Voles

[J-jay]

I have voles eating all the roots around my shrubs causing them to die. Is there any way to kill them. I would like to do more that just run them to my neighbors house. I can repel them with moth balls. I am going to try rat poision in the runs. Thanks for any help. Jay in N.C.

[chickenista]

Aaaah. NC..Land of the Vole!
The best ways to deter/remove them is to keep the grass short so they can't hide/tunnel through it. Place mouse traps at the worst spots. I am trying one of those solar sonic thingies in the ground in hopes that they hate the noise.
Try strong mint oil on cotton balls around your shrubs and move out some of the mulch from around them.
They like my garden. They get under the mulch and eat the stalks of things like brocoli..but only three days before the brocoli is ready to harvest and I don't notice until the whole thing wilts and the head is soft..

[Ed Norman]

I saw a picture in Farm Show I am going to try. It was for ground squirrels but should work for voles in our tater patch. Get a pvc T, for the ground squirrels it was 3-4", voles could be smaller. Put a foot or so of pipe in the middle with a cap slipped on. Then put several inches in each side of the T. I don't think any of it needs to be glued together. Then fill the long middle pipe with 3 parts rolled or flaked oats and one part plaster of paris, mixed well. They fill up, it hardens inside, they get a tummy ache. There is also no poison or secondary poison danger. You have to keep it dry, of course. I thought I would put it under a hunk of plywood.

[Oldcountryboy]

Just read a article about trapping voles in a trapping magazine the other day. The author says to find a mound the voles frequent. Said should be a tunnel leading to the mound and one leading away from the mound. Get two rat traps (don't use bait) and dig a hole about a foot or two away from the mound to expose the tunnel. Once you dig down and expose the tunnel, cock the rat traps and lay them down inside the tunnel with the trigger pan facing away from the mound. Don't cover the traps back up with dirt. Instead lay a big flat object such as a flat rock, concrete brick, wide board, etc. over the trap hole and cover the edges of the flat object with dirt so light doesn't shine in the tunnel. When a vole comes to the mound through his/her tunnel, it will be caught in the rat trap. Check the traps every few days and reset.

[Paul Wheaton]

They make excellent pig food! Run a strand of electric around the "infected" area and put a pig or two in there.

[ergoman]

our manx cats, (3rd generation now)kill the heck out of them.

[EDDIE BUCK]

I had them in my strawberries and they were killing them.I replaced the wheatstraw with pine needles and they left.Whether it was the mulch with the sharp points sticking them or whatever reason they left and ain't been back.Will it work for you,lol I don't know,but it worked one time for me, if it never works again. eb

[Kris in MI]

Dogs. My dogs love to kill and eat voles.

[nehimama]

Jack Russell Terrorists!

NeHi