What Is a Vole and How to Get Rid of It (2024)

If you've discovered small, furry intruders in your yard or garden, you may need to learn more about how to get rid of voles.

Relatives of hamsters and lemmings, voles are small, mouse-like rodents (also called meadow mice) that live in the wild and can damage trees, lawns, and gardens. Voles eat grasses, herbaceous plants, bulbs, tubers, bark, roots of trees, and seeds.

The fastest way to get rid of voles permanently is to remove their food sources and use traps or repellents. Below, we will walk you through keeping voles out of your yard and garden.

How to Tell the Difference Between Voles and Moles

Voles are often confused—and rhyme—with another pest you may you want to get rid of, a mole. A vole resembles a cross between a mouse and a hamster, with lush fur and small, rounded ears. There are over 100 vole species.

Most types measure between 4 and 8 inches long (including the tail) and have brown or gray fur. They weigh only about 2 ounces but can eat their body weight in a single day.

Moles, on the other hand, are smaller and have longer, pointed snouts, almost invisible eyes and ears, darker gray fur, and paws made for digging. Their diets differ, too. Voles eat vegetation while moles opt for worms, insects, and grubs.

Here are two ways to tell the difference in their habitats.

1. Type of runway. Voles create aboveground runways, while moles prefer to travel underground. Some mole runways are just beneath the surface; these are feeding tunnels and appear as raised ridges running across your lawn. The other type of mole runways run deeper to connect feeding tunnels into a network.
2. Presence of dirt mounds. If a yard pest is leaving behind piles of dirt that look like little volcanoes from soil excavated from deep underground tunnels, you've got moles, not voles.

9 Ways to Get Rid of Voles

Voles can be removed humanely from the yard usinglive traps, or exterminated with mouse traps or bait traps that use poisons. They can also be deterred by fencing and driven away with vole repellents.

Mouse Traps

The best time to trap is either autumn or late winter. You can install mouse snap traps in a runway to kill voles. If there are multiple runways, know that the wider ones indicate heavy traffic, as do those heavily soiled with vole urine and feces.

Place the trap perpendicular to a volerunway, aligning the trap's trigger with the path. You could try some peanut butter for bait.

Live Traps

If you prefer not to kill vole pests, you can attempt to trap them in live traps (such as Havahart traps) and move them to an approved location at least five miles from your home.

Place the trap directly in the path and parallel to a well-defined surface runway (sort of like a bridge on a roadway). Baiting is not always necessary, but you can add a bit of peanut butter here, too.

Commercial Repellents

Thiram-based vole repellents may be effective against these pests. However, thiram should not be used on garden plants.

Repellents must be reappliedfrequently, because they dissipate with rain. However, after several applications, the voles become accustomed to the smell, reducing the effectiveness of the repellent.

Fencing

Wire mesh garden fencing (hardware cloth) can be wrapped around the base of a young tree in winter to keep voles from gnawing at its bark. Garden fencing can also be placedaround plants to protect their roots.

Make sure to bury all fencing at least 6 to 10 inches below the ground surface to prevent voles from burrowing underneath.

Gravel

Additionally, voles dislike crossing sharp gravel. When planting perennials or bulbs, add a gritty substance, like perlite or sharp gravel, in the bottom and up the sides of the hole at planting time to protect the roots and bulbs.

Habitat Modification

Making a voles habitat less suitable to them is another way of assisting in their eradication. Heavy ground cover or dense vegetation provides protection and shelter for voles. If this area is removed, voles will feel exposed and look for a safe environment elsewhere.

Natural Repellents

• Capsaicin, the chemical in spicy peppers, is detested by voles. Fill up a spray bottle with chopped hot peppers, water, and earth-friendly dish soap. Then, spray those spots where voles are digging to keep them away without harming your yard.
• Castor oil is another natural method to remove voles. Voles dislike the smell and taste of castor oil and will be repelled by it. Mix it with water and spray it around plants to protect them from vole damage.
• Garlic spray is a great deterrent for voles. You can purchase garlic spray in the store or make it yourself at home. Crush some garlic cloves and steep them in 1 quart of boiling water for about 30 minutes.Strain the mixture into a spray bottle, add 1 tablespoon of dish soap, and shake well.
• Predator urine is great for keeping voles and other garden critters away. If you don't have a dog or cat who can do the work for you, purchase predator urine granules that can be sprinkled around the garden. Note that these can easily wash away with the rain so reapplication is often necessary.

Natural Predators

It might seem counterintuitive to add more predators to your yard, but voles find their urine abhorrent. Fox and coyote urines can usually be purchased online or at farm and garden centers.

Plant Repellents

In addition to tending your garden to keep voles at bay, it's time to add some more to it. In particular, plant garlic in your bulb and perennial beds to help repel voles, as they dislike the scent. Want something prettier? Anything in the allium family will do nicely.

Prefer something with a more pleasant scent? Try daffodils, irises, salvia, and snowdrops. These are just some of the plants that voles will turn their nose up at, and if there’s no food they like, they will move on.

How to Identify Vole Damage in Lawns and Gardens

Voles share many characteristics with moles but are more destructive to plants. Meanwhile, moles typically feed on grubs and earthworms and create extensive, deep underground tunnels.

Voles construct well-defined, 2-inch wide crisscrossing tunnels or "runways" at or near the ground's surface. These runways result from the voles eating vegetation and the constant traffic of numerous little feet beating the same path, leaving an unsightly lawn in their wake.

The real damage happens when voles burrow into the root systems oflandscaping shrubsand trees, causing youngspecimensto lean or experience dieback. Voles can also wreak havoc on the roots ofperennialssuch ashosta plants,spring bulbs, and the root crops in the garden like potatoes.

You may also notice droppings and severely damaged or eaten fruits and crops such as beans and corn.

What Attracts Voles to Your Yard?

If you want to be proactive with predators in your yard and garden, it's important to know what causes them to come around in the first place.

• Untended yards. Voles are attracted to messy yards with a lot of plant debris, which easily provides them with both food and a hangout spot.
• Snowy winters. Unlike mice and rats, voles do not typically seek shelter inside buildings. Voles appear in more significant numbers in landscaped areas during relatively mild but snowy winters.
• Population surges. You will likely see the damage when local vole populations peak, which can occur cyclically every three to five years. A single female vole can produce 15 to 50 young per year. These rodents typically live about 12 months. Voles nest in grassy clumps above ground or tunnels extending several inches below ground.
• Standing water: If you have an area of standing water or very moist soil, you might attract voles, as this serves as a source of water for them.
• Thick mulch: Several inches of mulch in the garden can provide cover for voles. Ensure your mulch is only 1 inch deep to prevent voles from burrowing.
• Certain types of weeds: Chickweed and clover, specifically red clover and sweet clover, are the preferred food source for voles.

How to Prevent Voles in Your Yard and Garden

The first rule ofintegrated pest management is to prevent pestproblems through foresight rather than waiting for the damage to occur, which requires pest control.

• Remove weeds regularly.
• Avoid planting denseground covers(such ascreeping junipers).
• Keep your lawn nicely mowed.
• Because vole gnawing will cause damage to trees and shrubs, be careful about applyingmulchtoo close to trees and shrubs.
• Protect shrubs and young trees by wrapping the lower trunk with wire mesh to keep voles from snacking on the bark.
• In winter, be sure to clear snow from the roots to discourage voles from digging a snow fort.
  

When to Call a Professional

If you do not notice an improvement in the damage to your yard and garden after trying the above methods—or if you see an increase in signs of vole infestation—it is best to call a professional to handle the problem.