The Vole

This is invariably the familiar 'mouse' that you see scurrying about in grassy meadows or stubble fields. Commonly referred to as meadow or field mice, they belong to the rodent family.

The Vole is also the staple food of a very wide range of creatures – predators such as snakes, coyotes, skunks, fox, hawks and owls all use voles as an essential component of their diet. The vole's diet consists of seeds, tubers, tree needles, bark, various green vegetation such as grass and clover, and insects. Voles prefer not to feed in the open. Voles require dense grass cover and prefer to live outside in fields.

Accumulated vole damage is apparent when populations are high. Vole damage includes girdling and gnawing of trees, vegetable gardens destroyed by eating of highly nutritious roots, damage to lawns by extensive tunnel and runway systems, along with tearing up mulch in flowerbeds. There are some health concerns with voles. Voles are occasional carriers of tularemia, bubonic plague, and are hosts to numerous internal and external parasites, yet voles pose no major threat because of their infrequent contact with humans.

Prevention Tips

• In addition to traps and fencing, gravel buffers can help protect gardens against vole infestation.
• Remove weeds, heavy mulch, and dense vegetative cover around your home. These environments provide voles food and protection from predators.
• Mowing, spraying with herbicides or tilling grassy areas adjacent to gardens will help prevent an infestation.

If you think you have a vole problem please contact a WMSMN vole removal specialist. WMSMN vole removal experts are trained to identify voles, get rid of voles and provide vole control to prevent future vole damage. Our certified wildlife specialists can get rid of vole problems for good.