Oral answer to question provided on Thursday, 2 February 2006 in the House of Lords, by Lord Bach (Labour).

Moles

Answer: My Lords, there is no doubt that they cause a lot of inconvenience to a lot of people. On the other hand, many people find them very agreeable animals, although sometimes more at a distance than close to. There are alternative methods, however; one is phosphide gas, which I am told is used widely in northern Europe to achieve the same rather grisly end.

This is an answer to the Oral question asked on Thursday, 2 February 2006 by Lord Marsh (Crossbench).

Question: My Lords, does the Minister agree that it is not simply a question of the chemical? I declare an interest as someone who spends a great deal of time trying to exterminate the velvet-clad monsters. They exist in very large numbers, and they produce large nurseries that are impossible to see. With a tractor mower, they will go straight through and throw people over—I have had experience of this, although not with me sitting on the mower—and there is no other way of controlling them.

Secondary information