BS: Why do molecatchers display the remains?

Subject: RE: BS: Why do molecatchers display the remains?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 28 Oct 20 - 05:08 AM

No, not doing, Raggy! I know it is not you or even the author of the article trying to justify the practice.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do molecatchers display the remains?
From: Raggytash
Date: 28 Oct 20 - 04:30 AM

Don't shoot the messenger !! :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Why do molecatchers display the remains?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 26 Oct 20 - 06:17 PM

Yea, I saw the bit about showing that The moles had been killed and had heard that before. I don't think that's a good reason to hang them on a fence and leave them there though. Surely it would be better to take the bodies to the farmer, get paid and let him or her dispose of the remains. I doubt that farmers need further encouragement to rid their fields of moles either.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do molecatchers display the remains?
From: Raggytash
Date: 26 Oct 20 - 05:13 PM

It was also suggested that it was a nod to other farmers to clear their land of moles !!

Subject: RE: BS: Why do molecatchers display the remains?
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 26 Oct 20 - 01:22 PM

Moleskin trousers.. what part of the mole is used for button holes...???

Subject: RE: BS: Why do molecatchers display the remains?
From: Raggytash
Date: 26 Oct 20 - 04:18 AM

In one paragraph it suggests the practice was to demonstrate to whoever was paying that moles had been caught and killed.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do molecatchers display the remains?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 26 Oct 20 - 03:56 AM

I searched the article, Raggy, but still couldn't find a good reason for it.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do molecatchers display the remains?
From: Rapparee
Date: 25 Oct 20 - 06:33 PM

That way anyone can skin them for moleskin trousers.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do molecatchers display the remains?
From: Raggytash
Date: 24 Oct 20 - 10:10 AM

I found an interesting article regarding mole catching which suggests an answer to the question.

Mole Catchers

Subject: RE: BS: Why do molecatchers display the remains?
From: Thompson
Date: 24 Oct 20 - 07:12 AM

Hmm… we don't have moles in Ireland. Perhaps you need to trek over to Marmoutier in Tours and look for a descendant of Patrick?

Maybe the mole catcher is advertising his/her lethality not to the moles but to the infested, who may say "There's a good 'un, let's hire him/her"?

Subject: RE: BS: Why do molecatchers display the remains?
From: keberoxu
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 12:38 PM

I think of terriers, not cats, in regards to catching moles.

Have never forgotten the tale of the (English) lady doing her gardening.
The terriers were with her in the veggie patch,
"eating what they fancied and flattening the rest,"
when one of the dogs went on total alert.
The dog sensed something stirring under the earth and nearby.
Terrier reverts to type!

Growling, the dog tracked over the ground the vibrations,
and judging the right instant, dug and pounced almost at the same time. Right there in the garden patch.

Still growling, the terrier dropped what he had caught and moved back.
The lady discovered lying there,
a mole so freshly killed that it was still warm to the touch,
but undeniably dead.
It was as though that dog had given the mole a lethal fright.

The dogs would not touch the little corpse afterwards, though.
As though the mole had a bad taste or a bad odo[u]r.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do molecatchers display the remains?
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 12:29 PM

If displaying the corpses up high above the ground on fences is a warning to other moles...

That's a bit pointless really, seeing as moles are as blind as.. errrm.. moles...

What they should do is catch some moles alive to take as prisoners;
to use for bargaining in secret negotiations
with the mole underground insurgent organisations...

Subject: RE: BS: Why do molecatchers display the remains?
From: Raggytash
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 10:22 AM

Why?

Subject: RE: BS: Why do molecatchers display the remains?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 10:16 AM

And I thought this thread would be about cats.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do molecatchers display the remains?
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 10:11 AM

Possibly to show that they have caught and killed the moles. Rather than just capture/release, or scared off to appear elsewhere?

Subject: RE: BS: Why do molecatchers display the remains?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 09:57 AM

We had a worse problem round here in early summer, BADGERS, digging up the lawns looking for worms, but as quickly as they came they went, very strange.

Dave H.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do molecatchers display the remains?
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 09:29 AM

To advertise their skills to those who might have need of their services?

DC

Subject: RE: BS: Why do molecatchers display the remains?
From: Michael
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 09:14 AM

Well. they hang dead crows, stoats etc on barbed wire fences 'as a warning to others' so perhaps for similar (illogical) reasons.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do molecatchers display the remains?
From: Raggytash
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 04:11 AM

Several years ago tracing back through my family history I got back to 1751. Several generations of my ancestors in the 18th & 19th century were apparently Mole Catchers by profession.

I started to wonder if it was a euphemism

Subject: RE: BS: Why do molecatchers display the remains?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 03:59 AM

Agreed, Steve. On grazing land it causes all sorts of problems too but that isn't a valid reason for displaying their remains. Maybe they could be mulched down for the earthworms in a retributive kind of way :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Why do molecatchers display the remains?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Oct 20 - 08:00 PM

Well I have terrible mole trouble in me garden, Dave. They are absolute little bastards. But they're there because I've made my lawns amenable to them over the years by leaving and mulching clippings, which, in turn, encourages the earthworms that they feed on.

But I maintain that the average mole is an utter bastard...

Subject: BS: Why do molecatchers display the remains?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 20 Oct 20 - 01:36 PM

I'm having this discussion on a Faceache group. I really cannot see any reson why Molecathers hang the remains of their work on fences for all to see. I'm sure there was a good reason in the past but there were also good reasons for bear baiting and burning witches. What am I missing? Is there any real need for it nowadays?

Here's a link to a similar discussion elsewhere - https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/moles.44906/

This is genuine interest. Just because i cannot see a valid reason doesn't mean there isn't one! I'm always willing to learn :-)