Dufus or Tunnel Mole trap

I bought a new dufus trap, which has proved very effective this month. I must 
admit it appears to be lightly built but I think this means there is less 
resistance for the mole.  It will be interesting to see how long this trap lasts.

It is harder to set than a scissor trap but can catch two moles, however this is 
the trap I catch my fingers in most!

This first photo shows the trap sprung. You can see how difficult it is to see 
in the ground. So you have to mark this trap quite carefully. Though my aged 
father still managed to run over three mole traps with a tractor while cutting 
thistles. And these were marked! So possibly I will have to make large luminous flags when I trap moles for him.

The photo below shows the dufus trap lifted with its catch. 

Finding Mole Runs

The first thing to do when finding mole runs is to stand back and have a good look at what's in front of you.  Ideally you want to find a main run, this will usually be between mole hills going in a straight line. In the picture above you can see them at the top of the picture.

With your heel or a walking stick feel for give in between these mole hills. If there is a run you should be able to feel a slight hollow there.  Dig out a trap size hole and clean out any obstructing soil from the mole run.

 
Having made sure there is no obstructions, carefully insert the trap so that the prongs are either side of the run.

Carefully put clods around the trap and cover with soil so no light gets into the run.  Though Moles do not see well, they do know the difference between light and dark.

One of three things will happen; the mole will ignore your trap, the mole will stuff your trap with soil, or you will catch your mole.  Hopefully the latter.

Happy Trapping.

Dufus or tunnel mole trap

The Dufus or tunnel mole trap is based on the old horse hair traps used in the Victorian era. These mole traps have the advantage of being able to catch two moles on one setting, one on each end.  The trap is laid in the run and soil lightly sprinkled on top.  The disadvantage of these traps are they are hard to find if not properly marked, all it needs is a flock of sheep to charge across the field and you will have a merry time trying to find your trap.  I suppose you could GPS mark it if stock are a problem or if it is close to a foot path and may get disturbed by passer byes.

Dufus Mole trap

Here is the trap in set

Again the art in setting these traps is in making the trigge mechanism as light as possible, so it will go off at the lightest of touches. This is difficult with this trap as the mechanism is basically wire.  If set wrong the mole will find it impossible to set the trap of and will go under and stuff the trap with soil.  This is hard to detect until yo lift the trap.

The picture above shows the trigger mechanism set hard, no mole would be able to set this off!  The art is having as little of the trigger plate wire touching the holding bar as possible.

Before use these traps, like all traps should be buried to reduce the smell on them.

Scissor Mole Trap

The Scissor trap is the most commonly used mole trap and has been around for years and years. There are many different designs some better than others.  Things to lookout for when choosing a scissor trap include the spring, which should be of the leaf kind rather than a wire coiled type, prongs on the trap which go straight down rather than curve under and galvanisation which is dull not shiny.  You also have to check that the tongue is secured adequately to the main frame of the trap.  This has been learnt through bitter experience!

You need also to check the prongs on the trap overlap rather than meet together, we want a dead mole not a mangled one. You can see on the pictures below what I mean.

 

Instead of

The most important part of any trap is the trigger mechanism.  Mass produced mole traps are notorious for their stiff mechanisms. This will result in moles stuffing the traps with soil as they go underneath the trap, once they have learnt to do this for one trap they seem to stuff all the traps they come across and are very hard to catch.

If the tongue has metal tabs that can be bent, it is an easy job to bend them in order to achieve a hair trigger on the trap. see the photograph below.

If the tongue has been cast you have to use a file to get the same result; a tiny bit of metal contact holding the jaws apart.

Finally all mole traps should be buried for a couple of weeks to rid them of factory scent.  Mole have incredible noses an detect anything out of order quickly.  It was always said that the man who milked cows was useless as a mole catcher as the scent was transferred to the trap, same for those who smoke.