Moles. voles or......

16 years ago

I have read through several of the threads on this, but still not sure about a few things. What we are seeing is raised lines of grass/dirt - may follow the edge of the driveway or sidewalk but also may meander through a spot in the yard. They do compress if you step on them and if they get wet, such as after watering, you will actually sink into them. We also have areas where there are just many smallish holes but these seem to develop after the tunnels so my guess is that this is an opportunist rather than the primary culprit. We do see chipmunks in the yard. I have NOT seen anything I would describe as a mound - like I picture a prairie dog mound appearance. I hope this describes well enough for someone to help me decide what it is since the treatment could be different.

So THEN what do we do? Traps seem to be getting the biggest votes from what I have read. Do the sonic machines work at all? (They are not cheap, but neither are the "worms" which one neighbor recommended!) I am pretty discouraged with this but willing to enact a plan consistently longterm if I can just have some confidence that something will work. What about pest control services, like Terminix type thing? I have been told that planting allium helps deter longterm.

Really appreciate all the help you guys are!

mel j

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Comments (9)

bpgreen
16 years ago
If you have mounds that you can step on, moles are more likely than voles. Voles tend to have lots of surface tunnels.

In addition to the traps, I've seen plans for PVC pipes to deliver poison into the holes.
hotpepper
16 years ago
I have lots of surface tunnels. They kind of look like what bugs bunny used to make in the looney tunes cartoon. I have never seen anything. They are about 3-5" wide. What's the best way to get rid of them and is there a deterrent so I don't have to kill them?
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People have been trying to keep moles out of the garden since at least the 16th century when a garden writer of that time described a "sure fire" method of control. "Place a straight sided bucket in a hole in the ground to its rim and trap a female mole and put her into the bucket. Her cries for help will attract males that will also fall into the bucket in an attempt to rescue the female" Moles are after food when they make those tunnels you see in your yard and that food is earthworms, although they will eat grubs also (or about any other insect they find). Traps may kill a mole but another will move into that vacancy as soon as possible after you have eliminated that one, so trapping will be continuous. I know people that have trapped 100 moles every year for the last 40, or so, years and still do. The mole population has not diminished one bit. Poisons may help some, but they are poisons and could be eaten by other animals and since the dose of poison is aimed at moles could cause a larger animal excruciating distress over a period of time until it too died. Most places that have tried to replicate the studies done at Michigan State University have not. What Joe Vargas turf grass students learned is that to be effective you must apply 1 pint of Castor Oil over 5,000 square feet and then water it in thoroughly. None of the commercial products I have looked at have that much Castor Oil in the mix and all have on the label that this is meant to cover 10,000 square feet and as those turf grass students found too little will not be effective, and more is simply a waste of money. Every time Castor Oil has failed to control moles it is because it has not been applied properly. An unfortunate fact for every organic gardener is that because you will build up the amount of organic matter in your soil, and earthworms love organic matter, you will have a mole, most often only one simply because of the amount of territory each mole needs to supply its needs, anbout 1/4 acre.
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Mice have long tails. We have two kinds, the gray mouse and the brown with white belly. Brown ones, Deer mice come in pairs, if you kill two, they are gone. Grays, House mice are non-pairing, come in quantities. I hate seeing the gray ones, you never know if you got them all. Voles here are mice sized, with very short tails, like Hamsters. Also come in quantities, but I have never had them come into the house. Barn cat catches a bunch of them. Look very like mice, just no tails. Shrews are tiny, often dark, about half the size of a mouse. Maybe as large as a lady's thumb. Terrible fighters, will kill mice and eat them. I look at the funny noses to see if they are shrews. Some are star shaped noses, or other wise different than mice. Usually the eyes are also very small, compared to mice with big eyes. A full sized Mole is about hand sized with the front feet looking like he wears baseball mitts!! Way oversized front feet to allow lots of dirt moving very quickly. You might mix him up with a small rat, but not a mouse. Much bigger than mice. They also might have a funny shaped nose to help them locate earthworms in the dirt and aid in moving dirt as they tunnel along. I don't think they kill mice like the shrews. My dog is more likely to dig up a Mole and flip it around to kill it. One small dog with big ears will track the digging mole, while the other large dog does the digging to find Mole. I get the corpse as my present or find it later in the yard. The cat doesn't work that hard, she only chases things above the ground.
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ncgreenthumb
16 years ago
The only deterrent to voles is an unhealthy lawn which no ones wants. Voles eat earthworms and such which are generally appreciated by lawn folks. I wouldn't attempt to exterminate their food source. Two options at this point are to introduce whatever is above them on the food chain which may be less desirable. The other thing is to work hard at exterminating them yourself.

I have had voles and now have them again. I live in an older neighborhood where the ecosystem is humming right along and voles are a natural part of that.

If you want to remove the currently offending animal, keep track of the active tunnels. Look for fresher dirt that has been pushed to the lawn surface by the tunneling and stamp it down with your foot. Do this to as many tunnels are you can remember. The next day, go back to those spots and look for any of the depressed spots that have been tunneled again. Take the garden hose and insert the hose into the tunnel at that spot and let the water flow. Once you've done that, work you way down the tunnel lines and look for an erratic thumping from underneath. There is your culprit. Now this technique may take several attempts to work but from my history it does. The tunnels are natural conduits for the water and will travel quickly to all ends. Once you see the thumping, then it's up to you what you want to do. Me, I drop the flat end of a shovel on top like whack-a-mole.

I don't like the use of poisons due to all the children and pets in my neighborhood. And you don't really know that you got them if you never seen the end result. With the method above, you know you have.

Good luck to you. I've exterminated several voles and more just keep coming. Such as life in a healthy environment.
meaniegreen
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for all your helpful responses! We have decided to have fun waging war and just making it a long term relationship! (Prob don't have much choice, huh!)

Melanie
Billl
16 years ago
Sounds like Moles, but I don't think you can completely rule out voles. They also aren't mutually exclusive, so you could have both.

Anyway, they will come and go as they please. You can start stomping on holes, trying to flood them etc, but that is kinda hit or miss. They little guys have 24 hours a day to dig and you presumably have other stuff to do, so it could be a long, losing battle.

If you aren't opposed to killing them, they sell baits and mechanical traps. If you just want to chase them away, castor oil usually does the trick. You can generally find it granular form at nurseries. Basically, you start from the inside and apply outward over a couple of days. They hate the smell and tend to move on to greener pastures. Of course, that doesn't last forever and some new friends will eventually move in.
meaniegreen
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for all your helpful responses! We have decided to have fun waging war and just making it a long term relationship! (Prob don't have much choice, huh!)

Melanie
subywu
16 years ago
Voles usually do damage in the winter when it's snow covered. Moles bury just underneath the surface to get from one place to another and then bury deep. I would say your problem is probably Moles.

I would agree that both are major problems with healthy lawns!!!
airlifter
16 years ago
I had two voles that were digging the surface tunnels through my grass and making a mess of my lawn.
They are no longer a problem and it only cost me $1.00

Two mouse traps set perpindicular in their "tunnel" took care of the problem in one night.
inlimbo
16 years ago
I think voles are only interested in roots - moles are looking for grubs and worms.

I've got voles in the garden and they make the area very spongy underfoot. Their entry holes are smaller and humped up ridges don't appear in the lawn. When they tunnel across lawn to get to another garden, it looks flat and bare.

I stumbled across the site below that has good pictures to help ID the one you're dealing with.

Here is a link that might be useful: voles v. moles v. gophers

Moles. voles or......

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Moles. voles or......

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