Voles don't burrow. You may have moles, but from info provided sounds like gophers from here. Lots of battles ahead.

Dan

As far as I know gophers would be much more destructive and the tunnels would much larger. These tunnels are mole-sized - only 1-2 inches across.

Wouldn't gophers be eating the plants themselves, especially the fruits of the tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, etc, instead of just eating a few seeds/seedlings and dislodging roots with the tunnels?

Ah, moles. I have them here for the first time, too. I don't have a problem with them yet, but I can totally feel your pain! I was just wondering, if since you say there's been a drought for so long are you watering your lawn at all? If the garden is the only place getting water, maybe the moles and their food source are both heading to the only moist spot around. That and the fact that the tunnels are so deep makes it sound like they are all really struggling. I assume you're asking for ideas other than the usual kill 'em this way or kill 'em that way stuff (since you can find that at your local box store without asking anyone), so what if you watered a strip of lawn adjoining your garden? The grubs would probably prefer the grass roots to what's in your garden and the moles would too? It's just that if you're getting this sort of animal pressure in response to what for them is an environmental catastrophe I don't think you can simply repel them because they don't have other options for survival. Unlike the deer around me who have ACRES of other options besides my veggie plot. Anyway, whatever you decide, I think maybe the drought is the problem and the moles are just another symptom. Best of luck!

Regardless, you'll have to take action.

Surely your Cooperative Extension has a publication that lays out the options between trapping, chemical action, sound barriers, physical barriers.

That is: kill them or exclude them. Those are the options, unchanged over ~9000 years, across the globe. Killing them means continuing to kill them as others move in. Excluding them means paying money to purchase products that create a physical or physiological barrier.

Dan

I've never wasted time, effort, or water on lawn so the garden areas are indeed the only moist place. Too bad they don't move next door where my neighbor does water the grass.

I've never had mole problems before so I'm not familiar with the standard means of getting rid of them. Of course the Lowes has various things I might use, but I like input from real-world gardeners before making a decision since every product, naturally, claims to be the best thing since sliced bread. :-)

I'm not adverse to killing them in a swift, humane, and cost-effective manner.

Definitely sounds like moles to me. They love garden beds because of the nice soft soil and plentiful worms. They got into my beds and caused my plants to become stunted due to tunneling under them. The only surefire way is exclusion. I buried hardware cloth around my beds, about 6-8" deep. It's a lot of work, but it's effective.

One year I inadvertently created a small gap in the corner of my defense perimeter. Sure enough, they found the small entry and got in. I think they can actually detect the worms inside and actively try to get into the beds, as they tunnel around the entire exterior of them. I managed to close the gap without trapping it inside and all was good afterward.

If they are actually eating plants then they are not moles. Moles eat grubs, worms, etc., which makes trapping the most effective method. Moles get active in wet weather, I think they follow the worms that rise during wet weather (imo). You can try lawn sprays such as scootmole or such. The best traps are made by Trapline in CA, go to his website, they sell mole & gopher traps. If they are gophers, peanut butter on a standard rat (not mouse) trap works great. Voles can be caught in mouse traps w/pb. All are swift and humane IMO.

I posted a link on how to identify what you have by looking at the holes they make. I've never done it myself, just read about it. But I had a mole in my house once, when it was really cold out. (S)he couldn't see very well, and kept bumping into my foot. They're kinda cute, and fun to watch. He went back outside as soon as it warmed up above 0. So I assumed he preferred being outside, but only came in because he had to.

Personally, I wouldn't kill them. They may be territorial, so if you get rid of one, another will probably move in once it learns the space is available. So I'd try what sunnibel said first, and just give them a better option. They're just trying to survive, like everyone else. And will probably go where they feel the most comfortable.

Here is a link that might be useful: identifying mole and gopher holes

If you truly have a mole problem, the key to getting rid of them (well, making them move to greener pastures, actually), is to get rid of the grubs. While they eat all kinds of soil insects and worms, the bulk of their diet is grubs. Make the grubs go away, and the voles will leave. I've done this several times in my yard -- gone from heavy infestations to virtually none, while the neighbor who doesn't treat still has abundant mole tunnels and castles.

Your local garden center or hardware will have a lot of options, both organic and conventional, to get rid of grubs.

I have moles but never have to worry about them in my veggie garden. It seems they stay in the grass for most of the year but move into the flower garden in the summer then back to the grass in fall. They do make it to the veggie garden but they seem to pass through there in mid winter when I have nothing growing there. I'm happy with their schedule but if it ever changes it'll be war.

Whatever they are, they are not *generally* eating plants -- though every one of my Laxton's Progress peas, planted in one of the most heavily tunneled areas, have vanished either before sprouting or before the sprouts became seedlings.

The major problems are the destruction of plants by undermining the roots since roots can't grow in mid-air even if that air is underground and the bathtub drain effect when I water.

If they stayed in the lawn I'd be happy to ignore them while they kept the lawn grubs under control. I don't know what they're after in the garden since I don't see many grubs. But they are destroying my much-needed food.

Whatever they are, they are not *generally* eating plants -- though every one of my Laxton's Progress peas, planted in one of the most heavily tunneled areas, have vanished either before sprouting or before the sprouts became seedlings.

The major problems are the destruction of plants by undermining the roots since roots can't grow in mid-air even if that air is underground and the bathtub drain effect when I water.

If they stayed in the lawn I'd be happy to ignore them while they kept the lawn grubs under control. I don't know what they're after in the garden since I don't see many grubs. But they are destroying my much-needed food and I've got to do something -- and in as cost-effective a manner as possible.

I have had major problems with moles and voles. It DOES definately sound like voles to me. Moles dig the holes and voles use the moles holes to eat the plants.

As a Master Gardner in my area, I have asked for help many times and tried just about every poison, repellent and trap. Unfortunately the ONLY thing I've found that works for me is to plant wire mesh around the roots of all of my plants. I started with their favorites (hostas). I also make sure to use it on any expensive plants, just in case. Make sure to give enough room for the roots to grow.

Yopu have moles, which never ever eat plant material, and voles which are using the tunnels and do eat plant material. Moles are really not much of a problem. I've had them for years. But voles are the most destructive thing I've ever had to deal with--give me deer, rabbits or groundhogs any time! And I have tried for years to control them. After a few years of having some success with mouse poison, I've never been able to get them to take any since or to get caught in traps. Good luck.

Eliot Coleman wrote about dealing with voles in his latest book, "The Winter Harvest Handbook". He had a heck of a time with them too. I think he said they were his biggest "pest" problem.

I'll loan you our dog. She is constantly digging them out of the ground around our house.

I had a terrible vole problem, which (to make a long story short) I eventually solved by trenching heavy-duty stainless-steel mesh in an L shape down a foot, out a foot, and up two feet around the entire garden.

See this article for more about the differences between moles and voles.

Put out a few mousetraps baited with almond or peanut butter. If you catch cute little creatures with fur and short tails, you have voles.

Tried the baited traps. No go.

You may have all three (gopher, mole, vole) but voles are in my experience the most damaging. Moles are carnivores and are only after grubs/worms.

Where I live, there are thousands of acres of open space adjacent to my yard. There is simply no way to killing these pests would ever be effective -- others will just come along and occupy the same space.

I've had to dig up the garden beds and put down hardware "cloth" (1/4" wire mesh... not chicken wire, small voles and adolescent moles/gophers will get through that, and adults can chew through it).

For beds that are not raised, a barrier needs to be dug in 18" or so at the perimeters.

Prior to doing that, there's granulated fox urine which is supposed to keep them away as it signals the presence of a predator. Shoving a hose into the tunnels and letting it run for awhile every couple days might help too.

Here is a link that might be useful: galvanized hardware cloth