How to Catch a Mole: Wisdom from a Life Lived in Nature

by Marc Hamer

“A wonderful memoir ... hands down the most charming book I read last year.” (Margaret Renkl, The New York Times )

In this charming, peaceful memoir, a traditional molecatcher shares the mysterious tricks of his trade, alongside poignant moments from his personal life, including his experience as a homeless teenager, his work as a professional gardener, and all that he has learned about our own humanity from a life spent outdoors.

Kneeling in a muddy field, clutching something soft and blue-black, Marc Hamer vows he will stop trapping moles - forever. In this earnest, understated, and sublime work of nonfiction literature, the molecatcher shares what led him to this strange from sleeping among hedges as a homeless teen, to toiling on the railway, to weeding windswept gardens in Wales.

Hamer infuses his wanderings with radiant poetry and stark, simple observations on nature’s oft-ignored details. He also reveals how to catch a mole - a craft long kept secret by its masters - and burrows into the unusual lives of his muses.

Moles, we learn, are colorblind. Their blood holds unusual amounts of carbon dioxide. Their vast tunnel networks are intricate and deceptive. And, like Hamer, they work alone.

Beautifully written, life-affirming, and highly original, How to Catch a Mole offers a gorgeous portrait of one man's deep, unbreakable bond with his natural surroundings, and offers hope and inspiration for anyone looking to improve their relationship with the natural world.

Audible Audio

Published August 4, 2021

About the author

Marc writes about the natural world, the animals and plants, the wind and the rain, the rivers and lakes, the streets and towns and the people that live in these places. He was homeless for a number of years and spent his time sleeping outdoors in the countryside, under hedges, in woodlands and at the margins of fields, employed in a hundred different jobs, from cooking in a chicken shop to building drystone walls and catching moles. For many years he has worked as a gardener.

Through all this time he has asked the question, 'Why'? what is it all about, 'Why live?'. 'What is our true nature?' Marc writes about this in his recent book 'How to Catch a Mole - And Find Yourself in Nature'

Marc has written for many years, he is an old man and has with this book released his words into the wild.

Marc's work is published by the great literary publisher Harvill Secker / Vintage in the UK, Greystone Books in North America and the USA and a dozen or so publishers in Western and Eastern Europe.

Reviews

[Kris Schaefer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very unusual book. I liked all of the connections with being a part of the natural world and using the life of a mole as a kind of philosophical thread. I also liked that the author brought the reader back to when he left home and walked all over the UK. This was a deeply thoughtful book.

I struggled a little with some of the wandering of the chapters. I wasn’t sure where it was going and I didn’t always see the connections. The poems at the end of each chapter were a little lost on me.

Overall it brought me back to the earth, to connecting with nature and to questioning what we call “pests”ie the mole, and the short sighted desire to get rid of them.

[Fabiola Del Aguila · Rating 3 out of 5]

So charming and the golden wisdom from the interaction with the natural world is lovely. However, I had a hard time getting through the details of catching the moles and their eventual demise as a result. I loved Hamer's transparency and insight into the realities of man and nature. I just could not get past the inevitable hardship of the moles being at the mercy of man's selfishness.

[Annie Garvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so glad I read this book. I now feel differently about life and death.