Posted: Mon Jan 23, 17 6:27 pm Post subject: My new new/old mole traps ?
My new/old mole traps. They're called Putanges and while they are a fairly new trap for the UK, they are of a design that has been used extensively in France for centuries. They're really taking off in this country now and are being sold in their thousands.
Here's a putange in unset mode and with the trigger mechanism attached.
And here's one in set mode.
The traps come with a special tool to facilitate setting. The spring is extremely strong and you definitely wouldn't want to get your fingers trapped in one.
The basic principal is that you slide the trap into the moles run and the trap is set off when the creature dislodges the square trigger with its nose and then its curtains.
Bungo
Joined: 21 Dec 2011 Posts: 354 Location: Wye Valley
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 17 6:57 pm Post subject:
Moles seem to be going mad round these parts at the moment
i spose hiding them behind mr mole's curtains could be quite effective
those things look well nippy ,be careful, i still have the marks and bend on a finger from getting it wrong with a fenn 4.
thinking of trapping ,i get the feeling i might need be thinning squirrels on the new orchard site, at least until the trees are established.
sneaky will be required as i don't see some of the folk involved realising the difference between nutkin and vermin.
Peanut bird feeders (re-enforced) a quality air rifle, a steady aim allied with a good eye should sort them out.
even with a pcp, good silencer, generation 4 cobra ir sight for darkness ( techy overkill but hey ho ) or the leopold for daytime and with a full suburban/treeline gillie suit there could be issues with that approach
i was considering " the nut cellar of doom " as one sneaky option, another was "something nasty in a tube" high up a tree where it would not be seen by folk.
ps having been robbed by a squizzer i recon Camembert is a pretty good bait as well as the nut based options.
shoot em at a bait station would be easy but the stealth involved to do it "privately" and risks of the full ARU/chopper response if the stealth failed just are not worth it.
i spose i could have a chat with the local firearms officer but i'm sure they would agree that shooting em was not on in that location even though it could be done safely with a buffalo gun, it could cause alarm and distress to delicate suburban folk even using a pea shooter.
That's the trouble isn't it Dpack. We find an air rifle out of the bedroom window quite effective, and not likely to be visible to delicate neighbours.
Bodger, are those traps more effective than the ones usually used in the UK? I have never had to bother with moles as we are on solid chalk, and even they don't burrow through that. We have them in the valley in the woods as the ground is heaving with worms and quite deep loose soil.
They are quite a bit more idiot proof than the Duffus and pincer type traps. and are extremely useful when you come across a three way junction. You simply stick one down each tunnel. You can't do that with the other traps.
They should be a lot cheaper over in France but this is the guy that I use.
They say that there's no fool like an old fool and to prove the point, I'll tell you what I did this afternoon.
Armed with my newly delivered putanges, I headed off across the fields to set my first ever traps of this design. I've done my home work and watched several video clips, so I was quite confident that I knew how to set them. What could possibly go wrong? In one of the videos, the guy had suggested taking a coloured spray to mark the grass where the traps had been placed. "That's a good idea" I thought, so before trekking off, I grabbed one of the marker cans that I use to mark my pigs.
I got to my first spot and set the first two putanges to perfection and then promptly sprayed the grass green !
as i read that i was half expecting some sort of comedy self trapping at least that was painless . good job you were not instructed to do it after dark for some reason of moley behaviour.
Marionb
Joined: 27 Aug 2006 Posts: 5267 Location: Mid-Wales
I would imagine you can see the paint from a greater distance than the pig under muddy conditions. We use pink, red or orange as we mainly mark trees, although green is sometimes used, but it is a very bright green.
Bungo
Joined: 21 Dec 2011 Posts: 354 Location: Wye Valley
Posted: Fri Jan 27, 17 9:31 am Post subject:
I use a stick to indicate where my traps are , cheaper and more green than a spray , or am I missing something ?
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