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skier-hughes
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My poison has started to go, removal of the food source from the fuel store to the shed, (well away from the house) and all has been getting quieter in the Hughes household as well.
Penners
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Did you get it with a trap? I guess it's too soon for the Townex to have done the job. But, if I were you, I would continue to lay Townex in any known runs and keep an eye on it. Replace it if it disappears and keep doing so, as per the instructions.Me! said:
Rats tend not to be loners...
A quick follow-up to this, which may help others with a rat problem.
The Townex that I put out in the sheds was hardly touched for a few weeks, and then occasionally a bit started to go.
However, in the recent cold weather, they can’t get enough of it. Four sachets are going from each baiting point every day at the moment. So, if you’ve got a rat problem where you want to use poison, then maybe now is a good time to do it.
The Townex that I put out in the sheds was hardly touched for a few weeks, and then occasionally a bit started to go.
However, in the recent cold weather, they can’t get enough of it. Four sachets are going from each baiting point every day at the moment. So, if you’ve got a rat problem where you want to use poison, then maybe now is a good time to do it.
JoceAndChris
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Yes, we shoved a load more sachets down the holes this week too. There's nothing much for them to eat out there now, all the fallen appales berries etc long gone, and I bet they've exhausted their larders.
Very glad to hear you've had success!
Very glad to hear you've had success!
Penners
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Just be sure not to slack up on placing the Townex sachets. The instructions say that they may continue to be taken for up to three weeks, and this was almost exactly the pattern that ours followed - 2-3 sachets per day for 3 weeks.
After that their disappearance rapidly diminished, and none has now been taken for about a month - and I haven't seen or heard a single rat since.
After that their disappearance rapidly diminished, and none has now been taken for about a month - and I haven't seen or heard a single rat since.
FamilyWiggs
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Anyone got a solution to moles?
Our grounds look like a scene from the Somme... have had no success with setting a couple of traps. Little bu.ggers seem to dig around them.
Our grounds look like a scene from the Somme... have had no success with setting a couple of traps. Little bu.ggers seem to dig around them.
LadyArowana
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I think Mr Wiggs's problem is purely cosmetic in which case the NHS probably won't do it, it will have to be one of the private clinics. The good news is that plenty of places offer it and it might be able to be done with just a laser.
Flyfisher
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FamilyWiggs said:
Yes and no. Our tally is into the 40s over the past few years, using traps, but since we're surrounded by open farmland they just keep moving in. We just try to trap them before they move into the main grassy areas.
An old gamekeeper told me never to handle the traps without gloves as moles have a very sensitive sense of smell. So I keep them all in a bucket together with a trowel, stakes and a pair of gloves and always wear the gloves when setting the traps. Find their runs by prodding the ground between molehills and dig a hole into it just large enough to accommodate the trap. Cover the trap with grass/soil - although I presume this is more to do with keeping out the wind than the light - and mark the trap with a stake. Paint the tips of the stakes to make them clearly visible because they make a right old mess of mower blades when you fail to spot them while cutting the grass.
You may need more than a couple of traps though. We tend to deploy half a dozen at a time, though we rarely catch more than one in a given area.
I do like the sound of Milady's suggestion though. Where can one obtain a James Bond type super-laser from I wonder?
Baron de Gynes
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The best I can manage is one for Laser Hare Removal...
Traps do work, but I regularly set 8 or 10 traps to catch one mole.
I have also had a lot of success with traps set into the tunnel just where it gets to a molehill. This isn't supposed to be a good way of doing it, but presumably nobody has told my moles that! I also agree with everything Flyfisher says, especially the bit about mower blades -
I have also had a lot of success with traps set into the tunnel just where it gets to a molehill. This isn't supposed to be a good way of doing it, but presumably nobody has told my moles that! I also agree with everything Flyfisher says, especially the bit about mower blades -
LadyArowana
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Flyfisher said:
Not a problem if you have 3 Billion dollars and plenty of room, although it seems like a lot of trouble to go to just to get rid of a few moles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmIHD6P3rdo
eezageeza
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FamilyWiggs said:
I spent 15 years believing the old country folklore that moles were really difficult to catch, and have spent hours and hours (and hours) stamping and shovelling molehills...but last autumn I discovered the website linked below, and caught 5 moles from the first 6 traps I set.
We're currently mole free; no doubt they'll be back when this years babies are out looking for new territiories, but this time, we'll be ready!
Now we just have to repair 15 years worth of collapsed runs all over the lawn....
Just follow the instructuions on this site - it's a long read, but worth the effort. And ignore the stuff about new design traps being no use - several of our catches were with unmodified traps from the local ag merchants.
http://walcotefarm.fernhillsolutions.net/molecatching/mole_catching.htm
Good luck!
FamilyWiggs said:
" kiliing moles". It never fails , very theraputic and a complete sense of achievement . ( I watched my grandfather do it in a corn field )
Tools required
1) ... comfortable chair
2) ...pitch fork
3) ...Half a dozen small sticks, sharpened at one end with a small split at the other and about 8-10 inches long
4) ...Half a dozen playing cards
5) ... half a bottle of red wine
6) ... and some chhese (for you) to nibble on
&) ...a bit of patience
9)... A skewer ( like one uses at a BBQ )
------Sequence of attack......
1) having found the mole hill, try and locate the run to it by using a sharpened skewer. ( this is quite easy as the run is usually from one hill to another, or the ground of the " tunnel" is raised above normal level).
2) Insert one stick in the run 24 inches from hill, another stick one foot from hill and another in the hill.
3) insert playing card, in split, at the other end of sticks ( if there is more than one run to or from the hill repeat process with the other 3 sticks
4) place chair comfortably as close to the hill as you can and sit still
5) hold pitch fork in one hand and bottle of wine in the other
6) nibble on cheese and drink wine, whilst you wait for moles to feed
7) you will get two warnings as the first two " flags" ( cards) tremble
8) when the hill card moves you stab the ba***rds
9) carry on drinking and repeat the operation with other hills as required
10) only take half a bottle of wine otherwise you may stab yourself in the foot :wink:
Middi
Penners
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Yes, I've heard the same comment from Mrs Wiggs. Some comment or other which seemed to include the phrase, "...back end of a bus."LadyArowana said: