There are natural ways to deal with moles and voles and the destruction they cause

Before you can resolve issues caused by burrowing and tunneling moles and voles, you need to understand their habitat and feeding habits to identify which critter is causing damage to your plants. Once you understand, there are a few steps you can take to if not resolve, perhaps minimize, those issues without the use of chemicals, poison or killing traps.

So lets start with identification. Note that there are two types of voles that are fundamentally different. The Meadow Vole most of us have known as a meadow mouse all our lives.

Pine Vole

Body is short and rounded, mouse like

Body is 2.8 to 5” long

Tail is .6 to 1” long

Fur is soft, auburn, with no long guard hairs

Eyes are small

Ears are inconspicuous

Nests in underground burrows, typically shallow, under a foot deep

Family units are maintained

Eats roots, tubers, bulbs, seeds, bark

The habits and nesting of course determines how these critters do their damage, and to which plants. Understanding their characteristic habits will help you determine how to mitigate their damage as well as identify whether the damage was done by a vole or a mole.

Lets start with the easy one. I say easy because they are easy to identify and there really is so little we can do about them. Moles. Appearance of course is distinctive. They are thick and powerful looking with a hairless snout. Moles have small back feet but short strong front limbs with paddle like paws for digging. But normally moles stay in their very deep tunnels so we rarely see them and damage may not be evident for long periods. However, moles will create very shallow tunnels just under the surface as they look for food to bring down to their larder chambers. As they tunnel across your lawn just under the sod creating raised furrows. If you happen to be watching they dig so quickly you can actually see where the mole is as it tunnels. All along they way, any grass and plant roots are severed. Naturally they love your cultivated gardens for easy digging and plenty of food. Destruction of your plant roots is merely collateral damage as they do not eat plants.

Moles actually do provide some benefit. They get rid of insect pests, grubs and larvae that do damage your plants directly. And of course they love the Japanese Beetle grubs so that is a big plus. They also do a fabulous job of aerating our soil when they dig their deep tunnels and turn and mix the soil for us. But if you are not willing to exterminate them by one of several methods, about the only thing you can do is try to keep up with their damage. Constantly tamp down and water the tunnel ridges in the lawn so that the roots don’t die. Replant heaved up plants. Keep plants watered to help the roots re-establish. Of course keeping everything moist is even more encouraging for the moles, it makes for easier digging and more food.

There are few options for mole control that would be considered humane and organic. You could try your luck with pulsing devices available. Ultrasonic and sonic vibration pulses supposedly annoy both moles and voles, and will send them off to other areas. However effectiveness is unproven. If your situation is dire, you could try one for a small garden area. If you found it to be effective I believe that for a property as a whole you would need several. A truly serious situation may require live trapping by a professional. What most homeowners do is fight the damage as best they can and eventually the moles often move to new territory of their own accord.

Voles are constantly active and eat our plants, roots, tubers and bulbs, seeds, fruits and bark. Since they breed prolifically voles can devastate our gardens and landscape. But since voles do not tunnel deep underground like moles, there are things we can do to deter them from ravaging the gardens. Voles dig burrows for nesting, identified by a small 2 inch hole in the soil in a hidden spot under plants, shrubs or mulch. They also dig shallow tunnels to feed on underground roots, tubers, bulbs, and of course root crops. So if you see your carrots literally disappear down into the ground like a cartoon, that would be a vole. And they can tunnel right through the toughest of root systems, killing small plants and damaging shrubs and trees. They will also create sheltered runways through longer grass and plants to access plants and to move to and from shelters. These runways are very apparent after the snow melts in spring. The voles are able to eat grass at will under the cover of snow all winter, leaving trails of bare soil and dead grass.

Knowing how voles nest, eat and travel helps to identify control measures:

• Clear debris that voles love for nesting and cover.

• Wood piles and compost should be well away from garden areas and planting areas.

• Keep the lawn mowed to reduce cover.

• Turn your compost pile frequently to prevent occupation.

• Do not mulch directly around the base of trees. This provides cover for eating the bark at the base of the trunk.

• Trim shrubs up from the ground and mulch minimally under the shrubs.

• Fallen seeds from bird feeders will attract voles, so prevent cover by keeping the area cleared.

• To specifically protect a garden or root crops, create a trench barrier. The trench should be close to a foot deep and easily stepped over. Voles will not risk being exposed to predators. Even just a bare “border” around a garden can be helpful.

• Fencing with hardware cloth should be buried up to 6 inches deep with at least 4 inches (up to 12 inches is better) above ground.

• A small garden can be lined with wire mesh. This would be practical for example when first establishing a garden, easiest if installing a raised bed.

• Plant bulbs in a wire “cage” or with gravel.

• Get a cat. Yes, it is as natural as hawks and owls as predators.

• When predators are lacking, try predator urine. Fox and coyote can be very helpful. (I get mine from a local farm supply or predatorpee.com)

Where voles are a consistent problem, for example near wooded areas, wetlands, farmland or prairie grasses, there are plants that voles will not normally eat. Although the selection is pretty limited, you could still create a very lovely garden using only these plants. Some are not well known or a bit unusual, but check with your local garden center to see which of these plants do well in your region.

Plants that voles find unappetizing:

• Hellebores/Lenten Rose - very early blooming, Hellebore are probably the most repellent to voles

• Snowdrops - very early blooming bulbs

• Muscari/Grape Hyacinth - grasslike foliage in spring and fall with tight, dense clusters of blue blooms like clusters of grapes. They can naturalize, forming a carpet of blue in spring.

• Narcissus/Daffodil - bright cheery spring blooms will do well even in a woodland setting.

• Iris - So many to choose from to bloom in spring and early summer. And if your growing season is long enough there are reblooming iris for a second fall display.

• Fritillaria imperialis/Crown Imperial - a very unique, tall, certainly eye catching early bloomer.

• Allium - spring blooming with tall stalks bearing beautiful round heads of purple blue blooms

• Trout Lily - this is a colony forming woodland plant with yellow flowers in spring. Nice at the front of a wooded area.

• Jack-in-the-Pulpit - a lovely woodland foliage plant that produces unique flowers in spring and berries in fall.

• Salvia - Salvia gives us the greatest variety of vole resistant summer bloomers. Annual, perennial, blue, purple, pink,

• Castor Bean - annual in the Midwest, but provides unique tropical foliage.

Hopefully with this information you find ways to minimize damage or encourage the varmints to move on to new territory.