The Guild of British Molecatchers
Committed to traditional molecatching skills and welfare of the mole.
Procter Pest-Stop brings in the expert to refine the design of its half barrel mole trap
One man’s name, above all, is synonymous with the expert catching of moles: Jeff Nicholls. So when leading pest control products brand Procter Pest-Stop wanted to further refine the design of its half barrel mole trap (also often known as a tunnel mole trap) it was Jeff they turned to.
Since its creation in 1920 by John Newton Duffus, the half barrel mole trap has changed very little. The patented trap design is without doubt the best and most efficient of all mole traps available, and it can be used in any location a mole is found.
So how has Jeff improved the design of the trap? Jeff takes up the story… “The mole feels its environment through an acute nervous system stimulated by hairs on its body. This nervous system is so sensitive that any sudden shock will cause the heart to stop. It is this principal that the half barrel trap operates on – the ability to induce a fatal shock to the heart. Working with the advice from a top UK veterinary surgeon, we have considered these facts and improved the design accordingly: The loop of the half barrel trap is required to strike a rapid blow to the thorax region of the body and impart a force to those vital organs contained in this area, the mole will then expire of that shock. To ensure this force is administered to that region, the distance between the trap loop and the mumble pins, when set correctly in their vertical positions, has been reduced by just 6 mm. This allows for the trap loop to strike the smallest mole in the lower region of the thorax, but not in the lower body area where an increased chance of suffering could occur, and directly in the upper thorax region of a larger mole.
“In addition, the Procter Pest-Stop trap employs 6.5 kilogram springs which are sufficient to apply enough force. This force needs to be correctly directed into the thorax region and to complete this, the bottom of the trap loop has been levelled flat. Therefore when the trap springs are released the loop will raise equally, imparting the velocity of the springs equally across the loop and in turn force the mole upwards almost level. The flat base of the loop will then ensure the body strike in the thorax region is also administered equally across the body.”
Andy Simmons, director of Procter Pest-Stop comments on the design changes and Jeff Nicholls’ involvement with improving the trap: “The changes to the design may seem relatively small, but we think they’re significant both in terms of how efficient the trap is and, importantly, how quick and therefore humane the kill is. Such considerations are central to our thinking at Procter Pest-Stop, and supplying the best high quality products to pest control professionals means always striving for perfection. So by using the legendary expertise of Jeff Nicholls ensures our mole traps really are the best on the market.”
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