Here's the latest News from South Hams Mole Catcher:

1st July 2018   Apologies to anyone who has attempted to contact me on my landline. It appears that the answerphone function has not been working for at least the last ten days. New phone fitted today so  normal business resumed. Any problems please phone me on my mobile number 07749 650220.

1st July 2018   Due to the current very dry weather there is a lack of obvious mole activity at the moment in the Devon/ South Hams area of the country.  The main reason for this is that as the ground dries out the worms, that are the mainstay of the moles diet, moved deeper into the damper earth below the hard surface earth.

The result of this is that the moles either use existing tunnels further below the surface or dig new ones and compact the earth to the side of the new tunnels wherever possible. This means that there are far fewer mole hills appearing in gardens and fields.

When the weather changes i.e cools down and becomes damper the mole activity will become more apparent.

27th July 2018  The weather is still very hot and the ground is parched. Today we have had some rain for the first time in nearly a month. It won't be enough to soften the earth up but if we get more rain, as promised, during the weekend then as the earth softens the worms will start to come closer to the surface, closely followed by the moles and molehills will start to reappear as the moles hunt closer to the surface.

13th August 2018  The South Hams area has had three days of rain, some of it very heavy, and traces of mole activity are beginning to show. As the worms begin to come up closer to the surface in the , now, moister and softer soil, the moles are following.
Mole hills and small 'push ups' are becoming apparent for the first time in a number of weeks. If we get more rain over the next week then the moles will become more obvious. If not, and the ground hardens up, their obvious activity will become difficult to spot. They won't stop working but will be much deeper underground chasing worms and other food.

14th September 2018.  As the weather is cooling down and we are finally getting a small amount of rain and some early morning dew the mole activity is starting to become more apparent. The worms are coming closer to the surface as the ground is getting damper and more soft. The result of this is the moles are also working the ground closer to the surface and leaving their tell tale mole hills and small surface soil pushups. These push ups manifest them selves in areas of turf being raised, as the moles travel very close to the surface. As the Autumn sets in we will be seeing even more activity from them.

16th October 2018.  The weather has changed considerably in the last two weeks. As the nights draw in the temperatures are dropping. Autumn is definitely on its way.
The South West is receiving far more rain than it has for the last few months, added to this  the early morning dew's and the ground is suddenly becoming much damper and softer. As this happens the worms move closer to the surface and are followed by the moles. The result of all this change is the sudden  appearance of large numbers of mole hills in gardens, farms, caravan sites and golf courses.
It is best to catch the mole or moles that are causing the damage as soon as possible , left to their own devices they will happily tunnel away, and create large numbers of molehills. I attended a small garden earlier this year that looked like a mountain range as there were in excess of 35 molehills. All of these molehills were caused by just one mole. Once I caught him the distraught householder was able to tidy up the mess.
If you do have a problem with moles please call a mole catcher as soon as it starts, and get some advice and take action. But please do not rely on any of the gadgets on the market, such as windmills and other like items, as they do not generally help with mole removal. The old fashioned way is best, Just call a mole catcher !

15th November 2018.  Winter is definitely on it's way. Temperatures are dropping, although the ground is still warm for this time of year. The morning dew's and rainfall we have been having has made earth moving much easier for the moles, and molehills are appearing in farms, gardens, caravan sites and on roadsides all over the South Hams.
Currently I am working in a large orchard that has a river one side of it and a small stream running down the other. The owners have decided that enough is enough and that the moles have to go. There was evidence of many old molehills and a large number of new ones , the owners were worried that there might be quite a few moles at work. So far I have removed eight moles which is probably all of those in the orchard. As I have mentioned before the number of molehills does not equate in any way to the number of moles.
If you are not sure if what you see is actually mole activity call a molecatcher he will advise you if it is either historic activity or if in fact it actually is evidence of a mole currently being present.
Small creatures such as mice and voles will often take up residence in  mole runs once they have been vacated by their original owner. If you come across a mole run that is open to the air then there is not going to be a mole present , if he was the hole would be quickly blocked.The  holes are used by smaller creatures entering and leaving the old mole runs. If you notice worn edges around the holes where the grass has been worn down or away its due to small animals entering and leaving.
If in doubt call a molecatcher.

2nd December 2018  It's been a strange start to the winter for moles. There does seem to have suddenly become a lot less mole activity than there was earlier this month. During the long hot summer I did find a number of dead moles on the surface. It is likely that as they were young moles they had come to the surface as they weren't experienced enough to go as deep as the worms had in the hard ground and had come to the surface to forage for food and having been unable to find enough had starved to death. This may well account for the lack of mole activity as if I found dead moles there would obviously have been many more, so the mole population in the area may have been drastically reduced.
The other possibility may be that the moles have started breeding early which would mean that the pups are likely to appear in February or March of next year.
I will, as usual, be out and about and am always happy to offer help and advice if anyone has a problem with moles on their land.

25th December 2018  Just a quick message to any visitors to my site Happy Christmas to you all from the South Hams Molecatcher.


19th January 2019.  Mole activity in the South Hams is becoming more noticeable by the day. I am receiving regular calls asking for advice and help from people who are having mole problems. I am always happy to give advice to anyone. Advice is free, just contact me and, I will help if I possibly can.
One piece of advice I always offer is, that the only way you can truly be sure of dealing with a mole problem is by using a molecatcher. There are many gadgets on the market that claim to scare moles away from gardens but I have not found one so far that actually works. Similarly catching moles and releasing them at another location is a) not practicable and b) In breach of the Wildlife Act, so for those two reasons are not a course of action open to a molecatcher.

14th February 2019  The weather in the South Hams area has been mild for the time of year. The ground is soft and the moles are as ever active. As the daylight hours get longer people are starting to spend more time in their gardens tidying them up for the onset of Spring which is hopefully not to far away. Fingers crossed we don't get another 'Beast from the East' like we did last year. I am receiving more and more requests for help from farmers, gardeners, caravan site owners and in fact anyone who has grassed areas that need to be mole free for whatever reason.
If you need any help or advice with a mole problem please give me a call.

15th February 2019 There are a number of reviews about my work within the website and its always nice to receive them. I recently  carried out some work for  Helen in Wembury who emailed me the following.

'Absolutely excellent service, couldn't recommend Gren highly enough. Fast and efficient, keeps you updated all the time the traps are down and most importantly we are now mole free. Thanks very much !!'

1st March 2019  Up until the last two weeks the moles have been very active. Suddenly there has been a marked decrease in any obvious signs of them. I have been asked why this is by a number of people. The reason is simple, the moles are focusing all their activity on finding partners to breed with. Unusually, probably after the difficult time they had with the weather last year, they all seem to have chosen roughly the same time to mate.
I predict (always a dangerous thing to do where Mother Nature is involved), that by mid April there will be a sudden increase in mole activity as all the new mole pups leave their mothers and look for territory of their own to hunt in.

20th April 2019  I am starting to notice that smaller, younger moles are becoming more apparent than they have been for some time. This trend means that a new generation of mole pups have left the nest and are now looking for territory of their own to live in. This means that currently mole free areas that are able to offer enough food and water for a mole to survive in are likely to show signs of new mole activity. Additionally, areas that have historically had moles living in them and are currently mole free, may become re-inhabited by a new mole or moles if they are large areas.

14th May 2019  Even though the South West has had a period of very dry weather there is a lot of new mole activity in the South Hams. Many new mole hills are appearing, a lot of them in areas that haven't historically had mole problems.
I have been contacted by a number of people that have purchased vibrating mole deterents. These have not lived up to the promises that the advertising claims and as a result they have contacted me to help them with dealing with the problem. Apparently some companies that supply these vibrating mole deterrents  are offering a refund if they do not work. I suspect they will be getting a large number of requests for refunds.
The only way to effectively deal with moles is to contact a mole catcher for help and advice.

12th June 2019  I have just returned from a working holiday in Tropea which is on the toe of Italy, very close to Sicily where I have been removing moles from a small Vineyard that was plagued by them. It was a very successful trip  as I caught all the moles were damaging the vines which made the owner very happy. Without doubt the furthest I have ever traveled for work so far !
Whilst I have been away I have had another molecatcher helping me out who has been very busy. This has been in the main due to the amount of rain we have had which has brought the worms closer to the surface quickly followed by the moles who have created large numbers of new molehills as evidence of their presence.

19th July 2019  The past few weeks have been very quiet due to the warm, dry weather we have had. The moles are operating much further below the surface in the moist earth where the worms which are their main food source are to be found. This tends to mean that there is far lass evidence of their presence as they pack the earth to the sides of their tunnels rather than pushing it up to the surface and creating molehills.
Recently I have been working in a raised vegetable patch that a mole has been working in. The soil is nicely cultivated and full of worms so there was a very happy resident mole. I had to use a different type of trap to the barrel trap that I normally rely on to catch the mole due to the fact that the tunnels he made were constantly collapsing and he was 'bulldozing' large amounts of earth ahead of him which were blocking my normal traps. The alternative type of trap solved the problem and the mole was removed yesterday.

13th August 2019  Now that the weather has changed and we have had some rain the moles are beginning to become a lot more obvious with their trademark molehills appearing.
An interesting piece of information I recently came across was a quote from Charles Darwin who wrote in his surprising bestseller 'Earthworms'  " whether there are many other animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world, as have these lowly organised creatures" this was made in relation to earthworms. He was absolutely right everything that grows in the ground depends on them and they have an influence on the food chain that belies their appearance.
The reason for me mentioning this is that there are between 35 and 40 million moles in the UK. They have to eat roughly 60% of their body weight every day to survive and the majority of the food they consume is worms. Obviously the worm has other predators such as badgers, foxes and birds who also consume other foods as well as worms as part of their diet, but the worm is the main source of food for the mole.
It doesn't take much to work out how many worms are eaten every day by the mole alone let alone other birds and animals.
Just a bit of useless information that may only ever come up in an obscure pub quiz but interesting never the less.

22nd August 2019
Today, I went to see a new customer who had just approached a large pest control company that covers the Devon area. He had a mole problem and asked them for a quote to deal with the moles in his garden.
The company quoted him £395.00 plus VAT to come out and set mole traps which they would return and check within 3 to 5 days of the trap setting. At this stage they felt that the mole problem would be solved.
Suffice to say they didn't get the job!

31st October 2019

This month started off busily, but after the first 10 days it quietened down somewhat until this last week. The recent, very wet, weather has brought the worms closer to the surface. They have been followed very quickly by the moles.
In the last five days I have received a number of calls from customers who have noticed the mole hills mounting up on their lawns. Equally farmers have been in contact with me as they to have seen numbers of mole hills coming up on the fields that they will cut for silage next year. I have often been asked why this affects farmers.The answer is that  when the grass is cut and baled for silage and   earth from  mole hills is rolled into the bales it  rots the silage the result of which is that it cannot be used for cattle feed.
If, for example, a farmer has 500 silage bales stored  to feed his cattle during the winter months, when the fields cannot be used, and 20% of them are ruined due to  being rotted,  he will have to replace those bales to feed his cattle.
While the bales are a certain price when they are plentiful before winter they will be at least twice as expensive during the latter part of the winter when there is a shortage of silage.
This is the reason a farmer who has cattle and relies on his own land for cutting silage from tends to employ a molecatcher on a regular basis.

25th November 2019

This is a busy time of the year for me normally but November has been fairly quiet so far which I put down to the fact that due to the very heavy rain and high winds many gardeners are not tending to spend to much time in their gardens.
I advertise on Yell.com and Google where I have a number of reviews of the mole removal work I have carried out recently. If you are considering using a molecatcher in the future please have a look at them and see what past clients have said about me.

3rd January 2020

Can I wish everyone visiting my site a Happy and Prosperous 2020.
We  experienced a very wet December down here in Devon as have many other areas of the UK. This has been very problematic for me as some of the farms I normally work on are so wet that it is almost impossible to access sections of them in any form of transport other than on foot which, due to the acreage involved is very time consuming.
The weather has not tempted many gardeners into their outside spaces so if there is new mole activity they will not have noticed it so far.
About this time of the year moles are normally looking for mates so that they can begin their breeding process. The breeding pattern has changed over the past few years due in the main to the shift in the seasons but as there appears to be less than normal mole activity currently I have a feeling that breeding might be starting very soon. This would mean that the pups would be appearing sometime in early March. This is completely at odds with the 2019 season when the moles started their breeding in mid February. I could be wrong, but based on what I am seeing at the moment it appears to be the case.


3rd February 2020

The weather in Devon is still very wet. Many of the fields in the South Hams are so waterlogged that they are almost impassable. While this doesn't have to much of an effect on the amount of mole activity it does mean that many people don't feel inclined to venture out into their gardens so don't notice how much damage may be happening out of their sight.
When the weather finally changes and becomes drier I suspect people will notice how much mole activity has happened since last November.

21st  March 2020

During the current Covid 19/ Corona Virus situation I will be available ,as usual, 7 days a week. If you are self isolating and need help with a mole or rat problem, I can take full instructions via either phone, text or email. The work can then be carried out without any form of contact that could lead to the passing on of any germs whatsoever. You will receive daily updates by either phone or email and will receive an invoice via email for a BACS payment for any work carried out on your behalf. By working for you in this way you I can keep you safe from any possible chance of  infection.
Please call me if you have any problems. Remember advice is always free.

10th May 2020

I am still open for business and am able to work without coming into close contact with people who employ me. Any instructions can be given via the phone as can any subsequent information from the start to the end of any work that needs to be carried out. Pest controllers have been designated as key workers by HM Government and are permitted to carry on working.
AS well as mole control I am also getting more requests to deal with rats than would be normal. It does appear that they are getting bolder due to the reduced amount of human activity in outside areas.
In relation to moles whilst I am catching many male adults I have not caught many females or juveniles which makes me think that they are still in their gestation period with their mothers underground. Some time in the very near future they will leave the nest and have to find their own territory to live in. This will result in a significant amount of extra mole movement and molehills.

16th June 2020

We have had a good run of very nice weather in Devon over the past few months which has made life in these uncertain times a lot more pleasurable than it might otherwise be.
I have been catching large numbers of young moles recently. They have finally moved out from the care of their parents and have been looking for their own territory. They are later than usual as I would have expected to see the youngsters out at least 6 weeks earlier than this.
For those of you reading this, if you enjoys quizzes or are a quiz master, here's one for you. What is the term for a group of moles?  The answer is a Labour of moles. It's a bit of a strange question really as moles don't exist in groups. They are by nature very solitary .
If you need help or advice with a mole problem please give me a call. Advice is always free.

SOUTH hams molecatcher

Copyright 2018