Mole Trapping This Morning

[Rolfe 2]

Checked the mole traps this morning and had 8 moles in 8 traps.........a full house. It doesn't often happen that everyone catches but when they do it is an added bonus. Its like snaring............in theory they all should catch but in reality it seldom happens. The trapping bag gets a bit heavy after a while though..........try carrying 40 Talpex around a 36 acre field..........who said this mole catching lark was easy money

[theobenmike 0]

Rolfe - This is my first catch with a talpex trap

I set them the same as on your other post filling around the trap with soil to make moley think he's had a cave in. Not a bad result considering the traps are new and not weathered.

I've caught him a bit far back - Not sure if I set the trap fine enough

 

 

Photo's a bit crap - done on mobile phone

[Rolfe 2]

Well the beauty of filling in all around the traps is that the mole doesn't come across any part of the exposed trap so weathering becomes irrelevant up to a point. If you are catching too far back..........this needs to be adressed for humane reasons..........try keeping the tongue nearer to the bottom of the run......because the mole is getting to far under the trap before triggering it.

 

Rolfe.

[Phil Lloyd 10,738]

Well I'm made up with the Talpex...its a good trap...

 

All the best to ALL trappers,...Cheers,.CHALKWARREN...

Edited June 17, 2008 by CHALKWARREN

[TOMO 26,902]

I also compleatly fill the normal scissor traps , do any of you chaps do the same ?

[BRY 79]

I still can't get my head around filling the talpex with soil?????? around where i trap its usually stoney ground or clay. That would mean me carrying around a sack of sieved soil to fill in.

 

Glad you liked the talpex Phil

 

Bry

[Phil Lloyd 10,738]

I also compleatly fill the normal scissor traps , do any of you chaps do the same ?

 

You are a law unto yourself Tomo....

Edited June 16, 2008 by CHALKWARREN

[Steve Albano 21]

Rolfe, I've got a couple of moles active on my testing grounds (my backyard), and I'm going to set out the Talpex you sent over to me tomorrow. There seemed to be a bit of a burr on the end of the trip bar which made the trigger mechanism catch a bit, and I just polished that off with a dremel tool and polishing point, and now the trigger is real smooth, but may be too sensitive. I'm definitely impressed with your catch ratio as shown above.

[Rolfe 2]

Rolfe, I've got a couple of moles active on my testing grounds (my backyard), and I'm going to set out the Talpex you sent over to me tomorrow. There seemed to be a bit of a burr on the end of the trip bar which made the trigger mechanism catch a bit, and I just polished that off with a dremel tool and polishing point, and now the trigger is real smooth, but may be too sensitive. I'm definitely impressed with your catch ratio as shown above.

Good luck Steve.........keep the Tongue about 20 mm from the base of the run.......and loosely fill with soil as we have discussed. Just make sure there is enough room for the pin to fire unrestricted. I am expecting a good result so don't let me down.

 

Rolfe.

[TOMO 26,902]

no answers to my question , serriously chaps am i the only one that fills scissors.

 

do the rest of you try to keep the tunnel clear for this trap?

[Rolfe 2]

no answers to my question , serriously chaps am i the only one that fills scissors.

 

do the rest of you try to keep the tunnel clear for this trap?

Tommo.........if the soil is extremely sandy in texture then i do sometimes fill in around the traps........but mostly i just fill the centre of the ring with soil if i can........ to give the mole the impression it has come across a tunnel collapse. The problem with the standard scissor type trap is they are nowhere near as powerful as the Talpex which slices through the back filled soil with ease........if the soil is a clay type......i can see this hampering the standard scissor action.

 

Rolfe.

[Steve Albano 21]

Tomo, I use the Out-o-sights made here which are similar but even more heavy duty that the Talpex, and I cut open a rectangular section of tunnel that the tines of the trap will fit into, then backfill to over the level of the top of the tunnel, and then press the set trap into the backfilled soil. I've been doing it that way for 16 years, but I think I'll set my Talpex the way Rolfe does it, as an experiment.

[TOMO 26,902]

any of you chaps going to try this methhod with the scissors ?

 

i use this method with success, in fact when im using scissors this is the only way i set them now. you can see it works with the talpex , and there almost the same trap,

[Steve Albano 21]

Rolfe, I nailed a mole in the Talpex today. I had set it a few times in some runs where the mole happened not to return to, so there was some delay in getting this guy, but the first time he came back through the set, the Talpex got him cleanly.

 

One thing I noticed is that there really isn't all that much difference between filling the opened run with soil and pushing the trap down into the soil(like I do with the Out-o-sights), and placing the set trap in the cleaned out run and then filling in over the trap with loose soil(as you do with the Talpex). The soil still filters down around the trigger and jaws, and you wind up with much the same set. Maybe the soil under the trigger is a little less compacted the way you do it, which is a good thing.

 

I do see some definite advantages of the Talpex over the Out-o-sight.

 

First of all the trap is much lighter, and if you have to carry around 10 mole traps in a bucket, that's important.

 

Second, I think the Talpex has just about the right amount of power to it, whereas I've always felt that the out-o-sight has a more powerful spring that it really needs, which adversely affects trigger sensitivity, and also make is dangerous in terms of liability to kids. Also, you don't need pry bars to set it, as you do with the Out-o-sight.

 

Even though the Talpex is basically a clone of the Out-o-sight, it's clear that someone put a great deal of thought into the design and production of the trap. I think it's a great trap.

[Rolfe 2]

Rolfe, I nailed a mole in the Talpex today. I had set it a few times in some runs where the mole happened not to return to, so there was some delay in getting this guy, but the first time he came back through the set, the Talpex got him cleanly.

 

One thing I noticed is that there really isn't all that much difference between filling the opened run with soil and pushing the trap down into the soil(like I do with the Out-o-sights), and placing the set trap in the cleaned out run and then filling in over the trap with loose soil(as you do with the Talpex). The soil still filters down around the trigger and jaws, and you wind up with much the same set. Maybe the soil under the trigger is a little less compacted the way you do it, which is a good thing.

 

I do see some definite advantages of the Talpex over the Out-o-sight.

 

First of all the trap is much lighter, and if you have to carry around 10 mole traps in a bucket, that's important.

 

Second, I think the Talpex has just about the right amount of power to it, whereas I've always felt that the out-o-sight has a more powerful spring that it really needs, which adversely affects trigger sensitivity, and also make is dangerous in terms of liability to kids. Also, you don't need pry bars to set it, as you do with the Out-o-sight.

 

Even though the Talpex is basically a clone of the Out-o-sight, it's clear that someone put a great deal of thought into the design and production of the trap. I think it's a great trap.

Thanks for the update Steve........glad to know you got him 1st time. Yes i would agree with your observations about filling in around the traps and i can see the logic in both methods. I use the Talpex as my Ist choice trap nowadays as it simply produces the most consistant results.

 

Regards Rolfe.