The origin of the traditional molecatcher goes back hundreds of years. When they ravelled the length and breath of the British countryside, visiting farm after farm or state after estate, they usually stayed with their host whilst they we plying their craft
this could be for days or weeks depending on the size of land they were trapping.
They were paid according to the amount of moles caught which were produced for the farmer or land owner as proof of their skill .Supplementary to this they cured and sold the mole skins as they were much in demand at this time. So not only were they paid to get rid of the moles, they also made a tidy sum from the sale of the skins.
Today's people should take note that in the olden days (some say golden days) everybody recycled everything that they could. They could not survive without doing so. Many of today's molecatchers follow in their traditional skills, in that no poisons are used. And it is their skill that produces the mole for the customer to see, although many do not want to see the mole.
Although the demand for moleskins now is minuscule (now only used for fly tying (fishing).) The old molecatchers were very secretive in passing on their skill to immediate family or friends they knew and could trust. A lot of the modern molecatchers are very similar. Not wishing for anybody to share or participate in their skills. thus reducing their earning capacity.
In times of old most parishes had their own molecatcher or shared one with adjoining parishes, molecatcher at this time were extremely well paid in relation to the peasants and farm labourers. The British Traditional Molecatchers Register has been set up to address these problems, to promote and pass on these skills to people who wish to carry on these traditional skills. Even now some of the traditional molecatchers are reluctant to share their knowledge and expertise with anybody who might represent a threat to their livelihood. But in today's modern environment how many mole catchers are there to a square mile????
How many moles are there in a square mile?, Defra quotes 10 moles per square acre, how many acres in the British Isles…?.
Other suggest a mole population of around 33 million. If an average molecatcher like myself who catches around 5,000 moles per year how many molecatchers would you need if the average litter is 3 or 4 (only once a year) would you need to keep them in control.????
The British Traditional Molecatchers register has been set up to try to address this problem. With the cessation of Strychnine in August last year, many of the pest control companies and people who had access to strychnine either legally or illegally have disappeared.
The pest control companies who used to do mole control work have in many cases given up doing moles. Many because they did not have the necessary skills to trap the moles. They changed or were already using Aluminium phosphate. This is ok if used by a skilled operator, but fails to produce the mole as evidence. Pest control companies are abandoning mole control and telling farmers, landowners (It can't be done) only at great expense??.This is not true, it can be done, but landowners seem reluctant to pay.
Just recently I done some work for a new customer who had someone do the land with strychnine last year, about 40 acres of which 20 acres had a bad mole problem. Last year he paid £166 for the fields to be done with strychnine, this year I have done the same fields with traps and have caught 67 moles his bill £270, £104 more, but with positive results and no moles ?? It can be done, it will be done. The highest cost is in year 1 and then it should be a regular maintenance job with moles only around the boundary areas, and streams? Why streams, Streams and rivers or any watercourse are points of entry for moles.
WHY?? Moles are excellent swimmers and are very buoyant and if they suspect that they are about to drown, they will come to the surface and swim to higher ground. Where they will establish a new territory. Moles are very territorial and will defend their territory to the death. Moles are quite willing to share the main runs, just like a modern day motorist will share a main road with other motorists, but park your car on their drive NO WAY….The hedges and fences are the main roads to moles, Generation after generation of moles have travelled these routes, undisturbed by man nor beast, and that is why once you have had a mole , it is likely to be followed by one of its descendants.
The BritishTtraditional Molecatchers register has been set up to promote molecatchers and train people to be molecatchers, who so often are lost in the vast ocean of pest control.Molecatchers are specialist people who are experts in their field (and anyone else's field for that matter). To call a molecatcher a pest controller, is alike to labelling a traditional Thatcher as a roofing contractor. The register has been set up to give the public easy access to molecatchers,the most difficult part the register is finding, Where are all the molecatchers?? Even when we manage to locate one, they are very reluctant to join this new fangled internet!!!. "How will they know where to go? How will they contact me?.
The internet is vast and will get even bigger, more and more people prefer to go to the web for information, where they can access all the information they need. Gone are the days of people going to Yellow Pages, where you would leave a message for a company, never for them to reply to you, or to bother to return the call, and if so never turn up.
We need molecatchers if you are one contact us on, if you know of one please direct them to our website, if you would like to train as one go to our website
www.britishmolecatchers.co.uk
