Mole Catcher & Mole Control in the East Midlands

Why do I have moles?

The European mole (Talpa europaea) lives almost entirely underground, digging a network of tunnels to catch earthworms and insect larvae. Molehills are the soil it pushes up while digging. Good lawns, with damp, worm-rich soil, are exactly what moles like, which is why a well-kept garden is often the one that gets them.

Moles are solitary and territorial, so a single mole can be responsible for a surprising number of molehills. Activity is most visible from autumn through to spring, when the ground is soft and young moles disperse to find territories of their own.

Beyond the mess, moles undermine lawns, unsettle paving edges, dislodge young plants and leave trip hazards. On farms, soil from molehills can get into silage and contaminate it, and on paddocks and sports pitches the tunnels and hills are a safety risk.

Are moles protected?

Moles are not a protected species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, so they can lawfully be controlled. Animal welfare law still applies: the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996 makes it an offence to cause unnecessary suffering to a wild mammal, and strychnine, once used on moles, has been banned since 2006.

We use mole traps set in the active tunnels and check them on return visits. We don't use poison.

How our mole catcher works

The first visit is about reading the ground. Fresh molehills show where a mole has been, but the traps go into the main runs, the tunnels it uses repeatedly. The mole catcher probes for these, opens the run carefully and sets traps inside, then closes the tunnel so it stays dark and undisturbed.

We come back to check the traps and reset or move them if needed. Once activity has stopped we remove the traps and, if you want, rake the molehills back. On larger sites such as paddocks, farms and sports grounds, we can agree a programme of visits.