After the pretty flowers of the last two days these dead moles were a gruesome sight hanging on a fence and had obviously been caught since we passed by last weekend.   I knew it was common practice years ago to show farmers how many had been caught so that the mole catcher could claim his due but thought the practice had died out.  It seems cruel but really it is essential to kill them because moles do a considerable amount of damage as the soil and stones which are thrown up into mole hills can spoil grazing land and damage valuable farm machinery. Grass and contaminated silage can cause the disease Listeriosis which can make sheep and cattle ill or kill them. It seems that the work of a mole catcher is still very important and at one time every parish had a molecatcher and during WW1 they were exempt from being called up as their work was considered to be of national importance.
(Extra) We decided to divert from our walk to see how far it was possible to go at the other end of the Right of Way which we discovered was blocked last Monday. There were signs of recent activity and large trees had been felled beyond the little river and lay across the track going up the hill so preventing any further progress. While it was possibly the best place to leave them it seems that there is little consideration being made for the track to be used now as a public path since the field beyond is impassable