Pam, I used to stuff mothballs down the holes, and sprinkle moth flakes on the surface. They just moved on to attack another area. Then came back after the stink had faded. I think it may work if the infestation isn't too bad, but I was under seige last year. Chipmunks, another pest, will shove the mothballs out of their holes as fast as I drop them in. If I put a rock over the hole, they simply dug a new exit nearby. If the damage turns out to be really bad in the spring, I'll probably continue using mouse bait blocks, but sprinkle moth flakes on the surface. It gets so expensive that it's depressing. Money that could be spent on more hostas. I've read that the vole populations naturally rise and fall periodically, so I'm just in a bad phase right now. Papou~ Don't envy us. The January thaws have only been happening for the past few years. The gardens used to be frozen solid until the end of March. The freeze/thaw cycles wreak havoc on many plants and shrubs. Right now we again have snow on the ground. Who knows what will happen next week. Dot~ I do have cats, and used to let them out. I had no rodent problems, and they also cleaned out my neighbors yards too. Once I started keeping them inside, my neighbors noticed they suddenly had voles, moles and chippies doing damage to their lawns and gardens. One neighbor moved here with children who chased any neighbor's cats with sticks, trying to beat them. They called dogs to them and tried to poke their eyes out through the bordering fences. My cats were kept in as soon as I saw this. In addition to rabbits and deer, we also have possum, raccoons and skunks. Last straw was a fox family moving in. Some of these critters could kill a cat outright. My cats all have their shots, but...If a raccoon or fox had rabies and fought with my cat, the injured animal could come home with rabies saliva on its fur and pass rabies to us while we tended to it. Best to keep my kitties inside, and deal with the voles as best as I can (not well). Ken~ I am using bait stations, just not the PVC variety. They do definitely help a LOT. It's just hard to completely cover every area, and keep them refilled all of the time. I spend a fortune on mouse bait blocks. Between the bait blocks and the slug bait, I'm going broke. :o( Denny~ Pam is right. Voles can climb, at least a little. I've had them climb up into smaller pots sitting on the patio and eat the entire hosta crown. I suspect they may be the culprits who went up the drainage holes in my whiskey barrels and ate all of the tulips and crocus I tried planting there one year. I would also think that a pot could restrict the growth of a large or giant variety. A few years ago I transplanted a Frances Williams that had roots at least 2 feet deep. A year or two later I could see fat new roots spreading out sideways along the surface, under the pine bark. They were about 3 feet long, in each direction. I don't have any pots that big. Thank you for all of the suggestions. I've just been depressed and whining, looking for sympathy. Pathetic. ~Bunnycat (Nancy)

I had a similar experience a few years ago. I feel your pain!! I sunk a few hosta in pots in the ground when I was in panic mode. They're still in the pots doing fine. THen I started using crushed oyster shells (chicken grit from a feed store) to line saucer-shaped holes. I replanted a lot of my hostas like that. I line the hole about 1/4" thick with the shells then plant as normal then sprinkle some shells around the crown. I still have voles, I see their tunnels, maybe moles too. damage has been minimal. Except for last winter they devoured all my phlox except one. Fall mulching and/or heavy prolonged snow cover was the likely cause of that. My dog catches a few (so I can't use poison), but she digs and makes a mess to get them so that's no good either. I picked up a mouse-vole size havahart trap recently. I haven't tried it yet. I was mainly thinking about using it in the fall for mice in the garage. But maybe I'll try it in the garden for voles.

Moles produce tunnels in the yard or garden that result in the soft ground that has been mentioned. At times moles will push giant mounds of dirt aboveground. In yards, the grass can be damaged due to disruption of the roots, so above the tunnels the grass can become yellowed or brown. As to voles, I've never seen evidence that I know of that a vole has disrupted the ground other than at the point of attack. I know a vole has struck when I notice a hosta starting to yellow, and if I look more closely I realize I can lift it out of the ground and there's nothing much left but the leaves, which were sitting in a small hole.

I just came across this thread and had to chime in. I've tried traps, castor oil concoctions, and I have a great hunting cat...however, none of them were anywhere near as effective as this simple solution I discovered a year and a half ago. First, in the fall, stay ahead of the leaf litter. DO NOT LET LEAVES LAY ON YOUR BEDS! The voles shelter under the leaves away from the eyes of hawks and owls. Besides, with the leaves gone, you will be able to spot the tunnel entrances with ease. Now go to your local hardware store (not big box) or Amazon.com and buy "just one bite" bar rat and mice poison. It is a seedy-poison-waxy bar that will not disintegrate when wet. I wear disposable gloves and break the bar into green pea size pieces and poke one piece into the opening of each tunnel entrance. I do it in the early fall and again in late winter when they are hungriest. No PVC tubes, no repeat baiting...I promise you that even this halfhearted strategy has reduced my vole population easily by 85%. I have at least a hundred hostas and at least as many perennials and shrubs on a wooded two acre lot and I lost one hosta and had damage to one hosta this year...no shrub damage...this year was by far my best year as far as barely no vole damage! I'm rejoicing! For what it's worth, I read that the small amount the voles eat, combined with the fact they metabolize it makes it no risk to larger animals like cats and hawks that may possibly eat a poisoned vole or mouse...besides I have not seen a single dead vole on the ground. I'm thrilled with my success and hope you have the same experience.Here is the Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002SAQ7ZM/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1444518819&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=just+one+bite&dpPl=1&dpID=410DNMpGGUL&ref=plSrch