Vole Damage Identification

Understanding Voles and the Damage they Can Cause.

Voles are the Bane of Many Commercial  Growers

Voles, also called meadow mice or field mice, are compact rodents with stocky bodies, short legs, and short tails. Their eyes are small and their ears are partially hidden. They are usually brown or gray, though many color variations exist. Voles do great damage to plants and root systems, often ruining lawns, golf courses, and ground covers. They are the bane of many commercial growers and residential gardeners.

Voles eat a wide variety of plants, and can cause severe damage in landscape, orchard, hedge or timber plantings. Voles frequently feed on grasses and broad leaved plants. In late summer and fall, they store seeds, tubers, bulbs, and rhizomes. They eat bark at times, primarily in fall and winter, and will eat crops, especially when their populations are high.

How to Identify Vole Damage

Vole damage to trees and shrubs is characterized by low girdling and patches of irregular gnaw marks about 1/16 to 1/8-inch wide. Girdling to the roots of trees and shrubs is very common and the trees may appear to be suffering from disease or insect infestation from unseen vole damage.

Other Signs of Voles

Voles construct many surface runways and underground tunnels with many burrow entrances. These runways are 1 to 2 inches wide, giving way to spongy soil from the burrowing activity. Vole tracks will be very small, only ½ inch in from heel to toe with 5 toes on the back paw and 4 toes on the front paw. The back tracks will show ahead of the front tracks. Look into the vole runways for very small, dark colored scat; it will be about one quarter inch to three-quarters of an inch long with tapered ends.

Bobbex-R Repellent to the Rescue

Bobbex-R Repellent naturally repels Voles through smell and taste aversion. Used as a bulb dip, this product will protect underground vegetation structures as well.