A trying year for trapping moles
by Matthew Arnold.
WHAT a weird and wonderful year 2020 was! Last spring I did my very best to isolate myself from the world after being furloughed and assured by my boss at the time that we were all doomed. After a week or so and quite a bit of thought and negotiation, I realised I was quite safe to go about my selfemployed work due to its solitary nature.
Avoiding shops as much as possible, I made the most of what nature could o er at the time. Standard greens were replaced by the leaves of wild garlic and every rabbit caught or shot was consumed at home. As the year went on, I realised that things were not as they should be, having no contact whatsoever from my employer and I was ultimately laid off in the first week of September.
After being poached by him from another job I soon realised he didn’t have enough work to keep me going for much of the year. Added to this, he appeared to have various personality issues that very much clashed with my attempts to have a stress-free existence. This was the opportunity I had been waiting for, a chance to go self-employed.
Luckily, I have made some fantastic contacts in sheries, conservation and the shooting world over the years and I was soon to find plenty of work coming my way. This ranged from consultation on wetland habitat improvement projects, habitat management on nature reserves, grounds maintenance and pest control.
