Voles Habits and Habitats Voles are busy little creatures. These small rodents have a high reproductive rate and can quickly populate your yard. In residential areas, voles typically prefer spaces with plenty of cover. They love hanging out in thick grass, gardens full of weeds, and areas with lots of plant debris.
Use a repellent spray or live traps to capture them and then release them somewhere far away. You could also try and draw natural predators like hawks or owls that will feed on voles. There are a couple of vole-proof plants that you can try growing, such as salvias, mint, daffodils, etc.
Untrimmed grass. The longer the grass, the more coverage meadow voles will have and they prefer it this way. Debris in the yard. If you have lots of clutter, such as leaves or fallen trees and logs, this may attract voles for the hiding places they can find there.
One of the main causes of vole infestations is the availability of abundant food sources. Voles are attracted to areas with plentiful vegetation, including meadows, lawns, and gardens. They particularly favor gardens with mulch and debris, which provide cover and food.
Voles are active day and night, year-round. You'll normally find them in areas with dense vegetation. Voles dig many short, shallow burrows and make underground nests of grass, stems, and leaves. In areas with winter snow, voles will burrow in and through the snow to the surface.
Voles probably don't like the bitter smell of coffee grounds. Scattering the used and dried coffee at the entrances and exits of the tunnels can help to drive the rodents away. However, the coffee grounds must be spread again regularly as soon as the smell has dissipated.
Are voles dangerous? Voles are active and breed year-round, this means that a small vole problem can quickly become a very large vole problem. They can carry several diseases such as Hantavirus, which humans can contract by coming into contact with feces, urine, or saliva from infected voles.
Voles are a favorite diet of many predators such as owls, hawks, kestrels, snakes, foxes, and coyotes and many other natural predators. Voles are a keystone species that often comprise more than 40% of all the mammals in any above-ground Midwest ecosystem and are the primary diet of many predators.
Vole nests are typically located in shallow burrows that are often concealed beneath grass, plants, or groundcover. The nests themselves are made of grass, leaves, and other plant materials. To locate vole nests, look for signs of vole activity, such as the presence of runways and tunnels on the surface.
Like most rodents, voles do not live long. They are very productive breeders. One female vole can have 5-10 litters in a year, averaging 3 to 5 young. They may nest in shallow grass-filled nests on the ground, or dig a small tunnel about 4 to 5 inches down to nest.
Natural Remedies for Voles
Planting repellent plants: There are a number of plants that voles dislike, such as mint, garlic, and daffodils. You can plant these plants around your yard or garden to help deter voles.
Voles live in colonies. How many are in just one colony? Usually, there are two adults, several juveniles, and a nest with up to five babies in just one colony! These pests multiply fast, and a below-ground foraging vole colony will often occupy an area of 40 feet surrounding their burrow entrance.
Daffodils: Voles don't like the alkaloids present in daffodil bulbs, so planting these flowers around the perimeter of your garden may help keep them away. Castor beans: The seeds and foliage of castor beans contain ricin, a toxic substance that voles find unappealing.
Sticking a water hose inside of a vole's burrow and turning the water on full blast is supposed to run them out of their tunnel systems, but you have to find the right tunnel to flood. Even if you flood all of the burrows that you find and watch them escape, they'll just be back after you're done.
As a non-hibernating species, voles are active day and night throughout the year.
Since voles eat, live, and breed underground, they can be especially hard to get rid of without the help of a professional. They like open spaces and large lawns such as golf courses and they also prefer places with heavy vegetation as it can provide both food and shelter.
Vole populations cycle, and about every 2 to 5 years, there will be a population boom. Mild winters with good snowfall can help to increase vole populations, as the voles can travel beneath the snow cover, safe from predators.
Nests consist of finely-chewed grasses in a slight depression in the ground or at the base of a tussock. Most latrines are hidden in a 'run' but this one was 'open-air' in the base of a rotted thistle.
The young are weaned at 2 weeks and reach maturity at 3–6 weeks when they themselves may start breeding. Females can have six litters per year; thus in a short period, voles can become very numerous. Voles live about one year.
What Does a Vole Sound Like? For these social rodents, vole noises are a primary means of communication. When frightened or in danger, the pests emit chirps similar to those made by mice. However, the high frequency of many vole sounds is beyond the human hearing range.
Although they do not infest houses often or on purpose, they can sometimes be found indoors. One or two of them may find their way into your house by accident. Voles are not the kind of animals that sleep when it is dark, and therefore, they can be active whether it is day and at night.
They do have teeth, but it is rare for them to bite a human. They can, however, be a danger to humans and pets through their urine and feces that can harbor and spread some very serious diseases. They are also known to bring parasites onto properties that can be a problem for pets.