It’s a truth universally acknowledged that mole infestations can drive a grown man to madness. One thing we are not short of here on the farm is moles. When we first arrived we had a mole lady living down the road who had a cruelty free method of getting rid of moles – needless to say it was very expensive and didn’t work …at all.
Paul had made an accommodation with the moles until recently. As long as they stayed in the meadow and woodland he didn’t interfere – in fact scooping up the mole hills created lots of great aerated top soil. They have also stuck to their side of the bargain and never encroached on to the front lawn. (Although some friends did once recreate a mole hill on the lawn for a laugh…his face!)
However, this summer the numbers have gone through the roof and a more ahem traditional mole catcher has been brought in. Well his methods (traps initially but ultimately the final solution) do work. The most important thing though is to have a mole man who cares; ours makes it personal and is currently battling with what he calls a ‘stubborn’ mole.
Moles are pests which need to be controlled and it is part and parcel of living in the countryside. I think I would baulk though at the idea of having dozens of dead moles hanging on the fence; a practice still sometimes seen in our area. The mole catcher tells me that hanging out corpses on a line went back to the days when gamekeepers and shepherds had to prove that they were doing their job to ensure they would get paid. Fortunately we pay our mole catcher an hourly rate not per mole so he doesn’t have to provide us with any grisly evidence.
