This is a frontal shot compared to two silicone tubes used as a size comparison.


A recent catch female mole taken from my test site.Males can be much bigger and at times fill up the tube and are unable to turn around.



Another shot of the mole.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b332/bj123/100_3335.jpg
Length of the trap compared to a silicone tube once again for size reference. I have traps that range from 8" to 12" in length.I use a PVC connector to place two traps back to back. I have a separator between the two trap ends.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b332/bj123/100_3329.jpg
I released the mole back into the run it was captured from. I wonder if they can get trap shy?

From what I've read moles can starve in less than a day, so I run live removals every 8 to 10 hours. On live removal jobs do you charge per visit or per mole?

Hey Vinke, did you notice that? The first mole trap with a carpeted entrance! Welcome home Moley. Ha!

Time on the checks depends on the travel distance. I typically run once a day and I bill by the trip and per mole both.The wire allows worms to crawl through plus I water the area each visit to keep the ground wet and cool.Then I cover with a white folded feed sack to further protect the area of the trap placements.Keeps the heat off a little as well.Very few fatalities when handled this way.

I do charge considerably more due to the extra precautions needed to ensure a high live capture setting.

Bob J...you are the man!...So I see it is a "single door" trap.........How do you deside what direction it goes????????? And do they work in sandy soil??? Are the set in the tunnels away from the Mound????/........How productive are they once you figure it out???.......Thanks Dave

Bob, is that just a little gravity operated door that the mole pushes up to get into the trap?

They are single door but if you look at the PVC connector on the back of the trap. I set two traps back to back. Now they are multi directional. Or you can set them single back to back. Very slick operation. Just open a straigt run in a good area.

Cut one side of the sod and roll the sod back.Dont remove it completely as this will let in too much air and lite.Dont want to tip them off. Dig a slight trench to accomadate the trap and wiggle it slightly into position.

The dirt will filter a little thru the wire this is good and will create a more natural dirt floor and sides.I use a piece of plastic bag to cover the entry door area a few inches to prevent dirt from falling on the door and fouling the door operation.

Then fold the cut sod back over the top of the trap ,press in against the trap litely then cover your area with a bag. If the soil is very dry it is a good practice to water it down. This helps tremendously to keep the animal cool.

They work in any soil conditions. Just use an old plastic walmart bag piece to cover the trap to prevent too much filtration into the trap to interfere with the operation.

Very easy to install once you have done it a couple of times in various soil conditions.Only takes me 2 minutes to set a trap.

They are very productive if they are set to prevent door malfunction due to rocks or excessive dirt build up. I have some traps that I have a PVC nosecone about 4 inches long that prevents filtration. Then it extends into the wire body trap. It works very well. Its a cadillac version but not going to show that one.

These can be set on any active run and are as productive as any mole trap I have used.They are quite enjoyable to see work the first few times. Then once you are on to them you can sell jobs to those that wish to keep the little buggers alive. I have some 2' long that I have caught 3 at one time. They get aggressive however if left together too long. Then you have to make holding areas for each that is attached to the main trap. There are lots of potential ideas for someone who has the time and interest to improve on my simple idea.

Once caught you can relocate them as the good naturalist that we are :)to a more suitable habitat like down the road into a front lawn of a $500,000 home. MMmmmmmmm looks like they could use some aeration in the front lawn. NO I AM JUST KIDDING> I guess that practice could be referred to as job security.

Yes it is a gravity door. I use 16ga. 1/2"x1/2" GAW wire. It is very strong and rust resistant. We use this wire to build our chimney caps also.

I do have some that are spring loaded :). These prevent them from reopening the door greatly. It is a good idea to put a little raised area right behind the door on the floor to prevent them from using their nose to raise the door up and escape. They are amazing creatures. I have done alot of work with them and they have taught me much....

I use self adhesive felt to line the door face and the bottom entry area of the wire floor. The floor may not be necessary but the door is a must to cover. A heavy gauge aluminum coil flashing material configured in the right fashion works for a door also.

Bob, I suppose the felt is needed as moles seem to be particularly sensitive to walking on wire, or just to foreign objects placed in their tunnels.

I catch lots of moles in DK-1 gopher traps, and in my Gophinator gopher traps, but almost never catch moles in Macabee gopher traps. I think the reason for that is that with the Macabee, the mole has to walk over a lot of wire to get to the trigger, and they're reluctant to do that. With DK-1's or Gophinators, the mole is mostly traveling over dirt to get to the trigger.

I never set gopher traps with the intention of catching moles, but sometimes moles will use pre-existing gopher tunnels.

By the way, can you identify male and female moles on any other basis than size difference? Here where I work in CA, all moles seem to be more or less the same size, and I never even consider whether the moles I catch are male of female. With gophers it's obvious from the males external genitals, but with moles I really can't tell.

Can you tell them apart easily?

I also agree with the sensitivity they can detect wire and/or an uncommonly felt area can or may cause refusal to some degree. Their sensitivity is amazing and they will react accordingly I have found. The felt or similar type material is acceptable I have found. I rub dirt into the felt to further authenticate the material as close as reasonable to being a dirt obstruction.

Moles can be indentified with a little effort as to sex.Not a criteria I dwell on however.A little practice gropeing and parting of the fur in the proper area will reveal the necessary equipment of each sex.After a while you will be able to identify them quite readily. Some require tweezers at first until they get onto it.

There is a difference in size in my area between adult male and female moles.

Bob, you've probably already seen these, but there are several live mole traps coming out of the UK which are similar in design principle to what you're making. I see them up on ebay every once in awhile.

No I havent seen them. Interesting design. How much do they sell for?

Bob, sixteen "quid" for a three-pack. About 10 bucks apiece. See if they'll ship some over to you. I bet they will.

Have you ever tried those double barrel "duffus" mole traps made in the UK? I tried them without much luck, but I'm not sure I was placing them right. Some Brits who seem to really know what they're doing swear by those things.

Here's the webpage where that live trap is for sale...


LINK

Steve, Thanks for the info on the UK co. from all us mole trappers who are always looking for different style traps, even if it's only a novelty. Bob has a good design on his live mole trap. not as "pretty" as the UK version but I bet it's ever bit as effective! Maybe trappers like Vinke up in Washinton State who have their hands tied with these laws might get a brake with a trap design like that. I have myself been working on a design that uses a coffee can similar to the "drop box" they use over in the UK to trap rabbits. So far I've only caught one mole and a couple of shrews. Not very successful even I must admit. I have caught a number of moles by hand just by being at the right place at the right time. A small spade and perfect timing, has been all it took to catch one just below the surface. Bob mention of wetting down the soil( mole runs) is something else I've used with some success. It has been fairly dry here and if done right, in the right soil condition, it will work fairly well. Where ever the earthworms go, the moles just seem to follow.

No Steve I havent used any mole traps except for the typical U.S. industry types.I would like to see the one you've shown close up.I can see flaws in a totally composite material design. One must understand the acceptance factor of an animal to successfully catch them with a device such as a live catch trap.

They will refuse some things or re route or turn around. I have watched them with a plexiglass window over a run on a few occasions when they approached my trap designs.Interesting behavioral patterns at times as they sense and feel certain objects.

hi all , i,m a molecatcher from the uk, i use nothing else but the duffus or half barrel trap to catch moles, i have tried every trap available to us uk trappers and always go back to the half barrel, the plastic livecatch trap in the picture doesn,t work or at lease i cannot catch with it ,all i have ever had was a plugged up trap, the wire live traps seems to be the answer as there is less chance of any odd or forign odors getting on the trap and with the felt and soil all around , it sounds like a winner, i sometimes get requests off customes to livetrap and then release , it is illegal in the uk to release any pest species so the killer trap is the only viable option, the uk is being flooded out with cheap foreign traps at the moment and the quality is rubbish compared to uk made half barrel traps so watch where you get them from if you decide to order from the uk

That my good mole trappers is some good sound advice from probably one of the best in the world as I understand it! Thanks mate!

The wire trap design allows dirt filtration on all sides to a degree so I believe the mole accepts the presentation very easily. Its nothing fancy like the picture of the UK trap but it does work.The felt can be rubbed with dirt so as to mimic as natural an environment as is reasonable.

You must keep the air and light from the trap site or you will create a distress reaction in the mole. They dislike light and to much air flow in their runs. They will plug or bring in dirt to plug the air flow voids most likely causing the trap to malfunction by jamming the door.Much like a beaver repairing a breach in its dam as an opening occurs.

Bob,

Wonder instead of spring loading or pinching the area near the door you could solder or wire a few little pieces of wire facing towards the back of the trap to keep them from nosing the door?

moley, I think I asked you this before, but when you set those duffus traps, do you fill in the mole tunnel with loose dirt, and then push the trap down into that dirt, or is the trap set in air, and then you just filter loose dirt over the top of the trap?

When we set out-of-sights, we basically collapse and fill in a 4 or 5 inch segment of tunnel creating a blockage, and then push the trap down into that blockage.

Is that what you do with the duffus, or does that sheet metal top part of the duffus create a sort of artificial roof to the tunnel, and does the mole travel through that artificial tunnel to get to the trigger?

I like the out-of-sights so much that I really haven't spent much time trying to figure out how to get the duffus traps to work. But I should spend more time on it and really see how properly set duffus traps stack up against properly set out-of-sights.