Kill Voles

Voles are commonly known as field mice and can be a nuisance as they take over gardens, yards, or even end up inside your home. Voles breed quickly and can grow to a complete infestation if not properly handled. The best way to eradicate voles is to make sure that you are dealing with voles, make your area less accommodating to their living habits, and to use traps and other deterrents.

Steps

Getting Rid of Voles in the Yard, Garden, and Lawn

  1. Keep your grass trimmed short. Underbrush and grassy areas are great for voles to create hidden runways. Get rid of tall weeds and grass that can act as perfect cover for voles. Be sure to dispose of grass and leaves when yard cleaning as exposed piles are great for voles, as are piles of wood and debris.[1]
    • Think about what would be good shelter for voles and look to eliminate them from your yard.
  2. Take care of fallen fruit, pine needles, and mulch. Voles eat nuts, most fruits, and tree needles. In particular, voles enjoy apples so be sure to properly dispose of fallen fruit and rack pine needles. Also, do not put any mulch within {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} or less of the base of your trees.[1]
    • Taking away any food sources will discourage voles from staying in yard.
  3. Cultivate the soil in your yard or garden. At minimum you will destroy the runway systems created by voles but you may also be able to keep the pests by suffocating them in a collapsed hole with debris and lawn food or by injuring them outright.[1]
    • Use shovels and spades to turn over the soil. Mark off your yard into strips and lift small trenches as you turn over the soil and fill the trenches with the soil from the strip beside it. You want to discourage voles from making tunnels by disrupting the soil. Soil should be cultivated in the autumn and spring.[2]
  4. Dig sharp materials into their tunnels. Use sharp material to make digging tunnels uncomfortable. Try a mix of 10% coarse gravel and 90% soil. You may also mix your soil with material like Permatil or Soil Perfector. Use a shovel and spade to penetrate the tunnels and deposit the sharp material. Cultivate your soil once the material has been deposited.[1]
  5. Add a barrier to trees or a gate to gardens. Do not girdle your trees. Use ¼ inches wire screen mesh or smaller hardware cloth to wrap your tree trunks. The barrier should be at least a foot deep and {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} high for warmer climates. For colder climates, make sure the barrier is as tall as your highest snowfall. Clear weeds and brush before installing a fence to protect your yard, garden, or lawn.[1]
    • Use the same principles for installing fence as you would for tree screening choosing materials like wire fencing and digging at least a foot deep. The height of your fence should also be at least {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} for warmer climates and as tall as your highest snowfall for colder ones.[1]
    • Wire fencing can be both time consuming and labour intensive especially if you own a large plot of line. Wire fencing may be impractical with large gardens or yards so consult your local home and garden store to find the most effective solution for your budget and schedule.[1]
    • Voles continue to thrive during the cold of winter using the snow for cover. Clear away at least {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} of snow from your trees along with providing a sufficient barrier to keep the voles at bay.[1]
    • Hardware cloth can be purchased at your local hardware store.

Using Poisons and Traps

  1. Set a trap. Make sure that it is legal to exterminate or relocate voles as it is prohibited in some states. Set your traps when voles are at their peak reproduction. Choose from a variety of lethal traps depending on your budget. Set your trap so that they are perpendicular to the runways of the vole or near the entrances of tunnels. Check your traps daily and remove dead and captured voles.[1]
    • Mouse snap traps are the cheapest traps that you can employ.
    • Set your traps in late fall or early spring when voles are at their peak reproduction.
    • Employ either one-time traps or reusable ones if you’re comfortable dealing the the dead mole carcass. Don’t leave dead pests as other voles or pests may feed on them. They may also attract more dangerous animals.[1]
    • Protect children and pets from your traps by covering your traps in a box. This will also help disguise your trap from the voles. If you do not see any activity for a few days switch locations of your traps to other tunnels or runways.[1]
    • Use apple bits, oatmeal, or peanut butter as effective bait to lure the voles to your traps.[1]
  2. Set a trap for live capture. If it is illegal to kill voles in your location you can remove them using humane traps. The Havahart or the SNG model of the Sherman traps will capture your voles alive. Remember that you need to relocate the animals once caught with these traps so choose a location away from other homes, and at least a minimum of half a mile away from you own.[1]
    • Humane traps are difficult to use if you have a large population of voles as the cost and labour will rise. You will need a minimum of 12 - 50 traps depending on how large your garden.[1]
  3. Choose the right poison. Note that while poison may be the most effective, it may also be the most dangerous to your own health. Poison can harm children, pets, and even be washed into your water supply. Use poison in the early fall or late winter because the voles with be less finicky with their diet with a scarcity of food. Always obey the safety precautions after you have read the label.[1]
    • The safest and most effective poison baits are Warfarin-based like Rodex, Kaput Mouse Blocks, or D-Con, which can be purchased at your local hardware store. Warfarin acts slowly as it prevents blood from clotting. As such, voles will feel its full effect after about 5 days so rotate your traps every week or set 2 traps every few days.[1]
    • Follow the safety precautions so that the poison doesn’t spread to other animals. Utilize bait containers or place the trap directly at the opening of a vole tunnel. You may also create an open-ended box for your traps.[1]
    • Always handle voles -- dead or alive -- with gloves. They may carry disease organisms associated with the plague and tularemia.[1]

Eliminating Voles in the House

  1. Use Ultrasonic pest repellers. Research reviews of specific brands before purchasing ultrasonic repellents. These repellents emit sound at a high-frequency to keep voles and other household pests at bay. Simply plug in this device into a power outlet. You can purchase ultrasonic pest repellers at your local hardware store.[1]
  2. Set snap traps/live traps. Find vole droppings to give you a sense of where the voles have created their runways. Place your traps perpendicular to these runways or at the openings from which the voles enter into your house. Be sure to protect children and pets from these traps. Use live traps if your state prohibits killing voles.[1]
    • Be sure to immediately dispose of both live and dead voles from any traps. Rotate the position and type of trap every few days as voles can be very savvy. Use apple bits, oatmeal, or peanut butter to lure the voles into the traps.[1]
  3. Poison voles with special traps. Poison is not recommended for homes with pets and small children. Always read the label and obey all the safety recommendations. You may purchase poison traps at your local hardware store. Use apple bits, oatmeal, or peanut butter to disguise the poison.[1]
    • You may get a professional to handle your poison traps but be sure that he is certified and within your budget.[3]
  4. Allow your cat to hunt voles. Allowing your cat to roam your front yard is mother nature’s best solution. Cats naturally hunt rodents and are effective but may bring you back both dead and alive voles.[1]



Tips

  • Voles are intelligent enough to realize when a bait trap is killing off their fellow animals, so avoid bait shyness by rotating methods and brands.

Warnings

  • Clear any live or dead voles from traps as soon as you find them.
  • Take every precaution and head the instructions when dealing with poison.
  • Voles do not venture above ground often so be sure that it is a vole in your home and not a mouse.[3]

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 http://pestkill.org/rodents/voles/
  2. ↑ https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=202
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://www.wildlifeanimalcontrol.com/voles.html

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