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Hunting bank holiday squirrels & moles

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pogue

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had a session on the feeder outside the main pheasant pen this morning, as the feeds been going down a fair bit.
decided to use my trusty 21yr old .177 s400 as i blanked yesterday with the .22 carbine. a bit cool first thing but i noticed a squirrel on a feeder at the bottom of the track as i drove up to the pen, so they were up and about. saw nothing for 50 mins and was just about to get the caller out when one turned up. the next one to turn up ran across in front of me and into the pheasant pen, never even bothered with the feeder ☹️ managed 2 more before calling time on it ;)
2026-04-06 10.22.27.webp

back home to swap the .177 gun for the .177 mole traps, and its away to tackle the 2nd of the 3 mole jobs i've been putting off for several weeks.
set 28 traps and on the way back to the van i noticed 4 had already gone off 😀
2026-04-06 16.32.04.webp
 
gwj315 said:
Moles are a real nuisance in the garden lawn, not sure what harm they cause in the open countryside tbh, but happy to be educated.
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ok no worries. when the grass is cut for silage/haylage the soil from the molehills is picked up with the grass, contaminating it and making it dangerous to feed to livestock.
also, disturbing the soil triggers weed seeds that can lay dormant for up to 18yrs (y)
one things for sure, a farmer wouldnt pay to have moles removed if they werent costing him money 😀
 
pogue said:
ok no worries. when the grass is cut for silage/haylage the soil from the molehills is picked up with the grass, contaminating it and making it dangerous to feed to livestock.
also, disturbing the soil triggers weed seeds that can lay dormant for up to 18yrs (y)
one things for sure, a farmer wouldnt pay to have moles removed if they werent costing him money 😀
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Thanks very much for the info @pogue. I wouldn't have guessed that in a thousand years!
Regsrds.
 
gwj315 said:
Moles are a real nuisance in the garden lawn, not sure what harm they cause in the open countryside tbh, but happy to be educated.
Click to expand...
Coastal areas and low lying ground often have earth embankment flood defences which require inspection to rid them of moles, rabbits and badgers. Moles are the worst due to their extensive tunnelling and if water gets into a system it can wash out a breach in no time.
 
Whispering Walter said:
Coastal areas and low lying ground often have earth embankment flood defences which require inspection to rid them of moles, rabbits and badgers. Moles are the worst due to their extensive tunnelling and if water gets into a system it can wash out a breach in no time.
Click to expand...
Thanks @Whispering Walter. They must be industrious little devils! I half recall reading in some uk books when I was a kid that moles often do certain activities (like burrowing in a particular location) at the same time on repeated days.

Potential thread hijack, sorry....We don't have an equivalent animal here as far as extensive burrowing, but we have some cute looking marsupials called possums. (Superficial resemblance to the 'opossum, but a different animal.) People moving to Tas at first say 'how cute', then after the possums nest in their roof space and eat everything in the garden their opinion is revised, particulalry of the larger brushtail possum. They are mostly protected by law, but you can organise to trap and relocate problem animals.

The smaller ring tail possum is however very very cute, and doesn't cause anywhere near as much trouble. This ring tail watched me put out the rubbish bin a few weeks ago.
Screenshot_20260409_070625_Gallery.webp
 
Old Ironsights said:
Potential thread hijack, sorry....We don't have an equivalent animal here as far as extensive burrowing, but we have some cute looking marsupials called possums. (Superficial resemblance to the 'opossum, but a different animal.) People moving to Tas at first say 'how cute', then after the possums nest in their roof space and eat everything in the garden their opinion is revised, particulalry of the larger brushtail possum. They are mostly protected by law, but you can organise to trap and relocate problem animals.

The smaller ring tail possum is however very very cute, and doesn't cause anywhere near as much trouble. This ring tail watched me put out the rubbish bin a few weeks ago.
Click to expand...
Interesting subject. The UK doesn't have possums but we do have a non-native invasive species living in Hertfordshire -being the European edible dormouse where the species can cause domestic damage and consequently designated a pest species. They were kept in captivity by Lionel Rothschild until escapees founded a colony near Tring in 1902 and flourished. They would probably equate to your possums in their choice of habitats and behaviours. The Edible dormouse is not to be confused with our native Hazel dormouse or even the European Garden and Forest dormice species.
Back to those interesting moles; in Cumbria molecatchers hang their captured cadavers by the snouts from the barbs of barbed wire fences as proof of their their trapping efficiency and upset the tourists! I currently have three white moles in my freezer and seven years ago found a freshly dead Star-nosed mole on a Wisconsin forest track.
Tasmania remains a destination of choice for me due to the interesting ecology there.
 
Whispering Walter said:
Interesting subject. The UK doesn't have possums but we do have a non-native invasive species living in Hertfordshire -being the European edible dormouse where the species can cause domestic damage and consequently designated a pest species. They were kept in captivity by Lionel Rothschild until escapees founded a colony near Tring in 1902 and flourished. They would probably equate to your possums in their choice of habitats and behaviours. The Edible dormouse is not to be confused with our native Hazel dormouse or even the European Garden and Forest dormice species.
Back to those interesting moles; in Cumbria molecatchers hang their captured cadavers by the snouts from the barbs of barbed wire fences as proof of their their trapping efficiency and upset the tourists! I currently have three white moles in my freezer and seven years ago found a freshly dead Star-nosed mole on a Wisconsin forest track.
Tasmania remains a destination of choice for me due to the interesting ecology there.
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Let me know when you visit! I've a mate who may be able to grab a tiger snake or two for you!

I had heard of the edible dormouse in the UK. Are people brave enough to eat them?

Regards.
 
Old Ironsights said:
Let me know when you visit! I've a mate who may be able to grab a tiger snake or two for you!

I had heard of the edible dormouse in the UK. Are people brave enough to eat them?

Regards.
Click to expand...
I'm not aware of their gastronomic attributes these days but certainly the Romans did. They fattened them them up in earthenware jars called glirarium or the Latin plural gliraria.
See this for more info despite the spelling in this web address- https://potted-history.co.uk/products/glilarium
and https://wanderingitaly.com/blog/article/774/glirarium+gourmet+dormouse+pot
 
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