The wet weather of 2012 created ideal breeding conditions, which resulted in abundance of moles and mole hills!
Due to the banning of strychnine in 2006, as a means of controlling mole numbers, the traditional mole catching methods and customs have been revived.
Raydale’s most prolific mole catcher is Margaret Iveson of High Force Farm, where the moles don’t linger long!
Traditionally moles were hung from the fence, so that the farmer knew they had been caught and the mole catcher would then charge by the number of moles on display. The going rate today is £5 per mole.
The skills and knowledge of how to set a trap and where to set a trap are not easily given up, and each mole catcher has their own idea and customs, and each has a preference for a type of trap.