vole problem

repairman · June 22, 2012

Greetings from northeast Louisiana. I realize this is a tomatoe forum but I have a problem that is getting very close to my tomatoes. In the last four nights I have had voles ( note, not MOLES) destroy 9 bell pepper plants. I am afraid that the voles will move one row over & begin on my tomatoes. Does anyone have a way of getting rid of voles? Any help would be appreciated.
repairman

kath · June 22, 2012

Our garden was overrun with voles in 2010. After we installed 2 sonic mole chasers they left and we haven't had any since.

They got very mixed reviews, but we took a chance and purchased them locally. The ones we bought had a money-back guarantee.

kath

Boutique Tomatoes · June 22, 2012

Do you have a brand name kath? With our owl family I don't want to resort to poison, but we're overrun here as well and I've been looking at those as an option.

The owls seem to prefer squirrels, where I would very much like them to eat more voles and rabbits. Other than biting an occassional tomato or planting walnuts in my containers the squirrels don't bother me...

lakelady · June 22, 2012

I thought I had a handle on the chipmunks over here, but this year they are slowly returning . Something is biting my baby tomatoes off the plant and leaving them on the ground. Some eaten, some not.

The cats are hopefully keeping most of the pests away, even if they don't really catch them lol

I have heard about the sonic chasers too, maybe give one a try?

kath · June 23, 2012

We bought Sweeney's Mole and Gopher Sonic Spikes locally but Amazon has a 2 pack for about $20. They run on D batteries which lasted nearly 2 years! They do sell solar ones now.

I avoid using poisons, too, both because of having to use them in the garden soil and because of other animals that could ingest them.

Wishing you luck-

kath

Got Worms? · June 23, 2012

I have voles, chipmunks, squirrels, a woodchuck that lives on my neighbors' property and comes over for dinner, some whitetail deer come through my yard and help me with the pruning of my Hostas, and there may be some sneaky squatters that I don't even know about!

Because of the mild winter last year, in the northeast, where I live, there is now an abundance of critters out there foraging the lawns and gardens of the area.

Voles can be caught in plain old mouse traps, repeating mouse traps, home made bucket mouse traps, etc.

They can be poisoned...poison in the garden

.

Cats...more cats=less voles.

I have no experience with sonic deterrents, except if you want to count the time I dropped firecrackers into their tunnels. I don't think I killed any, but I may have made some of them deaf.

Some people put nasty tasting substances on the plants in order to deter animals from eating the plants that they (the people) want to eat.

Whatever.

Hunting and trapping is what always works to lower the population of any species. Set some traps and get a good hunting cat.
Charlie

P.S. Vole set: scrape away enough dirt on one side and close (about 1") to the "vole hole". This will recess the trap level with the surrounding surface. Set trigger and place into recess with the drop pan facing the hole. Do not bait the trap. Place objects (rocks, bricks, wood, etc.) on other three sides of the hole. You want to make it easer for the vole to go over the trap rather than around it. Sorry, I have no recipes for voles.

delltraveller · June 23, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by marktutt

The owls seem to prefer squirrels, where I would very much like them to eat more voles and rabbits. Other than biting an occassional tomato or planting walnuts in my containers the squirrels don't bother me...

I wonder if owls and cats have the same opinion about voles---they taste bad. My cats will kill them, but they never eat them. Friends and family members have the same experience. They seem to have a similar opinion about moles. But they do seem to think that both make good presents for their humans.

Rabbits, on the other hand, must be tasty, particularly the heads. I guess the owls must be going for the target that is close by.

kath · June 23, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Got Worms?

I have no experience with sonic deterrents, except if you want to count the time I dropped firecrackers into their tunnels. I don't think I killed any, but I may have made some of them deaf.

Ok, you made me choke on my lunch smoothie with that one!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Got Worms?

P.S. Vole set: scrape away enough dirt on one side and close (about 1") to the "vole hole". This will recess the trap level with the surrounding surface. Set trigger and place into recess with the drop pan facing the hole. Do not bait the trap. Place objects (rocks, bricks, wood, etc.) on other three sides of the hole. You want to make it easer for the vole to go over the trap rather than around it.

I never heard that this was successful with voles but will definitely try it if we have them again AND I can find the hole. With as many as we had in the general garden, I was never able to find a hole, but we were able to see a couple in the raised cinder block bed. Thanks for sharing your method.

kath

repairman · June 23, 2012

thank everyone for your input to my vole problem. my neighbor got 4 cats to keep snakes out of her yard. She has killed 6 copper heads so far this year. maybe I can entice her cats to my garden.
repairman

tjg911 · June 23, 2012

Quote:

P.S. Vole set: scrape away enough dirt on one side and close (about 1") to the "vole hole". This will recess the trap level with the surrounding surface. Set trigger and place into recess with the drop pan facing the hole. Do not bait the trap. Place objects (rocks, bricks, wood, etc.) on other three sides of the hole. You want to make it easer for the vole to go over the trap rather than around it.

excellent advice. i have trapped moles and voles by placing a mouse trap directly in front of the hole but i always check the direction of the tunnel coming out of the hole to be sure the sob will walk right into the trap.

good comment on no baiting the trap, the point is for it to blunder into the trap, moles and voles probably won't eat anything you'd use for bait.

i also cover the mouse trap with a pail because when i started to do this i trapped 2 small birds that stepped on the trap by accident! i felt terrible about that.

tom

b54red · June 24, 2012

I have 5 miniature dachshunds and they will aggressively dig them out of the ground. I used to have a lot of them and now I have none but I do have numerous holes. Dachshunds are like mini excavators if they find anything burrowing in the soil that is rodent in nature. Pit bulls will dig them out also but they make really large holes. They must not taste good as they always end up dropped at the back door mangled but uneaten.

OneDahlia · June 24, 2012

Too funny about voles not tasting good. My cat has been catching them often at night lately, but she doesn't take even a taste -- just brings them in through her cat door and loudly announces her gift to us, usually between 2:30 and 3 a.m. Ugh. She used to eat the mice she caught. They must taste better.

June 22, 2012	#1
repairman Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Bastrop,LA Posts: 3	vole problem Greetings from northeast Louisiana. I realize this is a tomatoe forum but I have a problem that is getting very close to my tomatoes. In the last four nights I have had voles ( note, not MOLES) destroy 9 bell pepper plants. I am afraid that the voles will move one row over & begin on my tomatoes. Does anyone have a way of getting rid of voles? Any help would be appreciated. repairman

June 22, 2012	#4
lakelady Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: northern NJ zone 6b Posts: 1,862	I thought I had a handle on the chipmunks over here, but this year they are slowly returning . Something is biting my baby tomatoes off the plant and leaving them on the ground. Some eaten, some not. The cats are hopefully keeping most of the pests away, even if they don't really catch them lol I have heard about the sonic chasers too, maybe give one a try? __________________ Antoniette

June 23, 2012	#6
Got Worms? Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: NY Zone 5b/6a Posts: 546	I have voles, chipmunks, squirrels, a woodchuck that lives on my neighbors' property and comes over for dinner, some whitetail deer come through my yard and help me with the pruning of my Hostas, and there may be some sneaky squatters that I don't even know about! Because of the mild winter last year, in the northeast, where I live, there is now an abundance of critters out there foraging the lawns and gardens of the area. Voles can be caught in plain old mouse traps, repeating mouse traps, home made bucket mouse traps, etc. They can be poisoned...poison in the garden . Cats...more cats=less voles. I have no experience with sonic deterrents, except if you want to count the time I dropped firecrackers into their tunnels. I don't think I killed any, but I may have made some of them deaf. Some people put nasty tasting substances on the plants in order to deter animals from eating the plants that they (the people) want to eat. Whatever. Hunting and trapping is what always works to lower the population of any species. Set some traps and get a good hunting cat. Charlie P.S. Vole set: scrape away enough dirt on one side and close (about 1") to the "vole hole". This will recess the trap level with the surrounding surface. Set trigger and place into recess with the drop pan facing the hole. Do not bait the trap. Place objects (rocks, bricks, wood, etc.) on other three sides of the hole. You want to make it easer for the vole to go over the trap rather than around it. Sorry, I have no recipes for voles. Last edited by Got Worms?; June 23, 2012 at 12:41 PM. Reason: add stuff

June 23, 2012	#9
repairman Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Bastrop,LA Posts: 3	vole problem thank everyone for your input to my vole problem. my neighbor got 4 cats to keep snakes out of her yard. She has killed 6 copper heads so far this year. maybe I can entice her cats to my garden. repairman

June 22, 2012	#2
kath Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: zone 6b, PA Posts: 5,664	Our garden was overrun with voles in 2010. After we installed 2 sonic mole chasers they left and we haven't had any since. They got very mixed reviews, but we took a chance and purchased them locally. The ones we bought had a money-back guarantee. kath

June 22, 2012	#3
Boutique Tomatoes Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Northeast Wisconsin, Zone 5a Posts: 1,109	Do you have a brand name kath? With our owl family I don't want to resort to poison, but we're overrun here as well and I've been looking at those as an option. The owls seem to prefer squirrels, where I would very much like them to eat more voles and rabbits. Other than biting an occassional tomato or planting walnuts in my containers the squirrels don't bother me...

June 24, 2012	#11
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	I have 5 miniature dachshunds and they will aggressively dig them out of the ground. I used to have a lot of them and now I have none but I do have numerous holes. Dachshunds are like mini excavators if they find anything burrowing in the soil that is rodent in nature. Pit bulls will dig them out also but they make really large holes. They must not taste good as they always end up dropped at the back door mangled but uneaten.

June 24, 2012	#12
OneDahlia Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: 7a NO. VA. Posts: 202	Too funny about voles not tasting good. My cat has been catching them often at night lately, but she doesn't take even a taste -- just brings them in through her cat door and loudly announces her gift to us, usually between 2:30 and 3 a.m. Ugh. She used to eat the mice she caught. They must taste better.