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A vole infestation in your yard can damage young trees and flower plants in a few days.
May 27, 2022
13 min read time
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Table of Contents
Voles are meadow mice that are behind the devastation of your garden. There are more than 155 species of voles throughout the globe.
Prairie voles and meadow voles are the most common types of voles. Voles eat young trees’ barks and the bulbs of flower plants.
Besides young trees’ voles, bird feeders are also a favorite diet for these small mammals. These animals are small in size than field mice and have short tails.
They love woody plants and the tall grass of the garden. These animals might resemble mice but have short tails as compared to mice. The size of an average vole ranges from four to six inches in length.
Voles have a generally short lifecycle.
Large vole populations die in the first month of their birth. However, the average lifespan of voles ranges from three months to six months.
A prairie vole and a meadow vole have this lifespan, while some European species of these vole pests have longer lifespans, spanning up to one year.
88% of voles die even before this average lifespan. Despite the high mortality rates, the speedy reproduction rate will increase vole populations.
The vole population cycle moves on at a very steady rate. The vole numbers increase at a faster rate as compared to any other member of the rodent family.
The female vole can have as many as 8 to 10 litters in a year. Therefore, the population of voles increases at an exponential rate.
With this much reproduction rate, repelling voles has become a daunting task. Hence, it is imminent to take care vole problem before the infestation gets out of hand.
The mating period of voles continues throughout the year. However, it is most prominent during the early spring.
Fruit trees in your garden attract field mice to make tunneling systems.
Moreover, when the surrounding grass grows tall, it is also a good hiding place for pesky creatures.
They hide in the tall grass and make vole tunnels to protect themselves from potential predators such as eagles, foxes, coyotes, or owls.
Food and shelter are the two reasons that attract voles to your garden for digging tunnels. Bird feeders and the grass seed are among the favorite diets of these pesky animals.
Yes, voles present in your yard are an extremely devastating situation.
A vole infestation in your yard can damage young trees and flower plants in a few days.
Moreover, vole runways in your garden can lay waste on the turf surface. The widest vole runways in your yard symbolize a high intensity of vol infestation.
If you do not take timely vole control measures, you may find dead grass after a few days, as these pesky creatures will eat the grass and the roots of the plants.
Voles pose a constant threat to your garden, and you will not be able to control vole numbers once they have taken shelter in your yard.
Voles eat flower bulbs along with the tree bark. These pesky rodents are omnivorous; they eat both flesh and plants. However, they are more inclined toward eating plants and grass.
The tall grass is the favorite food for these pesky creatures. They make surface runways to eat the grass seeds and the roots of flower bulbs.
Apart from these, the bark of trees is also in the diet of voles. They are the only members of the rodent family who eat the bark of the trees.
To get rid of voles from your garden, it is first significant to identify voles from other pesky rodents. Once you have identified voles, you can take the punitive actions of pest control methods.
A prairie vole has the sheer resemble of ground squirrels and mice. However, the major difference is that the voles have shorter tails than mice.
Moreover, the ears of voles are half-hidden inside the fur and have round snouts.
(This is Vole)
( This is mice)
It is generally considered that burrowing animals can damage the foundations of a house. However, that is not the case with voles, as the surface runways of voles are shallow.
A vole runway is shallow, and therefore, it does not cause any noticeable damage to the foundation. However, gophers and moles dig deep inside the ground and can damage the foundations.
Nevertheless, voles can still lay waste to your beautiful garden by digging tunnels and surface runways all around the area of your yard.
Yes, voles cause a lot of problems and mess in your garden.
First of all, these pesky critters will eat your grass and damage the turf surface by making surface runways.
These pesky creatures can make burrow entrances for digging tunneling systems. A vole presence on your lawn is a warning sign that your flower plants, fruit trees, grass, and soft soil surface are on the verge of destruction.
Therefore, one has to deploy a pest control strategy to counter the infestation of voles effectively.
You can deter vole infestation by using various strategies. The use of castor oil is one good natural way to prevent voles from coming into your property and destroying plants.
The smell of castor oil is extremely pungent for voles.
Therefore, you should spray vole hotspots with a dilute mixture of castor oil to keep voles at arm’s length from your garden.
Yes, live vole traps are effective to control the infestation of voles. These are bait traps in close proximity to the vole mouse trap.
Live vole traps are good for trapping voles, but they are considered inhumane as they painfully kill voles. You surely will not like the view of dead voles in your garden.
Therefore, nowadays, more preference is given to deterrence methods than killing methods. Although the live trap can get rid of voles, it can still harm your kids or pets if they trigger it mistakenly.
Yes, the vole runways can distinguish them from other burrowing animals.
Other burrowing animals, such as gophers and moles, have deep tunnels extending up to 12 to 20 inches.
On the other hand, the runways of voles are only three to six inches deep and follow a pattern like a snake movement.
In addition, there is no soil ridge outside a vole’s burrow as that of a gopher’s burrows.
A Vole bait is of significant importance if you aim for trapping voles with live traps. Without proper bait, your trap will cease to work properly.
Bait such as peanut butter is good enough to lure voles into the live trap. You will have to put a small fraction of bait, equal to the size of a pea, on the vole mouse trap.
Once the voles take the bait, they will trigger the mouse traps and be killed immediately.
The location of the traps plays a pivotal role in the effectiveness of the pest control methodology. If you place the trap at the wrong location, you will not be able to catch voles even for several days.
Once you have placed the traps at the correct location, you will be able to get rid of voles more effectively. The best place to install live vole traps is by placing them at the burrow entrances.
To boost the effectiveness, you can cover the trap and the burrow holes with a bucket so that the voles will go straight into the traps once they come out of their burrows.
Although live traps are a quick-fix solution to get rid of voles.
However, they are recommended in most cases due to the inhumane nature of the traps.
These traps are deadly and painfully kill the voles. Hence, many states have passed laws against using these deadly traps. Therefore, it is preferable to check with your local laws and regulations before using this pest control method.
Furthermore, this method is also not safe to use around pets and kids as they might trigger the traps accidentally.
To get rid of voles in the long term, you will have to make your garden less appealing to these pesky creatures. The tall grass is the major attractant of voles to your garden.
Therefore, a lawn mowed regularly will not be a favorable option for these pesky creatures. Moreover, you must clear the winter snow from your garden as the voles can use snow cover to hide from predators.
When the snow melts, your garden will not be a fascinating place to hide. Thereby, you should use artificial snow melting methods to make your garden less appealing to these pesky rodents.
Castor oil is a method to deter voles naturally. These creatures have strong smelling senses and are not fond of castor oil.
Therefore, you can spray a dilute mixture of castor oil and water all around your yard. The smell of castor oil will keep the voles at arm’s length from your property. Moreover, you can spray it inside the burrows if these pesky animals are already in your yard.
The only drawback of the natural repellent method is that you must apply it repeatedly. The rain may wash away oil, and therefore, you will have to apply it again.
You have to protect young trees in your garden from vole damage. The preferable point is to cover your plants with wire mesh. The mesh must be both above and under the ground.
In this way, the voles will not be able to jump or dig under the plants. Moreover, you can use pebble stones under the roots of plants to prevent these pesky creatures from digging.
Another key aspect is that these pesky animals are not good climbers. Hence, you can raise plant beds to protect them from these animals.
The best deterrent to repel voles is the use of Thanos sonic vole repeller. This sonic device emits high-frequency ultrasonic waves that irritate these animals so much that they are forced to leave the premises of your house.
These animals have very sensitive ears and cannot bear loud noises. The sonic vole repeller sound frequency ranges 400 Hz. Hence, it repels these unwanted pesky creatures by irritating them with these sonic noises.
A solar vole repeller works by emitting high-intensity sound waves every 30 seconds to deter the infestation of voles.
Moreover, the device keeps on changing the frequency of the sound waves so that the voles do not get accustomed to one frequency.
You only have to install this device in your yard, and it will keep operational all the time using solar energy. It will not only deter existing unwanted animals but will prevent the new ones from coming inside your property.
· It is very easy to install and use.
· The solar vole repeller does not require sequential maintenance.
· It is a cost-effective solution to repel vole damage.
· It saves a lot of time for pest control.
· It is completely safe and sound to use around kids as the sound frequencies of this device are not audible to human beings.
Habitat modification is a significant step to make your property less suitable for these pesky animals. First of all, you should ensure to keep your yard clean. You should pick the fallen fruits and clear off any debris or leaves.
Secondly, you have to keep your grass short, the best hiding place for these unwanted animals. Therefore, you should trim the grass regularly to protect your yard.
It would be best if you created wire mesh fencing around your plants so that these pesky animals cannot dig them.
You can protect your plants by raising their beds.
In this way, these unwanted rodents will not be able to climb the plants and damage them.
Furthermore, you should spray castor oil around the areas surrounding the plants. It is a good natural repellent to keep these creatures away from your plants as voles hate the smell of this oil.
The best proactive measure is to avoid vole damage is by making your yard less appealing for them. For this, you will have to keep your turf surface clean from fallen fruits, leaves, and debris.
Moreover, you will have to protect your plants from the digging of these unwanted animals. You can use natural deterrents to keep your yard unfavorable for these pesky creatures.
There are scores of different predators that hunt these pesky rodents.
Foxes and coyotes are one of those predators. People often use the urine of predators to scare off these unwanted animals.
Fox urine or coyote urine is easily available from any pest control shop. The smell of the predator’s urine will give these pesky creatures a warning sign, and they will vacate your premises immediately.
Yes, fencing can be protective against these pesky animals, but these creatures can still get inside your yard with their digging methodologies.
They can dig under the fences and make their way inside your yard.
However, they won’t be able to climb the fencing. It is advisable to use a wired mesh type of fence, which should be both outsides and inside the ground to keep voles away.
Vole infestations are a major headache as these pesky creatures can increase in number over a short period. They can wreak hell on your lawn and eat all your plants, including the grass.
There are various methods to downsize the infestation of these pesky creatures. Among those methods, the traps are not recommended as they are an inhumane way to counter these pests.
On the other hand, theThanos sonic vole repeller is highly recommended as it is a humane device to deter these unwanted pests without harming them.
Moreover, it is also safe to use around kids. You can also use nature repellents along with the Thanos sonic vole repeller to boost your force against the pesky creatures harming your plants and trees.
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