How to Catch a Mole

Wisdom from a Life Lived in Nature

By: Marc Hamer

Narrated 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 career: 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.

©2019 Marc Hamer (P)2021 Greystone Books

Critic reviews

“This is an extraordinary book: part natural history, part memoir, part poetry - all entirely gorgeous. I've read no other book like this. Its beauty and heartbreak will stay with me for a long time. PS: the author stops killing moles, thank goodness.” (Sy Montgomery, New York Times best-selling author of How to Be a Good Creature and The Soul of an Octopus)

“[Marc Hamer’s] wonderful book, How to Catch a Mole, is a beautiful, elegiac ode to a remarkable creature. Each page is filled with wonder, love, regret, humility and a sense of wonder (and oneness) with nature.” (Washington Post)

“Informative and effortlessly readable... Ultimately a reflection on humanity’s fraught but sustaining relationship with nature." (Publishers Weekly)