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Ricard with an H
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Location: North Pembrokeshire. West Wales.

Ok-ok, I know. Among us we have expert mole catchers that I would love to have let loose on our moles but I never caught a mole in fifteen years of trying and I am not pathetic when it comes to practical matters.

When Clive started coming to deal with our moles he had already been working on the surrounding farmland with a reputation stretching to going home with 20 plus moles at a fiver each.

Clive is a licensed pest controller.

After his first session on our plot it all went quiet after catching just two, then at sometime between then and now the remaining mole population took up the workings. Yesterday he caught three, two in the same trap, one mole at each end. That sort of destroys some stuff I read about mole habits from experts.

The really difficult areas are in soft soil, he has caught moles in soft soil but with special traps. I think it was moles disturbing my garlic that affected my usual annual success.

Catching moles is an art-form, each time Clive checks traps he reads and understands the mole habits and eventually catches them. £20 for the call out and first visit then £5 a mole, sometimes he'll make several visits with zero harvest after traveling from Milford Haven. Hopefully he couples my visit with other visits because he may soon need a new van.

Certainly more of a hobby than an earner.
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Westi
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Hi Richard!

I have moles but luckily not in huge numbers. All it has taught me is if a plant isn't keeping up with it's neighbours then to have a good stomp around and generally it is a mole run. I think if you stomp it's run then it takes another direction which hopefully will be between plant rows or along paths. So far the stomp has worked, but nearly broke my ankle on a giant cave in under the weed membrane path! :)
Westi
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Ricard with an H
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I did stomping Westi, it's easy and satisfying to feel the earth cave in beneath my feet but I didn't think it deterred the Pembrokeshire breed.

The mole-man cleared my moles on a regular basis but they always return in most locations.
How are you supposed to start and maintain a healthy lifestyle if it completely removes a wine lover’s reason to live?
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Mouse2
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Don't give up on trying to catch them yourself, Richard. I caught none at all for the first year or two that I tried, then somehow got the knack and caught 18 in one summer in my not very large garden . Since then, I have managed to control them quite well, setting traps (mainly scissor traps now) as soon as there are signs of an intruder, and having caught it, monitoring the tunnels over the following days and weeks to see if anything else is passing through - if there is a family using the tunnel, it's soon very obvious, but if there isn't, it's often still only a day or two before another adult ventures through.

Right now, rats are a bigger problem. Mr Mouse has caught and dispatched 3 or 4 over the last few weeks but they were all youngsters, so the problem looks set carry on.

Either rats or squirrels also seem to have just invaded our loft. Three nights ago I was awoken by something making one hell of a racket above my head. Actually, it sounded like it was trying to eat and scratch its way through into the bedroom, and sounded like it was crunching bricks!!! It returned the following night too, to exactly the same spot. I'm afraid that we don't know how to tackle this ourselves and will have to resort to a pest control expert :(
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Traps or baits in the loft.
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Mouse2
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Mr Mouse is afraid of rats and refuses to go into an enclosed space like the loft in case they attack him! Some ten years ago, when we had heard something, he did at least hold the step ladder steady so i could go up (though i couldn't see signs of anything), but i'm not sure i could pull myself up from the top of the step ladder into the loft now, though I am tempted to try!.

Would the same type of trap/bait do for both rats and squirrels, given that we don't know which it is?
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https://www.screwfix.com/p/pest-stop-su ... pack/98146
It says attractive to rodents, but doesn't mention tree rats
Been gardening for over 65 years and still learning.
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Mouse2
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Thanks tigerburnie. I've just had a look at your link and the reviews seem really good, and the price too. I think we will definitely get some of that for the outdoor problem, and maybe try it in the loft too, though unfortunately, a quick Google search suggests that "There are no poison baits on the market that squirrels will eat and die."

That said, we have already booked the council's pest control service for next week (we are away this week, so goodness knows what damage might have been done in the loft by the time we get back. Tempting as it is to cancel them (and save £55), and try to deal with it ourselves, maybe just this once we need their help/advice, not least of all so we know what we are dealing with up in the loft.
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snooky
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My allotment is showing signs of a mole(s) with numerous molehills appearing over the last couple of months and it seems that it is only my allotment which is affected.No signs of moles on the other three sites.Must be testament to the amount of compost and muck which I have put into the what was"dead ground"when I took it over four years ago, improving it and the worms returning;which,no doubt,the moles are chasing.
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tigerburnie
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Those large vibrators(steady) that you stick in the ground to frighten moles away are a serious waste of money, I actually stuck one into a run and the moles just pushed it out of the ground.
Been gardening for over 65 years and still learning.
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Mouse2
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I once tried sticking glass bottles in the ground because some people claimed that the noise of the breeze over the open neck would deter moles, but they just pushed those out of the ground too, tigerburnie. As for planting garlic - actually, I never finished that experiment because rabbits found their way in and ate it all!
Westi
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I tried those bulbs things advertised as well a few years back & thought rubbish! But on reflection had less moles after that then I have now - but weather different then than now as well! A decent summer to keep the worms lower might
solve the problem temporarily!
Westi
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Has anyone tried smoke bombs , the ones you use to test drains not an explosive just heavy smoke
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