THE MOLE 123 



The trap, whatever the form, is set in a run of the mole, taking 

 care to disturb the run only enough to allow the tube or loops (Fig. 

 77, B m) to enter it. To set this trap (the directions applying to the 

 other forms), the wires are passed through the holes (o), opened 

 out and led along inside the wooden loops and kept in position by 

 a little moist earth pressed down with the thumb ; then the knot of 

 whipcord is placed through the centre (n) and the forked piece (q) 

 thrust upwards rather tightly so as to wedge the string with the 

 knot just below the board, and, in the case of the spring being a 

 stick, the four pegs (r) thrust in at the respective corners so as to 

 keep the trap in place against the upward force of the bent stake. 

 This (t) is thrust into the ground (u) at such distance that when 

 bent over the trap, its end, where the whipcord loop is passed over, 

 will be as nearly as possible perpendicular over the middle of the 

 trap. In setting the Kent steel spring trap the main string loop 

 has only to be placed over the hook of the spring after adjusting 

 the snares and table, and then merely requires placing firmly in 

 the mole run. If the run be deep, it will be necessary to take out a 

 channel in the soil so as to admit the spring of the Kent trap. In 

 either case the central string (s) will be tight, but the snare ones (p) 

 slack, when the trap is set. A little grass or bits of turf will need 

 to be disposed on the trap to exclude daylight, using soil if necessary, 

 yet keeping the space beneath the trap clear, and so as not to inter- 

 fere with the action of any part. A mole passing through the run 

 has to go through the loops, and in its passage displaces the forked 

 stick or table, when the main string is forced upward by the spring 

 drawing up, and at the same time the snare strings, between the 

 wires of which and the board the mole is caught. 



The chief art in setting a mole trap consists in choosing the run. 

 In soft ground a mole makes numerous runs just beneath the 

 surface, and in such soil would as soon make a new run as use an 

 old one ; but moles generally have main runs between their hunting- 

 grounds (soft and moist soils) and nesting-places (banks and dry 

 ground), hence trapping in these or in runs through hard ground 

 proves most satisfactory. When a run is near the surface, as 

 frequently occurs in hard ground under an inch or two of compara- 

 tively loose soil, the mole sometimes avoids a trap by passing on 

 one side ; in such case tread the run in crosswise, when the mole 

 will make a new one through the firm soil, and a trap carefully 

 set therein will usually prove successful. 



Be careful not to use elder for the fork or table of the trap or 

 anything in connection with it, otherwise the mole will pass along- 

 side, under, or turn back to avoid the trap. 



The Kent garden tube trap (Fig. 78, D), besides acting as an effective 

 mole trap, can be used at the mouth of rat-holes, even in buildings, 

 by placing it between two bricks, within holes in the ground and 

 even in over-ground runs, for capturing rats and other vermin; 



