Mole Catching Prices and Information for Farmers
and other genuine Agricultural Businesses

Lancashire Mole Control offers a simple pricing structure for genuine farmers and growers with land of over 10 acres based on the amount of time it takes to complete the job.

With discounted rates for the bigger jobs.

 

For areas of less than 10 acres, please see Domestic Mole Catching Rates.

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Jobs taking over 5 hours of chargeable work                                            £25.00 per hour

 

Jobs taking up to 5 hours of chargeable work                                           £30.00 per hour

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Minimum Charge Per Visit                                                                            £30.00​

                                      

Plus mileage charge for travel to and from your farm.                             .40p per mile   

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Total cost is based on the relevant charge per hour plus mileage charge.

 

I no longer offer a price per mole as the last time I charged a farmer per mole for catching his moles was way back in 2005.

 

My methods, expertise and knowledge of mole catching mean that since then, I have always caught enough moles per hour to justify an hourly rate and, more importantly, satisfy the farmers with the final invoice when they know how many moles have been caught.

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My catch rate per hour ranges from 2 moles per hour up to as many as 10 moles per hour, with the average being approx 4 moles per hour.

 

For farmers who still like to know the cost per mole, this can bring the actual price per mole down to less than £3.00 in some instances, and understandably farmers and landowners are very happy with this arrangement. In fact I am encouraged and urged on by them to better any previous high daily catch records, but I generally max out at about 50 to 55 moles a day in ideal working conditions. (84 is the most I have caught from a one day 12 hour trapping session, that's moles caught whilst trapping and I've removed 86 moles in a total of 12 hours over two days from 88 traps set on the first day. And if I don't or can't catch 20 a day once into a job, I'm not a happy chappy until I have figured out the reasons why.

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In order to improve on these figures I am constantly developing and testing new work methods and systems. Improvements are always possible, but the actual gains are much smaller these days. 

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I've had to start charging a Minimum Charge per visit to cover wasted time setting up and packing away when I'm asked just to trap a small area that may only take me an hour to trap, or quickly dash round on the quad over a larger area checking traps. I can often cover 100 acres, check and empty traps in less than an hour.

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All moles caught that day are presented and left on the farm/business premises unless otherwise told not to do so.

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Mole eradication is more effective on a single large block of land (say 200 acres) than on many smaller areas that are surrounded on all sides by land where no mole control takes place. Ideally all neighbouring farmers should carry out some form of mole control to ensure the best possible long-term results.

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I use aerial maps of your land and fields and then split the area into sections, which are then individually numbered, and the number of traps placed in each section is recorded.  Each traps location co-ordinates are logged via GPS so I can, if you so wish, provide you with a Google Earth print of your land showing each trap position enabling you to see the most affected areas.  

 

Ordnance Survey maps are used to identify public rights of way so I can mark trap sites accordingly.

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I can trap fields with low densities of adult ewes without too many problems. But will not trap any fields with lambs, cattle or horses. This is simply due to their more inquisitive nature which means I have more traps triggered by them when they keep checking to see if I'm doing my job properly. If necessary trapping can be carried out over night, it is effective, though not a substitute for a proper trapping program. 

 

Rabbit control can also be carried out at the same time. This can very effective, though my mole catch rate suffers as a result.

 

Farmland policy for traps going AWOL

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Occasionally I do have traps that disappear over night, there are three culprits: the fox, the badger and the two legged bunny/tree hugger, often going under other names but interfering pillocks generally sums them up.

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I can easily tell the difference between human and animal interference in the morning, foxes and badgers will only take the traps that have caught a mole and won't touch any trap markers; the two legged idiots will usually take all traps and markers they find and even attempt to fill in or cover the trap site so as to think they can fool me into forgetting exactly where I set my traps. My GPS system does not forget though!!!

 

I need to account financially for these events that are often outside my control so the following rules now apply.

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Where I am trapping near known fox, badger habitats or I suspect there is a strong possibility of a visit from one of them overnight I will secure all my traps in that area with wire. Any thing that goes missing overnight due to fox or badger is my responsibility as I didn’t do good enough jobs fastening the traps down.

 

Where traps are not wired and an unexpected animal, usually a fox takes a trap then it will be judged as having a mole in it and if I don’t find the trap and mole you will be charged for mole and trap. 9 times out of 10 I do find the trap, complete with mole, near by as foxy has decided there are better things to eat.

 

As for the two legged visitor, again if I’m trapping near known footpaths it is my responsibility to conceal all my traps and if any go missing, I need to do better next time. Once I’m aware of footpaths crossing farm land I usually keep hold of my traps, but ironically my main problems normally come from completely private estates or land that has no public access. Occasionally traps will vanish overnight and it has definitely not been the work of fox or badger. Sometimes I think I may have been watched doing my work. Here I will charge for any stolen traps if the landowner cannot throw any light on possible suspects.

 

I now use hidden surveillance cameras set to take time lapse photos and monitor areas that I previously have had traps disappear in. The results are quite a shock some times, especially to the thief when I present the evidence, who more often than not should have known better.

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And if you didn’t need telling already, if you think you may have a mole problem, don’t wait till you start seeing molehills covering your silage fields to do something about it. Get a mole catcher in now. A proper molecatcher can catch them at any time of the year, even when there are no molehills visible in the fields. The molecatchers of historic times did not stop working just because there were no molehills about. They were hired and paid on the condition they had to prevent molehills from appearing in the first place.

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