how do you treat voles

That said, here’s a breakdown of three of the most common conventional methods to get rid of voles:

• 1. Vole Poisons Vole positions are substances designed to kill voles upon ingestion. The poisons may mimic the smell or appearance of popular vole food sources and generally kill the animals within 12-24 hours of consumption. ...
• 2. Repellents Chemical vole repellents are effective ways to push voles out of their burrows and encourage them to leave your property. Pros: Effective, fast ...
• 3. Traps

Full Answer

How to get rid of voles without killing them?

Place snap-type traps at a tunnel entrances.

• Purchase covered traps, or fold a shingle over a standard trap to avoid catching birds and other non-target animals.
• Wear gloves when you dispose of any trapped voles. Bury them or dispose of them in a tightly sealed bag. ...
• Be sure to keep children and any pets away from snap traps.

What is the best way to get rid of voles?

How to Get Rid of Voles

• Castor Oil. Voles don't like castor oil any more than moles do because it makes the soil smell bad to them. ...
• Tidy up. Voles conceal themselves in dense vegetation, meadows and weedy spots. ...
• Clean around bird feeders. ...
• Put out humane traps. ...
• Use gravel. ...
• Protect your trees. ...
• Put up a physical barrier. ...
• Try a natural remedy. ...
• Apply predator urine. ...

How much does it cost to get rid of voles?

Vole Extermination Cost Most homeowners pay between $500 and $600 for vole extermination. The initial home inspection is between $150 and $250 and the follow-up visit and treatment usually costs $350. Because voles both burrow and reproduce rapidly, it’s easy for an infestation to grow out of control in a short amount of time.

How to kill a vole?

^{Your major vole extermination and removal methods are as follows:}

• Covered traps at vole-hole entrances. Use peanut butter to ensure your rodents can resist. ...
• Use vole repellents as soon as you notice the infestation. And plug up all the vole holes. This is a hit-and-miss method, but it’s worth a shot at least. ...
• Introduce a cat into your vole infested area. Cats, and the mere smell of cat, can often drive voles away.
• Use a catch and release trap that holds numerous mice at once. ...
• Contact a vole exterminator. Voles are difficult to remove, and you might end up having to call in the professionals.

How do you permanently get rid of voles moles?

Grow protective plants. Put them around the perimeter of your lawn for a natural, effective and attractive mole repellent. Try marigolds, alliums, fritillarias, daffodils, garlic and shallots. Castor bean plant also works, but it's poisonous and should not be used anywhere around pets or children.

What is a home remedy to get rid of voles?

To make a natural vole repellent spray, dice up hot peppers and mix in a spray bottle that has equal parts water and dish soap. Then spray around areas that voles like to visit, such as the garden or any remaining brush piles. You will need to reapply the spray every week or so, especially if there is rainfall.

What do professionals use to kill voles?

If voles are already damaging your landscaping and exclusion and prevention measures have been unsuccessful, you may need to consider vole eradication. Voles can be removed humanely from a yard using live traps or exterminated with mouse traps or bait traps (which use poisons).

What is the best product to kill voles?

Top 3 most effective vole poisons:Motomco Tomcat All-Weather Bait Chunx.JT Eaton Bait Block.Sweeny's Mole and Gopher Poison Peanuts.

What scent will keep voles away?

You can repel voles by using scents they dislike such as rosin and peppermint. Voles also hate certain plants like pachysandra, daffodil, and boxwood and are repelled by cleared areas such as crushed gravel, pavement, and clear yards.

How does Dawn dish soap get rid of moles?

InstructionsHeat water in kettle.Pour castor oil into jar.Pour 3 quarts of hot water into the jar.Add Dawn Dish Soap.Shake or stir the mixture together.Pour the mixture into a garden sprayer.Spray lawn.Pour extra directly onto mole holes.

What will kill voles fast?

If you're wondering how to kill voles instantly, mouse traps such as the Snap Traps by Victor® will do the trick. For maximum effectiveness, bait the traps with peanut butter or oatmeal. Then, place them in front of any holes you can spot around your garden.

What attracts voles to your yard?

Untrimmed grass. The longer the grass, the more coverage meadow voles will have and they prefer it this way. Debris in the yard. If you have lots of clutter, such as leaves or fallen trees and logs, this may attract voles for the hiding places they can find there.

Can you drown voles in their holes?

An effective way you can catch voles or moles in the garden is to drown them out of their holes. Since these varmints leave visible holes in the ground, you should get any ordinary garden hose and plug it down each hole in your garden. This should drown them inside their hole and force them out rapidly.

What time of day are voles most active?

Voles are active day and night, year-round, with peak activity occurring at dawn and dusk. They do not hibernate. Their home range is usually ¼ acre or less, but this range varies with season, population density, habitat, and food supply.

How deep do voles dig their tunnels?

Some voles burrow and create many shallow tunnels, while other types dig down to a depth of 12 inches. The tunnels give soil a spongy feel when you walk on it. Voles also happily inhabit mole and chipmunk tunnels.

How many voles live in a colony?

How many voles are in a colony and what makes up a colony? There may be two adults, several juveniles, and a nest with up to 5 babies in a family colony.

What is the fastest way to get rid of voles?

How to Get Rid of Voles: 5 Effective WaysRemove vegetation. Voles don't like to feed out in the open. ... Protect young trees. Voles love to gnaw on the trunks of young trees. ... Use live traps. ... Use natural repellants. ... Contact a professional pest management company. ... Vole Poisons. ... Repellents. ... Traps.More items...•

What do voles hate?

Castor oil-based repellents penetrate the ground and give ground vegetation an odor and taste that disagree with voles, driving them to find food elsewhere. What's more, castor oil is all-natural, biodegradable and poison-free, making it a great alternative to pesticides.

Do coffee grounds deter voles?

Coffee grounds contain scents that can deter voles from entering your garden. When used as a barrier, coffee grounds can be an effective way to keep voles away from your plants. Voles dislike the sharp odor of citrus, so people often add a few drops of citrus oil to coffee grounds to help repel them.

What attracts voles to your yard?

Untrimmed grass. The longer the grass, the more coverage meadow voles will have and they prefer it this way. Debris in the yard. If you have lots of clutter, such as leaves or fallen trees and logs, this may attract voles for the hiding places they can find there.

How to kill voles in the fall?

If possible, avoid extermination. Poison can be viable against voles, but toxins may pose a risk to children, pets, and other wildlife. If you have exhausted all other methods of control and extermination is your only option, the safest, most effective poison baits are those that contain Warfarin, a slow-acting anticoagulant that prevents the animals blood from clotting, eventually leading to death. Laying the traps during the fall and winter season when food is scarce increases the likelihood that the voles will take the bait. Before administering this type of treatment yourself, consult a pest control specialist for the safest, most effective outcome.

What is the best way to kill voles?

Non-toxic ways to ward off voles include castor oil, derived from the seeds of the castor plant, and capsaicin, an oil found in hot peppers. Spraying either substance on your greenery provide a smell and taste voles are sure to find unpleasant.

How many offspring do voles produce?

Be a Bad Host. Active year round, voles multiply rapidly, producing up to 100 offspring annually. With adequate shelter and a plentiful food supply, a colony will thrive. So your first move is to eliminate environments that make voles feel at home: excess brush and mulch, leaf piles, wood stacks, and tall grasses.

What is a 7 inch mouse?

The 7-inch-long rodent also known as a meadow mouse is rather shy. Yet evidence of the pests’ presence is unmistakable: Their maze of 2-inch-wide tunnels leads to dying plants and displaced grasses. So don’t wait to roll up the welcome mat!

Can you bury a fence to prevent voles?

Vole “runways” tend to be less obvious in landscapes with loose topsoil. But if you notice plants suddenly drooping for no apparent reason, it’s safe to suspect you’re the victim of voles. Your best defense is a good mesh fence. To protect roots and bulbs, install rolls of ¼-inch wire mesh secured with stakes throughout your garden. Because these pests are diggers, be sure to bury the fencing at least a foot down. The good news is they don’t like to climb, so fencing need only be a foot tall.

Do owls eat voles?

Although these beautiful birds won’t eliminate a vole population entirely, they will reduce their numbers. Don’t rely on outdoor cats to be of much help, though—they can’t be bothered going after pests who spend most of their time underground.

What Is a Vole?

Voles are rodents that closely resemble mice or hamsters. “They are often called field mice because of their tendency to choose fields in which to live,” says Dr. Nancy Troyano, board certified entomologist for Ehrlich Pest Control. Although voles look like mice, they can be distinguished by their hair-covered tails, rounder heads, smaller ears and more stout bodies.

How Is a Vole Different From a Mole?

While moles and voles dig up your yard, they differ in appearance and behavior. “Moles are not rodents, but small mammals that spend most of their time underground, digging tunnels,” says Zachary Smith, president of Smith’s Pest Management, a certified pest control company in San Jose, Cal. specializing in vole control.

What Do Voles Eat?

Voles are herbivorous for the most part. “They love eating plants, tubers and bulbs, as well as the bark and roots of trees ,” says Smith. They’ll treat your garden like an all-you-can-eat buffet, leaving you with droopy, dying leftovers. If their favorite foods aren’t available, Troyano explains that voles “are also opportunistic and will eat dead mice and other rodents.”

How to deter voles from eating my lawn?

Capsaicin, the compound that makes peppers taste spicy, will also deter voles naturally. Smith says to “mix chopped hot peppers with water and biodegradable dish soap. Spray vole hotspots in your lawn and landscaping with the mixture.”. You could also try a solar powered ultrasonic deterrent.

How many litters can a vole have?

Voles “can have up to 10 litters a year,” says Troyano. “Just a couple of voles can produce over 100 offspring in a short amount of time.”. That’s why it’s so important get rid of voles before an infestation gets out of hand.

How to keep voles out of my garden?

Natural predators such as owls, dogs or cats will prevent voles from getting in the garden. You can attract owls by installing a nesting box. You can also buy coyote urine to spray around your yard’s perimeter.

How to get rid of voles in your yard?

“With this in mind,” says Smith, “remove dense ground cover, keep the lawn mowed, keep mulch light around trees and shrubs and keep up on snow removal .”. It’s also a good idea to manage plants that attract voles, such as fruit trees.

How to keep voles away from my garden?

Third, spray hot sauce (yes, hot sauce) on your precious plants to keep voles away from them above-ground. Finally, you can set mouse traps outside in the garden, along with your foundation, and on vole trails. But be sure they have covered traps so you, your kid, or your cat doesn’t trap a toe in them!

How to get rid of voles in my yard?

There are many ways to go about getting rid of voles, but here are four key steps for a simple approach: 1 First cut back all weeds and overgrown grass in your yard, and eliminate random clutter. The fewer places there are to hide, the less likely voles will stick around. 2 Next, protect your most valuable plants by enclosing them in steel mesh set a few inches into the ground. 3 Third, spray hot sauce (yes, hot sauce) on your precious plants to keep voles away from them above-ground. 4 Finally, you can set mouse traps outside in the garden, along with your foundation, and on vole trails. But be sure they have covered traps so you, your kid, or your cat doesn’t trap a toe in them!

How to keep voles off of deck?

Dig around till you eliminate vole refuges and scatter any voles currently present. Then run quarter-inch mesh chicken wire along the edge of your deck to keep the voles out.

What are voles tunneling around?

So voles are tunneling around in your yard and garden, blazing surface trails like “mouse pioneers, ” and killing your plants and grass by nibbling on their root systems. What can be done about it?

What do voles eat?

In the wild (your back yard), voles eat roots, insects, seeds, snails, and slugs. But they are constantly foraging day and night and will eat almost anything any other mouse would eat, so no need for “special baits” for voles.

How to tell if a vole is a mouse?

But you can identify voles by the presence of above and below ground tunnels if you can’t “get a good look at one.”.

How much does it cost to exterminate a vole?

It can easily cost over $500 for an initial inspection of your lot for vole life and follow up extermination and vole removal services. It might only cost you $50 to $100 using DIY methods. But when you can’t manage to do it on your own and the vole population is soaring, it can be worth it to pay the additional cost.

How to tell if you have a vole infestation?

Unfortunately, the first indicator of a large vole presence in your garden is usually a bunch of dead plants. At that point, you want to pay special attention to the volume of devoured plantlife, as this will indicate the size of the vole problem. A couple of dead plants here and there is not so bad, but bonafide plant genocide is one clue that you have an army of adorable little voles infesting your property. The size of your vole infestation will inform your choice in anti-vole products, so take careful note here of just how many plants have been eaten from underneath.

What is the best way to keep voles out of the garden?

MoleMax is a great way to keep voles and other animals out of the garden. Its active ingredient is castor oil with acts as a natural vole repellent. This also helps keep rabbits, skunks, and gophers away from the garden.

How big do voles get?

Voles have stout bodies and tiny legs, dark-colored fur, and round heads. When they grow up into mature garden-sacking pests, they generally average five inches long, including the tail. Some voles can grow to seven inches in length, although these are basically the Shaquille O’Neals of the vole world.

How long does a Toro vole repeller last?

These vole repellers have charging rates of 3 to 4 hours for 5 to 7 days of use, so you will get up to more than 7000 sq ft of coverage (650+ meters). Toro Products repeller reaches a total of 15.3 inches in height, making it the longest vole repeller available, entering the ground at a deep level.

What do voles like to do?

Voles are not exactly the toughest varmints around, so they love to frequent spaces that give them cover from predators, like brush piles, snow cover, and low-hanging tree limbs. Pastures, orchards, and any sort of plains with tall grass are common vole habitats. If your garden has tall plant life of any kind, it will look like a five-star hotel to nearby voles.

How to get rid of voles in my yard?

They can be humanely removed from a yard by using live traps, exterminated by using mouse traps/poisons, or barred from entry by garden fencing and vole repellents.

What is the best trap for a small to medium vole?

Wire Tek’s EasySet trap is best for gardeners or landscapers who have a small-to-medium vole problem and are looking for a DIY way to undertake a little extermination action. Purchasing the EasySet Vole Eliminator Trap will eliminate any need for poisons or chemicals on your lawn, making them a more environmentally friendly option–but a very unfriendly one to the voles.

How long does bait last in a vole burrow?

Check them daily, replacing bait and keeping bait fresh for at least two weeks. If you choose to use bait in a place pack or loose bait, it must be placed underground in vole burrows as specified on the product label. Always read labels and warnings carefully, and follow all directions.

What to use for voles?

Use Toxic Baits. (for large infestations) Toxicants, or poison baits, are a good choice for large vole populations. Because they can be a danger to other animals and pets, they need to be used with caution.

Can you use mouse bait on voles?

Keep these things in mind when using any vole killer product : Rat bait and mouse bait will generally work for voles, but check the label to ensure it is labeled for use for voles. Baiting in the fall and winter is generally more successful, since food becomes scarce and voles will be more likely to go for baits as a source of food.

Is it safe to put bait in a tamper resistant bait station?

Bait block products placed in tamper-resistant bait stations is a good choice. This way, it is likely that only voles and other rodents will consume the bait, keeping kids and pets and non-target animals safe.

How to kill voles in a tunnel?

Article Summary X. To kill voles, set snap-type traps at the entrances of the vole's tunnels if you're dealing with a small infestation. If you have a large infestation of voles, you may need to set up rodenticide bait stations near the tunnels and continue refilling them for 5-10 days or until the voles die.

How to control voles in your house?

4. Control voles in your home with traps, if necessary. Voles rarely stray from their burrows, so home infestations are rare. However, if you suspect there's a vole problem in your home, garage, or shed, manage them with traps.

How to get rid of voles in my yard?

1. Set traps for a small, concentrated infestation. Before setting lethal traps, make sure it's legal to exterminate or relocate voles in your area. Traps can be an effective way to control vole populations that are concentrated in a small area, like an average residential yard.

What are voles known for?

This article has been viewed 371,813 times. Learn more... In North America, voles are commonly known as field mice, and they can cause damage to gardens, lawns, and farmland. If your vole problem is contained to a small area, traps might be an effective management option.

How to keep voles out of my yard?

Eliminating food sources and debris will discourage voles from infesting your yard.

How to trap a mouse in a tunnel?

Bait snap-type mouse traps with apple slices or peanut butter mixed with oatmeal. Set them perpendicular, or at a right angle, to the tunnel entrances; use 1 trap per 100 sq ft (9.3 m 2) of land. Check your traps daily, and remove any dead and captured voles.

How to tell if a water vole is a meadow vole?

To distinguish water voles from meadow or field voles (members of the Microtus family), look for a glossy dark brown or black coat, rounded blunt face, and small, almost hidden ears. Water voles are larger than other species, live near water sources, and have dark, furry tails.

What Do Voles Look Like?

Voles are little creatures with short tails and small snouts. They have a stocky body that is rounded and shaped sort of like a potato. Voles have short hair that is typically a color between brown and black with a darker belly.

How to tell a mole from a vole?

Once you get a good look at your creature in question, telling voles and moles apart is easy. Voles are stocky, small rodents that look similar to field mice. At first glance, you might think that you have field mice instead of voles. Moles have tiny eyes and ears, a long nose, and big front feet. Don’t forget that voles have a mainly vegetarian diet while moles eat insects and worms.

How to tell if a vole is a critter?

They also have sharp teeth that let them chew on vegetation and bark. If you get a good look at this critter, take a look at its ears. Voles have small, rounded ears that can easily be hidden by their fur, along with smaller eyes. Typically, you’ll find vole tunnels right near the surface of the yard. 1.

How to keep voles away from my house?

The first step if you want to deter voles is to try to make your yard and garden so inhospitable that they have no desire to spend time there. Here are some tips: 1 Cut back any brush, keep weeds at bay, and mow frequently. Voles like dense, heavy vegetative because it protects these creatures from predators 2 Make sure that you remove woodpiles and any hiding places that voles might like near your garden and trees 3 Cut your lawn frequently and trim bushes regularly. You don’t want to give voles any places to hide 4 Keep snow away from the base of trees and shrubs, and make sure you protect young trees by wrapping the lower trunk with a guard. Voles love to take a nibble on tender trees

What is the difference between a mouse and a vole?

If you see a critter running around in your house, it’s more likely to be a mouse. Voles eat plant life, so they tend to stick outside, while mice will eat anything, so they don’t mind hanging out inside your house where there’s plenty of food. 2.

How to get rid of voles in the garden?

Place traps at the base of trees and shrubs. Try setting baits in the midday to early evening because that’s the time when voles get more active. Try baiting the traps with peanut butter. You can reset the traps as often as you like until the vole population is gone. The key to making this work is persistence.

How big do voles get?

Even though these little critters only grow to be 5-7-inches long, they can cause massive destruction to your yard and garden, so figuring out how to deter voles is paramount.

What do voles eat?

Voles, similar to other rodents, have a mainly vegetarian diet. Voles mainly eat stems and blades of lawn grass —so it’s usually vole tunnels that you’ll see near the surface of the yard. Moles have a mainly carnivorous diet. (Moles are beneficial in many ways. They help plow the soil and eat grubs and insects!)

How do you know if a vole is chewing on your tree?

If you see chewed-up bark near the base of trees and shrubs, look closely. A vole’s front teeth will leave ¼ inch side-by-side grooves in the wood as it gnaws away on the bark. (They’re rodents, after all!) Voles also tunnel through any root system, causing damage to trees and shrubs.

What are the two types of voles in North America?

Two common species of voles in North America are the prairie vole and the meadow vole. Meadow voles are more widely distributed, but prairie voles are more common in prairie areas. They are very similar, and methods for controlling them are mostly the same.

What is the difference between a mole and a vole?

In fact, a vole might look like a mouse at first glance. In contrast, moles are NOT rodents. Moles are all nose and mouth.

How do you know if a vole is manic?

You’ll know voles by the shallow snake-like tunnels that you’ll see all over your lawn. The tunnels are about two inches wide and very near the surface so they can eat their favorite food, grass stems and blades. Voles are especially manic in the early springtime.

How to keep voles away from trees?

Avoid putting dense mulch too close to trees and shrubs. Keep snow cleared from the base of trees and shrubs. Protect young trees by wrapping the lower trunk with a guard. Bird feeders are another attraction for voles and should either be removed or the ground kept very clean to keep vole numbers down.

How to tell if you have a vole problem?

If you have partially eaten carrots, potatoes, or other root vegetables, you probably have a vole problem. According to one reader, “The y dig under my carrots, pulling them down, and eating them.

How to control voles in my garden?

Vole control starts with a clean garden. Voles will make themselves at home in heavy underbrush and weedy areas. Making sure that any overgrown areas in the garden are cut back not only discourages voles from taking up residence in your garden, it also makes sure that any voles that you do have are more vulnerable to predators such as snakes, owls, hawks, coyotes, and cats.

What are vole traps?

If your yard is small, vole traps can be used. Vole traps are simply mouse traps that have been placed in the yard, particularly near where known burrows are or were.

How to keep voles out of my garden?

Making your garden a haven for predators of voles is also recommended. Attracting snakes and owls and keeping a pet cat can help reduce the vole population in your garden.

Can you use vole repellent on plants?

You can also try using vole repellent, but because vole populations tend to grow quickly and because they frequently damage plants below the ground, vole repellent may not be very effective. If you wish to try using a vole repellent, predator urine is normally recommended.