Jan 26 2013

The Great Hunter

For years I have dealt with moles in my yard. I hate those little guys. Sneaking around underground, tearing up my yard. I am very tolerant and have a deep respect for wild life, but this is a case of NIMBY (not in MY back yard you little rodent)!

For years I have tried various poisons and other methods to get rid of them and bought a trap a few years ago, but these solutions just didn’t seem to work well or were NOT very satisfying.

Then I finally went on YouTube and found a video on how to PROPERLY set a mole trap that I already had. Hell I was doing it all wrong. Then I did a bit more “digging” around to get up to speed on the latest mole elimination technology.

You can Blowing up mole trails using propane/oxygen mix ($1400 kit) or using your car/lawn mower exhaust to kill them with carbon monoxide but I think trapping is the best solution and is a hell of a lot of fun. Makes me feel like a trapper of ole trying to earn a living harvesting mole skins for pharmaceutical conglomerate’s blister control products.

After only two days the properly setting the trap bagged my first mole in this Victor trap (about $15 on amazon)

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I did more mole research on the internet after my first success. Know thy enemy! You know moles live mainly on worms (not grubs) and can tunnel up to 60 feet a DAY. They are very territorial, live a solitary life (like me) and are active year around. I bought two more different style traps (a snare and another pincer type) to test which kind I like the best. This trap is about $30 on Amazon. I don’t like it as much as the Victor type trap, as I don’t think the trigger is as sensitive to movement in the tunnel as the Victor trap, but it did the job today!

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Today I bagged my third one!

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This guy’s demise added another notch to my trophy wall. I even keep remnants of rotten wood remnants from house remodeling/repair projects on my wall. Ah, memories.

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So far I have trapped 13 raccoons, 2 cats (one of which was my own cat), 3 possums (all live releases) and now I can add 3 moles (not so alive release)….

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It is SOOOOOO satisfying to trap those little guys. Fun too. Every morning I grab my fresh cup of java, I check my trap line on the way to pick up the papers and look for where they were running at night all with the hope of bagging my next little critter. I must truly have a sad life if trapping moles in the morning gets my blood going.

Too bad I can’t eat them. Mole barbecue would make my life complete.

Post script: I was going to let this morning’s trophy bio degrade in the yard, but decided to recycle him.

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I hope Rusty enjoys his special birthday present!

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