Oh, gross! I've never seen a vole and only know about them from crossword puzzles. Do they tunnel like moles? Hope you get rid of them!

Voles have perfectly normal vision, don't live underground. Most people mistake them for small rats. I suspect that you are seeing shrews. They are quite dark and have the barest hint of eyes. I guess moles are a possibility though most people would notice their large digging paws.

Shrews are semi-omnivores, mostly feeding on grubs, worms, other insects though they will also eat seeds, nuts, and even carrion. They cannot be blamed for killing your lawn.

Nor can voles, but I don't think that's what you've found.

Check Google for pictures of voles and you'll see that they have nice, round eyes.

Can't you put screen over the window wells to keep toads, snakes, shrews, mice, or whatever....from getting trapped?

Voles are active all winter. They do hole up during severe winter blasts. They do not like to be seen because at night, they are owl food. Typically, voles come out under snow cover. They make a tunnel like trace on top of the ground and under dead grass. Presence of voles are revealed by the appearance of these 'tunnels'. Often, they live in a burrow next to a basement wall. If you have a bird feeded, they will construct 'runs' to the feeder and feast on fallen seed.

I have observed voles tunneling under the snow on moon lit nights. You won't see them work under deep snow, but cover of 1 to 2 inches is perfect. You can see the snow heave as the tunnel advances.

Next spring after the snow is gone, traces of tunnels are seen through the grass. and the grass will have been destroyed along the bottom of the tunnels. However, these tunnels are small and the damage isn't permanent. After a month of spring, the grass sends out new roots and fills in the damage.

Whatever they are, why don't you figure out a way to catch them and then drive them somewhere out in the country and let them go? That would be a lot kinder than letting them starve to death. Even snap traps would be kinder.

Jemdandy is correct and so is rhizo.

Doesn't sound like a vole...the eyes? That's not a vole.

I have voles living in my garden in the old tunnels made by the chipmunks and pocket gophers. They eat the bulbs and roots of my flowers during the winter and seed that falls to the ground from the bird feeder.

I use live traps to catch them, as to not hurt other animals that are just passing by.

By the way, shrews are found on a surprisingly frequent basis, inside the home. I have very little doubt that you've captured shrews.

Get a 1 x 2 stick and lay it in the hole where the bottom end is against the wall on one side and the top just even with the top of the wall on the other side...You won't see the stick but if a critter falls in they can climb the ramp up to the top and go away by themselves

Thanks to you all! After spending 30 minutes reading up on moles, voles and shrews...ta-da! I have shrews. :(

I assumed the little things were carnivores because they were eating their dead pals, but there's nothing else in the window well for them TO eat.

Lovely to discover they like to live IN YOUR HOUSE as well as outside!

This looks like a challenge -- to get rid of them. I know one step is more aggressive grub treatment on the lawn next year, but what to do NOW? The videos show people setting 'chipmunk traps'. Some talk about getting cats to hunt them. Just what I need, a dog with a cone collar and a new CAT!

Double-darn that crazy neighbor shooting coyotes last fall!!!

I remember my DB had a vole on their farm. They figure it came in with the ground feed truck. When they killed it my mother put it in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer so they could show it to someone to find out what it was.

BTW -- I am pretty tender-hearted, but have to draw the line somewhere. These are pests. We wouldn't have too many rabbits (and shrews) had our alderman/neighbor not played Big Hunter, killing coyotes last autumn. (Nobody has outdoor cats around here either -- *usually* a blessing.)

Our escape well is an unusual shape. $200 to have a cover made for it. I do need to find some solution though!

I don't think letting the little critter starve to death in the window well is tender-hearted at all.

How about a small ladder made from 2 long straight sticks and some cross pieces? Or a little rope with some knots tied in it for them to climb?

Once it's empty, you could make many simple covers using hardware cloth cut to fit, for under $20, I'm sure. Small pins made from a wire hanger, bent over to hold the hardware cloth and pounded into the yard to hold it in place.

Oh my goodness! Can't you PLEASE let the survivors go? Just help them climb out as Lazypup suggests and hopefully they will skedaddle to a wooded place. That seems so cruel to let them waste away with no food or water.

My son decided to have something green to look out on from his 3rd floor walk up in Brooklyn, so he planted a flowebox hanging from his window. The squirrels have dug up all the flowers.

There are no 'survivors'. I'm sure I could go out and FIND some more varmints somewhere in the woods and creek that adjoin our house.

Folks, these are PESTS, not your child's pet hamster or your dog or cat. Would you 'save' mice in your attic? Would you be happy to take delivery of a box of shrews? Would you 'free' them to die *somewhere else*? (Owl, snake, coyote, cat, etc.)

I *have* 'rescued' toads that fell into the window well, but they are not in the 'pest' category.

I will screen the window well. Mice, shrews, etc. will still be out there, perishing, but somewhere else, out of sight.

I'm sorry I posted. I was just astounded! I didn't mean to upset y'all.

I would not consider shrews as a pest. They don't damage plant roots.

You said "two were alive," and "I'm going to let them perish," so we were all guessing that you were just leaving them there to slowly die. Sorry for the misunderstanding, Chisue.

^^Yes, that's how I understood it as well.

I think shrews are cute and so are moles and mice and flying squirrels- my cats bring them in occasionally. Yes, I live-trap them and relocate them, and have done so successfully for years. I take spiders outside, too. I subscribe to the "why kill it if you don't have to?" way of life.

So sure, send me a box of them if you want. :) I'll let them go out in our woods and they can live in a nice brush pile.

All creatures great and small.....