Law threatens to shut down the 'Mole Guy'
REDMOND, Wash. - There's no reason to make a mountain of a molehill, unless you're the man who makes a living trapping moles.
David Krick is that business owner and this week, he's very scared that he might lose his business.
Moles are pesky little creatures. They tunnel their way through your yard, looking for food. They leave behind piles of dirt, or molehills, all over the yard.
You can try a variety of ways to get rid of moles, but unless you kill the moles you'll only be forcing them into the neighbor's yard. Once he figures it out, you can bet he'll force the moles back into your yard.
The 'Mole Guy', David Krick, knows how to get rid of moles. He's been trapping moles for 13 years. He uses a four-pronged trap.
"The mole comes through the ground and puts some pressure through the soil," he said. "He's not suffering. It's the most humane way I know of killing moles."
It is, however, illegal in Washington to trap moles with a body-gripping device. This week, a wildlife officer followed David Krick to a customer's house.
"And read me my rights and said that I have to shut down my business," Krick explained.
This is actually the fifth time the Department of Fish and Wildlife came after Krick since Initiative 713 passed in 2000. That initiative makes it illegal to use body-gripping traps for fun, or to profit from selling the animal's fur.
But Humane Society spokeswoman Jennifer Hillman said the initiative wasn't meant to shut down mole trappers like Krick.
"Initiative 713 was never intended to ban mole and gopher trapping," she said.
It may not have been the intention, but it is the way wildlife officers interpret the law.
"It's scary, because I don't know what to do," Krick said, "I just don't know what to do."
This is what Krick knows and what he does. It's how he supports his wife and three daughters and how his full-time employees make a living and support their families. Krick said he's never caught anything but moles in his traps and he said he knows it's the only way to get rid of moles.
Every year since it passed, the Humane Society of the United States and others have gone back to the Legislature to clarify the law, but they've failed at every session. This year, a bill for a mole exemption will once again be effectively dead unless it gets put into the budget.
Krick said he hopes that lawmakers get this clarification passed.
"These mole traps kill moles. It's the only thing that works. If they do that, I'll stay in Washington and keep doing what I'm doing and make people smile," Krick said.
David Krick is that business owner and this week, he's very scared that he might lose his business.
Moles are pesky little creatures. They tunnel their way through your yard, looking for food. They leave behind piles of dirt, or molehills, all over the yard.
You can try a variety of ways to get rid of moles, but unless you kill the moles you'll only be forcing them into the neighbor's yard. Once he figures it out, you can bet he'll force the moles back into your yard.
The 'Mole Guy', David Krick, knows how to get rid of moles. He's been trapping moles for 13 years. He uses a four-pronged trap.
"The mole comes through the ground and puts some pressure through the soil," he said. "He's not suffering. It's the most humane way I know of killing moles."
It is, however, illegal in Washington to trap moles with a body-gripping device. This week, a wildlife officer followed David Krick to a customer's house.
"And read me my rights and said that I have to shut down my business," Krick explained.
This is actually the fifth time the Department of Fish and Wildlife came after Krick since Initiative 713 passed in 2000. That initiative makes it illegal to use body-gripping traps for fun, or to profit from selling the animal's fur.
But Humane Society spokeswoman Jennifer Hillman said the initiative wasn't meant to shut down mole trappers like Krick.
"Initiative 713 was never intended to ban mole and gopher trapping," she said.
It may not have been the intention, but it is the way wildlife officers interpret the law.
"It's scary, because I don't know what to do," Krick said, "I just don't know what to do."
This is what Krick knows and what he does. It's how he supports his wife and three daughters and how his full-time employees make a living and support their families. Krick said he's never caught anything but moles in his traps and he said he knows it's the only way to get rid of moles.
Every year since it passed, the Humane Society of the United States and others have gone back to the Legislature to clarify the law, but they've failed at every session. This year, a bill for a mole exemption will once again be effectively dead unless it gets put into the budget.
Krick said he hopes that lawmakers get this clarification passed.
"These mole traps kill moles. It's the only thing that works. If they do that, I'll stay in Washington and keep doing what I'm doing and make people smile," Krick said.