What is a Vole?
Voles (also known meadow mice or field mice) are furry, herbivorous rodents that feed on the stems and blades of grass and other materials such as tubers and seeds. These animals hide in mulch, tall grass, burrows in the ground, brush piles, wood piles, rocks and upturned flower pots.
Damage
Voles typically damage turf through feeding. These rodents chew grass down to ground level, typically during the winter and under the cover of a heavy snowfall.. Voles may also damage lawns through “traffic,” damage caused when they use a stretch of lawn as a path, breaking down the lawn. Most homeowners are unaware of the damage to their lawn until the warm weather melts the snow, showcasing the trails and burrows.
Repair
Thankfully, the root system of lawns are normally not damaged by voles, as their damage is localized to blades. Because of this, the damaged patches regrow as the weather warms. If your grass is not growing when the sun appears, try giving the area a thorough raking and a light application of fertilizer. You may also overseed the blighted spot with a mix of species.
Control
Due to a large number of voles in most areas, chemical and trapping approaches are labor intensive and sometimes ineffective. Chemical baits are available, but you must be careful not to poison birds, chipmunks, squirrels and other small animals. Traditional mousetraps are used to catch some voles but do not serve to control the large population numbers.
Instead of taking out voles, opt to reduce vole damage:
- Mow until growth stops in the fall, and mow with a lower blade height at the last mowing for the year.
- Move vole “hideouts” such as wood piles, brush piles and flower pots away from your lawn.
- Protect your trees and shrubs with tree wraps or hardware cloth into the ground.
