Today's Wildlife Encounter

http://forum.fellrunner.org.uk/attac...9&d=1399155968

Ring ouzell at burbage on Friday.sat on the fence post by carpark at burbage north.

Swifts yesterday near Ben Rydding

Down on the surrey hills today, we saw 3 Hobbies and a Kite then on my return home with the camera set up for a regular visitor to my feeder... a greater spotted woodpecker..
Attachment 7607

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Stolly

Wharfee, one for you? Why do farmers kill moles...And having killed them why the feck do they have to be pegged out on fences?

---

I have been in the field of pest control since leaving school, I kill moles because it provides me with an income.
Farmers want moles killing because of…

contamination of silage with soil particles, making it unpalatable to livestock, the covering of pasture with fresh soil reducing its size and yield, damage to agricultural machinery by the exposure of stones, damage to young plants through disturbance of the soil, weed invasion of pasture through exposure of freshly tilled soil, and damage to drainage systems and watercourses.(extract from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mole_(animal))

Moles don't have to be "pegged out" on fences, it's unsightly (as are the mole-hills in some eyes) and unnecessary. I guess some mole-catchers just like to prove their skills to everyone.
Farming is an artificial use of land and unfortunately many creatures become pests in those artificial situations. Moles would normally be working the soil under the leaf litter in a woodland situation but seeing as man has cleared the vast majority of trees the moles take to the fertile fields which are full of worms and other invertebrates on which they gorge themselves on. At the end of the day it is us humans that are the worst pests to nature (my opinion).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Hes

An article about mole catching whilst we wait for Wharfee to tell us the real reason why moles are killed.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/cont..._feature.shtml

Where I live the molecatchers hang hundreds of moles on fences that don't have any livestock in or ones where the grass definitely isn't used for silage. I'm not happy that someone hung a dozen dead moles at the bottom of my garden. They've been moved a bit now so that my neighbours children don't have to look at them but their rotting skeletons make me sad every time I see them.

---

Real reasons mentioned above. I guess that it's purely an income for some people. I understand your unhappiness at some mole-catchers unnecessary actions.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wharfeego

I have been in the field of pest control since leaving school...

---

Thanks Wharfeego - good to know.

after a rather damp ascent of Kirk Fell on Sunday we had a delightful, albeit brief, glimpse of a deer which ran across the track as we ran between Black Sail YHA and Ennerdale YHA.
saw loads of swifts too, and heard an owl overnight as we camped at Ennerdale YHA

two Ring Ouzels in the Burbage valley this evening...

Thanks for the thorough explanation Wharfee. It is something that I've always wondered about and I've never found an answer that I knew I could trust (you know what the internet is like!).

It's good that they're a protected species in Germany. Not wanting to put you out of a job Wharfee but they should be protected here I think too.