Voles: Another Garden Pest

As if it weren’t enough that our garden is over run with chipmunks, we also have voles! Voles can be just as destructive as deer and rabbits. My poor garden, I thought it was just a problem with chipmunks but yesterday I was in the garden and saw two voles running around under the zucchini plants. They are mouse size but have shorter tails and are more of a black-brown color. They have small eyes and partially hidden ears. You have to admit they are kind of cute but so destructive!

Here are the signs to tell if you have voles in your yard or garden.

Trails in the lawn.

Voles travel the same paths, and they create 1-2 inch runways or ruts in the lawn. They also create these same runways in a raised bed!

Holes in the soil.

Vole tunnels have openings about 1-2 inches across and are usually hidden beneath mulch, shrubs or spreading plants. They also happily inhabit mole and chipmunk tunnels.

Unlike the chipmunks that love blueberries voles eat mostly plants. They often chew plants at the crown causing the plant top to fall over. This was why when I went to pull my beets the tops looked fine but the beet itself was all eaten away!

Protecting your garden against voles.

Voles need weed cover to survive and avoid open ground. Remove weeds, mulch and any crop litter around the garden. Guess I need to cut back the flowers that are crowding my raised beds!

Repellents

There are certain suggestions of inserting garlic tubes into their tunnels or using hot sauce.

Mowing

Keep your grass mowed. Longer grass provides cover for the these pests.

Fencing

Like the chipmunks you can protect your plants with a fence that is buried 3-6 inches below the soil, above the ground the fence should be from 4-12 inches tall.

Looks like I have some clearing to do around our raised beds. If our house doesn’t sell and we are here for another growing season I may dig up my raised beds and put hardware clothe on the bottom. This will keep them from digging into the beds. We did this on our herb garden raised beds and have not had a problem with the voles there.

Always something to keep you challenged on the home front!