REDMOND - Wildlife agents shut down two Eastside businesses because they were breaking the law.

Their crime?

Trapping and killing pesky moles.

If you had a mole problem, David Krick could make you a promise: He'd get rid of them.
He calls his business "The Mole Guy."

"I talk to customers every single day," David Krick says. "And they tell me what works and what doesn't work, and they hear that I can do it."

Krick's wife Shari adds, "That's why we're so busy and helping people. Word gets around."

Word of just how good Dave is got around to Fish and Wildlife agents. And they showed up at his door with a search warrant.

"They knew I was trapping moles with scissor traps," Dave explains. "And it's illegal to trap moles with scissor traps."

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.

There are legal ways to get rid of your moles. Some companies use a castor oil based repellent that drives the moles away by making their food source taste bad. And there are poisons to kill them.

But experts agree, the most effective way to get rid of your moles is to trap them.

"I knew having a mole in my trap is against the law," Dave admits. "But everyone told us, even the wildlife people, that it was stupid," says Shari.

"It is stupid. It's very stupid," David agrees. "We're wasting a lot of people's time over a mole trap."

Three weeks ago, agents also shut down Kenmore's "Mole In One."

"It was a huge surprise," said Jack Plankenhorn, Mole In One's service manager. "We knew the traps were made illegal, however we were told by numerous sources we should just continue on, that steps were being taken to eliminate that."

But making mole traps legal again failed to get through the legislature. The wildlife department has to enforce the law.

To be a valid business, operators must take a class through the Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator Program and then get a license.

"Many people that have taken the class and are licensed are following the rules, because they are aware of the rules," says Captain Bill Hebner of the Fish and Wildlife Department. "There are some that have not taken the class and don't follow the rules and they are competing against the people that are operating lawfully. It's not a level playing field out there."

Now the Mole Guy stands to lose his livelihood over a pest no one wants - but no one will let him kill.

"It's put a lot of stress on all of us," says Shari Krick tearfully. "We will be in debt. We will lose everything."

Wildlife agents first warned David Krick years ago, and they wrote him a ticket late last year.

Now he faces gross misdemeanor charges for each mole he's trapped and killed.