Meadow Vole Vole Damage | Slide Mouse
Voles can cause damage to small trees and shrubs.
Meadow vole vole damage. Voles can cause huge amounts of damage to your property wiping out gardens and even killing trees and. Voles are not a health risk to humans and pets because they typically are not found indoors but are considered a nuisance pest when they create trails across yards and destroy expensive landscaping. Signs of vole damage. They are primarily herbivores eating grasses roots rhizomes bulbs tubers bark and other plant materials.
Voles also known as meadow mice are in fact not mice at all. These little outdoor meadow mice are subterranean dwellers that love to nibble on people s plants grass trees and vegetables. Voles do most of their damage outside. Voles are dark n color have thick fur short furry tails and stubby noses.
They may also include the odd snail or insect as well. If the damage is to your trees or shrubs the colorado extension says there are some other tell tale signs of vole damage. Prevent and manage vole damage through yard sanitation reseeding grass tree guards trapping and pesticide application. Mice are just the opposite.
Mole entrance holes are usually covered with a large pile of dirt while vole tunnels aren t. If it s voles you ll see patches of gnaw marks with irregular patterns about 1 16th to 1 8th inches wide. Mole tunnels are usually over 2 inches wide while vole tunnels are 1 2 inches in diameter. You have to pinpoint the location of your voles to be most effective with your repellent methods.
As such they can cause a great deal of damage to any outdoor property in a very short amount of time. Mice and voles are both rodents but belong to entirely different groups. Vole damage to tree bark is best prevented by encircling the tree with a light colored tree guard mesh. Like many other rodents voles can be very damaging in their quest for food and reproduction.
Pine voles are more fossorial live underground and frequently girdle plant root systems. Lawn damage is most visible in the spring. These behaviors devastate crop yields and vegetation growth to the point where farmers and gardeners may incur substantial financial losses because of voles. Their primary food source also happens to be the same stuff we humans spend so much time cultivating in our yards.
Gnawed stems may have a pointed tip and the roots or tubers may also show the same wear. They can cause severe damage especially in the winter months when they are active under snow cover. The guard should be tall enough to reach above the snow line in the winter and the base should be buried in the soil or have a soil ridge around the base. Make sure that the guard is loose enough so that it does not constrict the tree.