Physical Description
- Voles have certain characteristics that will help you tell them apart from other common small rodents:
- Voles can range in length depending on the species, but can be about 3-7 inches long, and weigh only a few ounces. ...
- They have small ears and very small eyes and short tails; these features help separate them from true mice.
What is the difference between a mole and a vole?
You can tell the difference between moles and voles by their looks, diet, and their burrowing behavior. Moles are solitary while voles are not. Identifying each of them gives you a better chance to keep them away from your yard and plants. Although there are plants that both bother them, there are different approaches on how to control these critters.
Can you keep voles as pets?
Yes, you can keep voles as pets, and they make good pets if you can give them what they need. However, it would be a better choice to keep a domestic mouse as a pet, because voles are wild animals and can carry diseases.
How to tell the difference between moles, voles, and Gophers?
Voles, Moles or Gophers?
- Vole signs. Different types of voles exhibit different signs. ...
- Mole signs. Mole mounds are sometimes mistaken for gopher mounds (Comparison of Gopher and Mole Mounds). ...
- Gopher signs (also called Pocket Gophers) Click here to see a side view of a gopher mound compared to a mole mound. ...
What are some differences between mice and voles?
Voles vs Mice – What Is The Difference?
- Physical Differences. The Cricetidae family in which voles belong also includes lemmings and hamsters hence the resemblance of voles to these animals.
- Size Differences. ...
- Color Differences. ...
- Behavior Differences. ...
- Diet Differences. ...
- Care Differences. ...
- Breeding Differences. ...
- Lifespan Differences. ...
- Conclusion. ...
What is the fastest way to get rid of voles?
Vole traps kill voles instantly and can be an effective way to eliminate large vole populations in your yard. These traps work best when they're positioned in front of vole holes and baited with peanut butter or oatmeal.
How do I know if my yard has voles?
Here are some signs you may have voles in yard:Tiny Trails in Your Yard. Voles travel on the same paths, by creating 1- to 2-inch-wide ruts or runways in the ground. ... Collapsed Plants. Voles are herbivores and like to feast on bulbs, tubers, or roots. ... Spongy Soil. ... Holes in the Soil. ... Damaged Harvest. ... Cats. ... Visual Sighting.
What attracts voles to your yard?
Untrimmed bushes and not mowed lawn is an attractive site for voles, as it can serve as a good hiding place. >>> Bird feeders such as seeds, berries left in your yard and lawn attract voles in their numbers.
What is the difference between a mouse and vole?
Voles are stockier than mice with shorter tails, larger eyes, and smaller, less prominent ears. Homeowners may find voles or mice in the house, though one of these scenarios is more likely than the other. Mice thrive anywhere with food and shelter, including homes and barns.
Do coffee grounds repel voles?
Gardeners are aware of a number of substances that repel moles, and coffee grounds is one of them. If you spread the grounds around an active hole, chances are the mole won't come back to it until the grounds dissipate into the soil.
What do voles hate?
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 many voles live in a hole?
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. Adults are thought to defend their home habitat or territory from invasion by other voles.
How do you tell if you have moles or voles?
How to Tell the Difference Between Moles & VolesA mole is 4 to 7 inches long with paddle-shaped feet and prominent digging claws. ... A harpoon-style mole trap may be used in an active mole tunnel. ... Voles are voracious pests that eat the roots of trees and other desirable plants. ... Voles prefer to take bait from under cover.
Will voles come in your house?
Although they do not infest houses often or on purpose, they can sometimes be found indoors. One or two of them may find their way into your house by accident. Voles are not the kind of animals that sleep when it is dark, and therefore, they can be active whether it is day and at night.
How do I rid my yard of voles?
Voles can be removed humanely from a yard by using live traps, or they can be exterminated with mouse traps or bait traps (which use poisons). They can also be deterred by fencing and driven away with vole repellents.
Are voles destructive?
Voles can cause damage to small trees and shrubs. They can have multiple litters in a year, and every 3 to 5 years there is a population boom. Lawn damage is most visible in the spring. Prevent and manage vole damage through yard sanitation, reseeding grass, tree guards, trapping and pesticide application.
What is the best vole killer?
Best Vole PoisonOverall. Motomco Tomcat All-Weather Bait Chunx.Runner Up. JT Eaton Bait Block.Small Volume. Sweeney's Mole and Gopher Poison Peanuts.
What time of year are voles most active?
winterVoles are active day and night, year-round. You'll normally find them in areas with dense vegetation. Voles dig many short, shallow burrows and make underground nests of grass, stems, and leaves. In areas with winter snow, voles will burrow in and through the snow to the surface.
How do I permanently get rid of voles?
Voles can be removed humanely from a yard by using live traps, or they can be exterminated with mouse traps or bait traps (which use poisons). They can also be deterred by fencing and driven away with vole repellents.
How do you tell if you have moles voles or gophers?
Voles are small and mouse-like, about 4 to 6 inches in body length plus a short tail. Moles are about the same size, but have short dark fur, no noticeable eyes or ears, and distinctive flat, wide front paws. Gophers are the largest of the three, about 6 to 10 inches long with a short tail and large front teeth.
Do voles come in the house?
Although they do not infest houses often or on purpose, they can sometimes be found indoors. One or two of them may find their way into your house by accident. Voles are not the kind of animals that sleep when it is dark, and therefore, they can be active whether it is day and at night.
How big are voles?
Voles have certain characteristics that will help you tell them apart from other common small rodents: Voles can range in length depending on the species, but can be about 3-7 inches long , and weigh only a few ounces. They are about the size of a mouse.
What are voles called?
Voles are small rodents that are very common in fields and yards. They are often called field mice, meadow mice, or meadow moles, and create surface runways that help to identify their presence. Since they do look like other small rodents, such as mice and moles, it's important to be able to identify voles so you can get rid of them correctly .
Do voles live year round?
Vole Habits & Habitat. Voles are active year-round, day and night. They can sometimes get confused with moles (see vole vs mole image above), since some species do create tunnel systems underground. However, they spend a lot of time above ground and they eat plants, not insects, like moles . Voles create runways in grass, ...
Do voles live in grass?
Voles create runways in grass, and keep these runways trimmed short, which helps you to find and identify vole presence. Sometimes, voles will use mole tunnel systems to feed on plant structures underground, but you will find voles above ground much more often.
How long are voles?
There are a wide variety of vole species, but the majority of species are between three and nine inches long when fully grown. They look quite similar to mice, with small rounded ears, and short fur. Some species also have long tails, while others have shorter tails than their mouse counterparts. However, their behavior is ...
What are some interesting facts about voles?
Interesting Facts About the Vole. These prolific little mammals are widespread and an important part of the food chain, albeit, at the bottom. They may look like mice, but these creatures have behavior all their own. Plant Power – When food is plentiful, voles are quite fond of eating plants.
Why is it important to reduce vole population?
A healthy population of voles maintains the predators without damaging the ecosystem. If the predators die off, the vole population shoots through the roof, and they kill much of the vegetation in an area.
What predators eat voles?
Wide Variety – Many different types predators will feed on voles, particularly birds of prey. Hawks, falcons, barn owls, pygmy owls, short-eared owls, gray owls, and many other owl species all hunt these little rodents. In addition to birds, voles also fall prey to coyotes, lynxes, bobcats, snakes, raccoons, and foxes.
Why do humans kill voles?
Humans and voles interact frequently, though humans do not realize it as much as the voles do. Because they are so small, these rodents go unnoticed most of the time. Humans kill or trap them for destroying crops, or getting into animal feed. Humans also threaten some species through habitat destruction.
What are the closest relatives of a vole?
Their closest relatives are lemmings and muskrats, with which they share the Arvicolinae subfamily. In some places, voles are also known as “field mice,” or “meadow mice.”. There are about 155 different species of voles, and many are important prey sources to a number of different predators. Read on to learn about the vole.
How many babies do voles have?
Most species of voles can produce anywhere between 5 and 10 litters in a single year. The gestation period is just 3 weeks long, and the average litter produces up to 10 young.
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 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.
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!)
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.
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.
Why do voles like dense, heavy vegetative cover, weeds, and meadows?
Voles like dense, heavy vegetative cover, weeds, and meadows because it provides them with protection from predators and provides nesting material. Cut back brush, mow, weed, and create a clean space. Remove woodpiles and hiding places for voles from near your garden, shrubs, and trees.
How big are voles?
Voles are small, chunky, ground-dwelling rodents. Mature voles are 5 to 7 inches long and have stocky bodies, short legs, and short tails. Adults are chestnut-brown mixed with black, and their underparts are dark gray.
How big is a vole's home range?
Their home range is usually ¼ acre or less , but this range varies with season, population density, habitat, and food supply. Voles are semifossorial, and as such, construct many tunnels and surface runways with numerous burrow entrances. A single burrow system may contain several adults and young.
How to get rid of voles in my garden?
Fall and late winter are periods when voles are easiest to trap. Set mouse-sized snap traps at burrow openings or in runways near ornamental shrubbery, flower beds, gardens, or rock walls. Bait the traps with a peanut butter-oatmeal mixture or apple slices. Set the trap perpendicular to the runway, and cover the trap with an inverted cardboard box or pan. Be sure to allow space for the trap to operate freely under the covering. Check the traps twice daily, in the morning and evening, and reset the traps until no more voles are captured. See the Trapline Products website for more information on trapping and a video describing trap placement. Although voles rarely invade houses, in the event that they do, they can be controlled by setting snap traps or live traps (Sherman or box-type) as you would for house mice.
How to keep meadow voles from girdling trees?
Wire guards made of ¼-inch hardware cloth will help prevent meadow vole damage to small trees and shrubs. Wire cylinders 18 to 24 inches high set into the ground around the trunk will prevent meadow voles from girdling the tree. Tree guards should be large enough to allow for 5 years of growth.
What are the four species of voles in Pennsylvania?
Left to right: Mole, vole, and shrew. Four species of voles occur in Pennsylvania: the meadow vole ( Microtus pennsylvanicus ), the woodland (or pine) vole ( Microtus pinetorum ), the red-backed vole ( Clethrionomys gapperi ), and the rock vole ( Microtus chrotorrhinus ).
How many litters do voles have?
Voles may breed throughout the year, but most commonly in spring and summer. Generally, they have 1 to 5 litters per year. Litter sizes range from 1 to 11 young, but usually average 3 to 6 young.
What do voles eat?
In late summer and fall, they store seeds, tubers, bulbs, and rhizomes. They eat bark at times, primari ly in fall and winter, and will also eat grain crops, especially when their populations are high.
How big are voles?
An adult vole is around 5 to 8 inches in length and it has a short furry tail. They have a short and stout body with tiny legs, small black eyes, and well-developed ears which are only half visible. Voles and moles also have very poor eyesight and they usually stay underground in their tunnels.
How deep do you see voles?
The very first noticeable sign of a vole invasion is above-ground runways, tunnels, and golf-ball-sized entry holes that are dug down to a depth of about 12 inches.
How to get rid of moles in a tunnel?
Just put the used coffee grounds on the tunnel and cover it with mud. The scent will irritate these varmints in the infested area and they will move out of their tunnels very fast. This natural home remedy will not just help in eliminating moles and voles but also serve as a natural fertilizer to your soil.
How to get rid of voles in my yard?
Using mouse traps to trap the voles in your yard or garage is generally the best DIY method of exterminating these stubborn creatures for good. However, the only limitation to using this method is it’s very hard and time-consuming to catch a whole group of voles if they are present in huge numbers.
How wide are vole runways?
It is used by them to travel and they also link the entry points of their burrows together. The runways are around 1 to 2 inches wide and visible in grassy locations. Many times, the tunnels of voles are hidden beneath mulch, shrubs, fresh grass clippings, or plant seeds.
What plants deter voles?
There are some plants like Crown Imperial, Castor Bean, Narcissus Euphorbia Lathyris, or Gopher Surge that help in deterring moles and voles out of your garden. Usually voles don’t like the taste and smell of them. So, it serves as a natural deterring agent to help you fight voles and moles.
What do prairie voles eat?
woodland voles. Species like the European water vole or the prairie vole are a bit larger than others. Plus, there are a few differences found in the dietary preferences of certain species. All of them are still omnivores and can feed on plants, worms and underground lawn grubs.
What are voles' physical characteristics?
A vole’s body is stocky, rounded, and shaped similar to a potato. Its short hair is usually colored brown to black, with a darker belly.
How big do voles get?
Voles are small mammals that are active both above and underneath the ground. Although mature voles only reach five to seven inches long, they can still upend a yard by feeding on vegetation and kicking up dirt, roots and grass.
How to keep voles away from my house?
You can either mix several minced garlic cloves into water to create a spray solution, or drop crushed cloves near your vegetation and vole runways.
How long do voles live?
Both male and female voles will stay with their mother and father for only a short period of time. Voles only live for about a year.
Why are voles so hard to identify?
Voles can also be difficult to identify because of how closely they resemble mice. They are even known as meadow mice or field mice. But if they are creating a problem on your property, it is important to distinguish voles from real mice.
How far away should you release voles?
By rule of thumb, you should release the voles at least five miles from residential property .
How deep should a vole fence be?
The fence will also need to be at least a foot deep so that voles can’t easily dig underneath and pop out on the other side.
Why do voles go unnoticed?
As they spend a lot of time in their subterranean burrows, infestations of voles in the yard tend to go unnoticed until plants begin dying, which is the result of the pests consuming their root systems and a sign that a large number of the animals are present.
Can voles be removed from lawn?
Once vole infestations are apparent, property owners should act quickly to remove populations before lawn vegetation is completely destroyed. Amateur attempts to control the rodents often don't combat vole infestations long-term, and improper handling of the pests can result in injury and the spread of disease.
What do voles look like?
Voles look like field mice with short tails, compact heavy bodies, small eyes, and partially hidden ears. Voles are 5 to 8 inches long and have prominent orange teeth for gnawing plant roots and stems. These opportunists will dig characteristic golf ball-sized exit holes in previously established mole tunnels. One day a plant will be beautiful, and a few days later, it will have fallen over with the roots gnawed off. There may be multiple residents in a vole colony, so habitat modification is important in controlling them.
What is the difference between a mole and a vole?
Moles “M” are meat-eaters, and their diet consists of insects, grubs, and earthworms. Voles “V”, on the other hand, are vegetarians and eat the roots and stems of plants.
How many feet of tunnels do moles dig?
It digs characteristic volcano-shaped hills in the lawn. The tunnels are dug at a rate of 18 feet per hour and can add 150 feet of new tunnels in the lawn each day. Moles are expert diggers that will consume up to 60 to 100% of their body weight in insects, grubs, and earthworms each day.
How to catch voles in a trap?
Snap traps baited with apples or peanut butter and oatmeal are an excellent way to catch voles. Set the traps along runways or near the exit holes, making sure that the trap is placed with the trigger end toward the runway. Place a box or bucket over the trap as voles prefer to take the bait from under cover.
What are the two types of voles in South Carolina?
The two types of voles found in South Carolina are meadow voles and pine voles. Meadow voles are much larger and live most of their lives above ground, whereas pine voles are much smaller and live almost all their lives underground. Damage by meadow voles is usually to the base of plants and fruit trees.
How big is a mole?
A mole is 4 to 7 inches in length with paddle-shaped feet and prominent digging claws. It has an elongated head and snout, small eyes, and no external ears. The short black-to-brownish-gray fur has no grain, which allows the mole to move easily forward and backward in the tunnels.
When are moles most active?
Moles are most active in the early morning and late evening on cloudy days during the spring and fall. There are many methods advertised for removing moles, such as chewing gum and vibration and ultrasonic devices that are advertised to deter them. Often, however, these methods are not very effective. Mothballs also do not work, and it is illegal to use as it is considered a misuse of a pesticide.
Description of The Vole
Interesting Facts About The Vole
- These prolific little mammals are widespread and an important part of the food chain, albeit, at the bottom. They may look like mice, but these creatures have behavior all their own. 1. Plant Power– When food is plentiful, voles are quite fond of eating plants. Of the rodents and other small animals, they have some of the highest preference for plants. This can make it easy to ide…
Habitat of The Vole
- There are few habitats that voles cannot survive in. They have adapted well to a human-centric world, and can even live in cities and urban areas, as well as farms and pastures. Some of their primary habitats include meadows, and other open areas. When open grassy fields or meadows are not available, they are happy to accept pastures. The habitat preference varies based on the …
Distribution of The Vole
- The many different species of voles can range across much of the world. In fact, there are few places that you can’t find voles! A variety of species can reside across Eurasia, and India, as well as Australia, North America, and more. There are even species that live in the Arctic tundra, though they do not inhabit Antarctica.
Diet of The Vole
- As discussed above, when given the choice, voles prefer to eat plants. However, they are not strictly herbivores. They will also feed on carrion when they come across it, as well as seeds, nuts, and berries. Grasses and flowering plants make up a large portion of their diet. Other food sources include flowers, fruits, fungi, insects, snails, bark, roots, and bulbs. When populations ar…
Vole and Human Interaction
- Humans and voles interact frequently, though humans do not realize it as much as the voles do. Because they are so small, these rodents go unnoticed most of the time. Humans kill or trap them for destroying crops, or getting into animal feed. Humans also threaten some species through habitat destruction. While many species have booming populations, some species, or subspecie…
Vole Care
- The primary concern with keeping these creatures is providing an appropriate diet. A variety of fresh greens are the best choice for these rodents, rather than a diet aimed at domesticated mice. The occasional fruits, veggies, seeds, and insects make good treats. The exact care requirements vary species by species, some species are social and must live with other voles. Regardless of t…
Behavior of The Vole
- With 155 different species, behavior varies dramatically. Some species are diurnal and active during the day, and others are nocturnal and only active at night. Many species are social, and live in groups, while others are solitary or even territorial. Many vole colonies can grow to be very large, as vole families can produce many offspring per year.
Reproduction of The Vole
- Most species of voles can produce anywhere between 5 and 10 litters in a single year. The gestation period is just 3 weeks long, and the average litter produces up to 10 young. Those offspring reach sexual maturity and can reproduce within a month of birth. A single pair can have up to 100 offspring in a single year! This means that an unchecked population can grow drastica…