PMPs sold on technology built into TALPIRID Mole Trap

Try it, you'll like it. That's what Gary Kirkbride, owner of Cumbria Wildlife Management, a one-man pest control operation in the U.K., realized when he tried Bell's new TALPIRID Mole Trap.

Kirkbride posted his experience on the UKPCO Forum, a blog for pest control operators in the U.K., in which he described how he first saw TALPIRID Mole Trap last fall in Birmingham, England, at PestTech 2009.

Like many of the 1,400 or so pest control technicians attending Europe's largest one-day pest control exhibition., Kirkbride visited Bell Laboratories' exhibition booth to check out new products. "I picked the trap up and put it straight back down, not really showing much initial interest," he recalled. But that wouldn't be the last of the TALPIRID Mole Trap for him.

On Christmas Day, Kirkbride opened a gift from a fellow friend and once again encountered the TALPIRID Mole Trap. This time, like a kid with a new toy, he played with the trap for nearly an hour - pushing, pulling, testing the strength of the trap's dual springs, looking for any weaknesses.

"After all, it was a brand new type of trap and I wasn't certain it would work at all," he noted. A tried-and-true fan of the half barrel-type trap commonly employed to trap moles in England, Kirkbride said he wasn't sure he "would ever use the trap in preference, as most of my work is on farms and estates in Northwest Cumbria."

So much for saying "never." About three weeks later, he received a telephone call from a local garage owner who had a mole problem. Kirkbride, remembering his new TALPIRID Mole Trap, decided it was the perfect job to try out the trap.

From his inspection of the grounds, Kirkbride estimated two to three moles were at work. He settled on an agreement with the owner and proceeded to locate an active mole tunnel. "The ground was firm but not too hard, perfect conditions," he noted. Next, Kirkbride placed the trap into position and stood on the yellow foot plate to set it. "It was so easy which was brilliant. All I could do now was carry on to my next job."

A day later when he returned to the garage, he found the trap with the yellow foot pedal "standing proud," as he phrased it, indicating the trap had been activated. "When I released the trap from the ground, I found a mole caught. The trap was quick and simple to set and easy to work with," a surprised Kirkbride discovered.

And, in the U.S., Todd Rosamond, owner of Rosamond Termite & Pest Management Systems in Southaven, Mississippi, recently posted his comments about TALPIRID Mole Trap on the Pest Management Professional web site. He wrote:

"I think it is a great advancement in mole remediation technology. It works really well as a stand-alone treatment strategy or in conjunction with mole bait.... I'm sold!"