Spring is here!

Monday dawned bright and sunny in Devon.

In fact, I'd suggest that it was the first 'spring like' day I've seen this year; simply beautiful.

By rights, I should have been 'up and at 'em' early, but a casual glance at e-bay (like you do) last week found me looking at lightweight chain harrows.

I've long since wanted to get my hands on a lightweight set of chain harrows that I can drag behind the quad as I do my traps, and I found a seller in Devon that did a set of 4 foot chain harrows for a surprisingly cheap £115.  I steeled myself to buy a set using some of my hard earned money; completely ignoring the penury that we've been suffering for the last three months.

I consoled my instinct to spend money that should rightfully be going towards debts and luxuries (like food) by thinking of the saving in carriage costs, as I had a job booked in not too far away from the supplier, and so, after breakfast I rang the contact number given on e-bay and had a chat with Kev at KTM machinery (www.ktmmachinery.co.uk) and had a chat.

Just to totally bugger what I had planned for the day Kev suggested I ring him at 5pm to arrange to collect a set.

Anyway, I loaded up the van ready for a couple of garden jobs I had booked in, and before I could set off the phone rang: "hello, I've got a mole problem can you help".  The job was not too far away, and sounded simple enough so I headed for Umberleigh.

On arrival, I found one of the most spectacularly beautiful houses I've ever seen in Devon, with a fairly minor mole problem in a paddock.  I'm back there on Wednesday, so I'll try and remember to get a picture to prove the point.  I set a few traps, and sweated under the burden of a shirt, jumper and my waistcoat.  Back at the van the jumper and waistcoat were abandoned and sleeves were rolled up.  Spring at last!

Onwards to Barnstaple to a garden job that came in a couple of weeks ago.  The customer was very good, and was happy to wait for my next Devon adventure, but sadly, the mole activity had pretty much ceased, so I kicked over two old molehills and gave it 'best'.

With some time to kill, I drove down to Tesco and picked up some cash, a drink and a credit voucher for my phone.  I also posted a postcard back to the wife showing a lovely picture of our village and it's church (I'll be in trouble!)/

Moving on, I called at a farm that I spent many, many happy childhood times at.  It's no longer a working farm, but the son of one of my greatest benefactors (memories and skills rather than money) and his wife had mentioned a mole problem in their garden, and it was an excuse for a cup of tea and a trip down memory lane.  2 traps in the ground, wipe away my nostalgic tears, and head to Beaford.

Beaford was fairly straightforward.  Well, I say 'straightforward', but there was no answer when I knocked the door, and after a search of the grounds I found an old boy who seemed to know everyone in Devon (including me) which resulted in a longish chat session.

I set a few traps in the lawn of yet another lovely home, and then headed for Holsworthy.

I got my harrows; after a couple more phone calls and one wrong address.  Here's a picture:

There's a bit more to that story, but I'll keep it to myself for now.  Anyway, Tuesday could be a groundbreaking day on the moles.

Thanks for reading!

Sunday - the great escape

Sunday morning found me bleary eyed and suffering from the dodgy pint of Palmers (one of my favourite beers) the night before.

First job of the day was some washing.  Clothes, traps, van, trailer, quad.  In that order.

The clothes are easy; into the machine, press a few buttons and let it get on with it.  Trap washing has got a lot easier since I got my super dooper pressure washer a couple of years ago.  I put on a neoprene apron, some nitrile gloves and hold the traps individually at arms length.  A quick blast each side and they're done.

Why am I washing traps you may ask?  Well, I don't know if it's just me, but I trap on a wide range of soil types, and I'm convinced that if I shove a trap with chalk deposits into a run through clay soil, there is a chance, a small one I admit, that Mr Mole may realise that something is not quite right.  The other reason is to help make traps last a little longer.  Mud hides moisture, which corrodes traps.

Anyway, 60 traps to wash from last weeks work, which took about an hour.

Next job was to drag the trailer out, unload the bike, and get washing.

Now don't misunderstand me here; I'm not one of those petrol head types that worships my motors.  I wash so that I can disinfect (you can't disinfect dirt) and I disinfect to make sure I'm not carrying any nasties from one farm to another.

As some readers of my infamous cattlekiller blog know, back in 2001 I was involved with Foot and Mouth Disease.  I saw it, I saw how easily it spread, and there is no way I ever want to risk spreading it, or anything like it for the sake of a bit of disinfectant.

Anyway, all cleaned and loaded up, the next job was to check through the traps.

My traps are all stored and transported in plastic buckets.  Each bucket has 15 traps and 15 marker pins in it; all stacked in a particular way so that I can tell at a glance how many are in each bucket.

With the van fully loaded with traps and tools, it was time to think about my own stuff.  Carefully packed (for 'carefully packed' read chucked in a small case and a few carrier bags) I loaded my own needs into the van while little Florence looked on wondering if she was going to be coming along with me.  I grabbed a bucket of her food and dug out a lead (she rarely needs one) and we were off.

Usually, at this time of year, spring is a week or even ten days ahead of us in Devon.  Not this year.  Just like Wiltshire, Somerset and Dorset there was little sign of spring like activity. The grass was non-existent and there was not much sign of blossom anywhere.

I drove on and finally, after a longer than normal (thanks grockles) journey reached my destination.  The trailer had to be stowed away, and I decided to unload the van while I was at it.

Some dinner and an early night was called for; and if it hadn't been for the internet would have happened.

The diary of a mole murderer...

Following on from a series of posts I made on the old mole-catcher.co.uk forum, I thought it might be nice to write a little diary in blog form.

I doubt anyone will want to read it; but it may be fun to do, so here goes......