Strange Day

[Nicepix 5,650]

Been to check the traps at a holiday home today. An old farmhouse in about three acres. I put a few out in the garden area on Monday, a mixture of Talpex and Putanges and expected 3 to 4 moles today. There were no signs of new diggings in the main communal feeding area, no traps had been disturbed except for a couple where voles had made their way in. First trap on the outside of this area had a mole in, caught by its arris in the Talpex. The trap had closed on its body behind its hips. Never seen one caught so far back. Then a Putange had a mole caught the wrong way around. Damned if I know how as the paired trap was still set with the trigger upright, and the tunnel was more Kylie than Jordan if you know what I mean?

 

 

 

Got a third in the conventional manner in a Talpex and then I walked out to an area of rough grass that is part of the property, but wasn't part of the contract. I'd noticed a couple of nests out in the adjoining field and have negotiated an extra fee for clearing them as well. Popped a pair of Putanges in a feeding run and then walked over to put more traps in the other side. I saw that the nest had been dug out and the mole as laying at the side of the digging - headless.

 

 

 

So I took the two traps out I'd just placed as something had already done my job for me.

[goldfinger 135]

I had a strange day today put a few putanges down was expecting one mole today but found that the mole had pushed under the putanges on two of my three sets,so assuming that this mole had wised up I reset with a Talpex, or can anyone can shed any light as to possibly why the mole push under the Putanges.

[Rowan 308]

You will not fail with your Talpex .

Edited February 18, 2016 by Rowan

[Nicepix 5,650]

Its the same reason why they dig under any type of trap - suspicion which can be a sign of poor trap setting or a trap-shy mole that has been chased around by an inexperienced trapper. I've found that when using Putanges I get less misses than when using Duffus type traps. I put this down to the triggers being easier to displace and that the mole is trapped before it gets to the disturbance caused by digging the trap hole.

[goldfinger 135]

Thanks all good points raised,Putanges are new to me a learning curve with these traps,been very successful with the Trapline traps but find them expensive so thought id try the Putanges,theTalpax should sort him though.

[comanche 3,061]

I'm not convinced that moles become necessarily suspicious of traps even if they've had a bad experience in the form of a near-miss. I suspect that if they become aware of the trap it will be treated as any foreign object in their path and they either try to by-pass it or shuffle it out of the way.

Naturalists studying moles repeatedly catch the same animal for monitoring purposes using live-traps. Being confined in the trap alive and subsequently measured, weighed and sometimes man-handled to the point of having a radio-tracker fitted seems to my semi- human logic more traumatic.

Unless of course the moles think the free worms used as bait worth the discomfort.

So maybe they do learn... Bloomin moles. Trying to answer one question just raises another

[Nicepix 5,650]

I think that your last point is the key to that. Bait can overcome the fear of a foreign object especially if it is of a high nutritional value. Fish become wary of certain baits when they have been overused, but they still fall to other similar baits even though the hook and line are still present in them.

 

Anyway, strange day or not on Wednesday, it did the trick. Not a sign of a mole today.

[goldfinger 135]

I had a strange day today put a few putanges down was expecting one mole today but found that the mole had pushed under the putanges on two of my three sets,so assuming that this mole had wised up I reset with a Talpex, or can anyone can shed any light as to possibly why the mole push under the Putanges.

The Talpex sorted him out today,as they say very good on difficult moles,going to invest in a few more of these traps.

[ratattack 111]

It may be the spring is getting weak on the talpex meaning he's travelled further before it's gone off. Some of my traps due to be replaced are like that and catch a bit further back.

[Nicepix 5,650]

Possibly. I haven't got the trap now to check it as it will be amongst the others and they all look the same.

 

My thoughts were that the mole might have been travelling faster than normal. I can't remember whether I built a speed bump when I set it. I usually do, but don't always, especially if the trap is more sideways than upright. Or it could have been s stone or something that delayed the trap closing. If it happened again I would definitely check the spring.

[talpa 55]

Hell, those French moles must get up some speed if you need to slow them down with a speed bump so they don't pass through a telpex after hitting the trigger and before the jaws can close.

[EDDIE B 3,166]

Hell, those French moles must get up some speed if you need to slow them down with a speed bump so they don't pass through a telpex after hitting the trigger and before the jaws can close.

It's those feckin refugee moles!They need to be faster, to hitch a ride on the back of a lorry. So you boy's in the UK better practice making those speed bumps!

[Nicepix 5,650]

Hell, those French moles must get up some speed if you need to slow them down with a speed bump so they don't pass through a telpex after hitting the trigger and before the jaws can close.

It is to get them to activate the trigger as they go through. Moley doesn't like obstructions in his way so while he is preoccupied clearing the bump, he pushes up the trigger and should be just in the right place for a clean catch. Some trappers use little balls of mud, I prefer to squeeze a little ridge or 'speed bump' on the tunnel floor using my finger and thumb to cause an obstruction.

 

Obviously I don't use them if the trap is put on its side. Then I use a 'Keep Right' sign.

[J Darcy 5,871]

It may be the spring is getting weak on the talpex meaning he's travelled further before it's gone off. Some of my traps due to be replaced are like that and catch a bit further back.

Doubtful, in actual fact the opposite is true with Talpex types. The weaker the spring the quicker it fires. The Talpex is so well made that I guess there springs will last a lifetime and still be effective....

[Nicepix 5,650]

Another mystery at the same location today. I'd still got five sets of Putanges out to mop up stragglers coming in from adjacent areas and I was checking the traps and replacing them with some stainless traps I've got to try out. The first set I checked, one had got a mole in but the trigger had gone. The line had broken level with where the mole's mouth was. Maybe it had bitten through the line as the trap shut on it? We'll never know.