.

 

When I put Duffus traps in I try and bed the wires into the tunnel floor by pushing down hard on the trap. Obviously thesofter the soil the more effective that would be. With the Traplines I tried to bed the bottom wires in as advised in the instructions. But in hard clay it is difficult to imagine that arrangement of wires sinking in at all and in some stony tunnels you can't guarantee to be able to bed them in as advised.

 

A Putange doesn't need bedding in. If you followed the discussion on them recently you might remember that I was catching moles sideways on as they squeezed past the prongs, while torchey caught them the right way up by placing the traps on their sides. In a Putange the moles don't seem to avoid being caught. But in my experience the moles entering the Traplines behaved differently. Its almost as though they don't want to be trapped. The main difference when you look at the two traps is that there is a lot or steel right in the centre of the tunnel before the trigger on the Trapline, and the trigger loop is a lot smaller.

[earth-thrower 493]

 

 

 

Caught by the belly because soft loose soil you are prone to push too much pressure on the spring retainercausing the jaws and frame to sink too low for a clean catch.

 

 

That's precisely what I was trying to get at talpa ; but leave the trap just laying on the bottom of the run and, like Nicepix also said, the mole discovers it and back-fills it - so you're dammed if you do & dammed I you don't.

 

But, like I said earlier: I do think it's a issue that could be solved with a slight design tweak.

 

When I put Duffus traps in I try and bed the wires into the tunnel floor by pushing down hard on the trap. Obviously thesofter the soil the more effective that would be. With the Traplines I tried to bed the bottom wires in as advised in the instructions. But in hard clay it is difficult to imagine that arrangement of wires sinking in at all and in some stony tunnels you can't guarantee to be able to bed them in as advised.

 

A Putange doesn't need bedding in. If you followed the discussion on them recently you might remember that I was catching moles sideways on as they squeezed past the prongs, while torchey caught them the right way up by placing the traps on their sides. In a Putange the moles don't seem to avoid being caught. But in my experience the moles entering the Traplines behaved differently. Its almost as though they don't want to be trapped. The main difference when you look at the two traps is that there is a lot or steel right in the centre of the tunnel before the trigger on the Trapline, and the trigger loop is a lot smaller.

 

Interesting comparison.

[Tight Wires 1 0]

the trap line traps wil give better results than the duffus..

[Matt 160]

the trap line traps wil give better results than the duffus..

 

Better in what way?

 

I've had over 100% catch rate with duffus on a regular basis. That's simply not possible with a single catch trap, and when you charge per mole, it can be the difference between a well paid job and a loss leader....

[torchey 1,301]

If i was getting 100% catch rates off duffus i would be happy as larry...

[Phil Lloyd 10,738]

the trap line traps wil give better results than the duffus..

 

[bryn27 89]

Just working out all be it off the top of the head percentage rates, duffus wins hands down but the talpex and them being new to me is catching up rapidly, a double trap in the correct place will always outdo a single in a difficult run.

[mole trapper 1,693]

Indeed, especially next month when doubles will be the norm, the only way you can replicate this with anything other than a duffus is to put in twice as many traps. Already started picking up one or two doubles, and had one that had been chomped on Thursday.

[Nicepix 5,650]

Indeed, especially next month when doubles will be the norm, the only way you can replicate this with anything other than a duffus is to put in twice as many traps. Already started picking up one or two doubles, and had one that had been chomped on Thursday.

I catch young moles in every month of the year as they breed four times a year out here. I reckon they are Catholics

 

Whilst a Duffus will catch at both ends, if you consider that Putanges and Traplines are designed to be used in pairs then that analogy doesn't hold. A pair of Putanges costs three quid so you can't even use the expense of them to justify it like you would with Traplines and Talpex.

[earth-thrower 493]

I still feel the 'duffus type',is the best.But accept, its a matter of personal preference,these days.

Edited March 14, 2015 by earth-thrower

[bryn27 89]

Cant comment on the Putanges as I've never used them.