About Mole Traps

Industrially manufactured mole traps form the physical backbone of modern mole catching practice, the availability of mole traps that are of good design and manufacture being fundamental to the pursuance of good practice.

Any mole trap that is deployed to kill on capture, i.e. with the purpose of delivering predictably and efficiently a fatal action, should be capable of performing reliably and consistently.

All modern mole 'kill' traps in common use are mechanical spring traps that rely on delivering effectively the stored energy released by a spring under tension to catch the mole. Any spring powered mole 'kill' trap should therefore have the capacity to deliver predictably an impact force capable of delivering appropriately a fatal injury.
 

Mole Traps In Common Use In The UK

There are several well established styles of mole trap used in the UK, and within those styles several variations on a basic design.

Each of the basic designs described below operate in a different way, and each can offer advantages to professional mole catchers according to the type of land and work being undertaken.
 

 
Tunnel Mole Trap

Half-Barrel/Tunnel Mole Traps

Also known as the 'duffus' mole trap, this very versatile and popular mole trap has become possibly the most commonly used throughout the UK.

This type of mole trap is ideal also for situations where discretion is important, such as when trapping land accessible to or frequented by the public, as the low profile of the tunnel mole trap means it is often completely underground when set in deeper runs.

A further advantage of this design of mole trap is that, with the setting mechanism at each end of the trap opperating independently of the other, it is possible to catch a mole from either direction - and thereby it is possible to catch 2 moles in a single trap.
 

 

 
Claw-type Mole Trap

Claw-type Mole Traps

Increasingly more popular with occupational mole catchers in the UK, claw-type mole traps tend to share similarly several overall design similarities.

Specifically this type of trap is distinctive in that when placed in the mole run the cavity is then back-filled with loose soil and is triggered as a result of the mole pressing through that material rather than through direct contact with the trap itself.

Typically, claw-type mole traps can be very useful where the type of land or other working conditions do not favour other styles of mole trap.
 

 

 
Traditional Scissors-type Mole Trap

Traditional Scissors-type Mole Traps

The scissors-type mole trap is one of the longest established industrially manufactured styles of trap, having undergone several proprietary design innovations over time.

Although being perhaps less popular with occupational mole catchers these days, the scissors mole trap is not without its adherents.

Advantages of the scissors mole trap is ease of setting and, as when set the handles of the trap protrude above the ground, ease of checking for set traps that have been triggered.
 

 
 

Other Types Of Mole Trap

The development of mechanical devices to facilitate effective mole control has for centuries attracted and exercised inventive minds, and that process continues today.

Whilst some of the innovative or less commonly seen mole traps can be regarded as effective 'kill' traps, often they appeal more to either the personal preferences and working styles of individual mole catchers, or to specific working conditions.

Although the range of less commonly used styles of mole trap is not described in detail here, APMC evaluates and accommodates innovative designs of mole trap via the Association's Approved Mole Trap Scheme, and identifies and promotes APMC Approved mole traps where vended by APMC Affiliated suppliers of mole traps.

APMC does not condone the the use of live capture devices for mole control.
 

 
Mole Trap Suppliers

Mole Trap Suppliers

Find APMC Affiliated suppliers of quality mole traps and other specialist equipment for mole catchers.
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