Friday 24 February 2012

Taupes (Moles) update

Since the beginning of December our large patch of garden has not had a new mole hill...

Great; I thought I was winning the battle! After extensive trapping and gassing, the moles had finally got the message and moved on... Especially when Elizabeth took these two photos of  another house in the village.


They obviously had a plentiful supply of worms and what does that bring!!! A mole attack. They have my sympathy and I hoped my moles.

Think again Colin! Yesterday morning I was greeted with three new mole hills and by evening another had erupted despite my efforts with the gas. So last night it was out with a trap and this morning it had been sprung but alas no mole.


One battle may have been won however the war continues and the moles are back. I am ready  for you moles... Bring it on...

14 comments:

Diane said...

Ooops, I had better have a look at the bottom of our garden. I have seen masses around but to date not here. Our traps are useless, not managed to catch one, the gas does seem to sort of work on a temporary basis :( Diane

Susan said...

Give up now. The moles will win.

Jean said...

Poor little moles !!

(ouch!!)

Tim said...

At last... a noportunity to put in a link to Jasper Carrott's Mole Sketch.... this is the Cartoon version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fePU5CIHpas
As Jasper discovered and Susan says....

MOLES WILL WIN!! Everytime....

Colin and Elizabeth said...

Brilliant Sketch, never seen that one... My count is seven to date with the traps (Amazon's best!) and you never know with the gas. Given the amount of moles around I know you can never win but its fun trying... I gave up my shotguns when I came to France a mistake perhaps... It's in my blood both my Father and Grandfather were gamekeepers and as a child I remember my Grandfather trapping moles, skinning them and making shoe polishers... So I will not give up. Watch this space.

Tim said...

Just one thing... don't try to blow them out. 1963. A friend's father had a mole problem... we tried to do something about it for him. We dug down at a mole hill and buried a tin containing Calcium carbide... poured water onto the carbide and re-buried the lot, carefully, leaving only a drinking straw as access to the run. I learnt a lot about moles that day! They make surface runs!!
After about an hour we inserted a good length of Jetex fuse down the straw, lit it and retired rapidly to the terrace.
KABOOM! The lawn [pride and joy] errupted... bits flipped open like a poorly affixed wig in a wind. Cue two young lads running round putting the contents of the sandpit into said holes and replacing the 'wigs'... his parents were out somewhere...thank the gods. The lawn never really recovered... put down to 'mole damage'...

However, there were no further molehills...

GaynorB said...

I hope for the sakes of your sanities that you aren't fughting a losing battle ... :o))

Tim said...

Oh... I forgot to mention that moles are spread in the wind! It is 'moleseed'... how else do you get molehills on roundabouts!!

Colin and Elizabeth said...

TIM; Another childhood memory 'dug up' Jetex engines!!!! Did you ever own one??? I did *!@*!*~#.

Tim said...

Yes! We also experimented with cigar-tubes as the fuel container... dented the end of the tube to make a retaining point... wired the 'business' end of the Jetex motor in place with copper transformer windings... had twelve pellets in the tube... used it to power a jet-sled across the biggest green at the golf-course behind my house... aimed it at the bunker and it launched spectacularly. When we collected the wreckage the tube was still present [and some fuel still burning] but the main bit of the motor was in the rough somewhere... never did find it! The copper wire had melted somewhere across the green and the motor must have come apart on take-off... shame, but that's the way all good experiments come to an end... went on to home-made radio-control racing cars after that!
In a box somewhere here I think there is the casing section of the Jetex motor... unless I used it for something else. Pauline says I've got too much stuff!! She's right... but...

Colin and Elizabeth said...

I remember similar exploding bits and not much else other than it was not great! I thought I was a hoarder but did get rid of a vaste amount we we came to France.. Although our English house garage still has two sets of drawers full and several boxes... If you still have some Jetex bits that's bad... Can you still get the pellets? perhaps they could be a new mole deterrent...

Colin and Elizabeth said...

Forgot to say I still have my radio controlled off roader...

Tim said...

No... no pellets or fuse... but people still fly rockets!!
Try these Jetex links:
http://reviews.ebay.com/About-JETEX-and-JET-X-rocket-engine-propellants?ugid=10000000002108639
http://www.ffscale.co.uk/page4d.htm
http://www.jetex.org/motors/motors.html

Colin and Elizabeth said...

Dr Roger Simmonds; I wonder if he did his phd in JETEX!!!! The links are interesting though thanks takes me back a bit tooooo far...