vole defense?

[Nyboy]

You can contact a few pest removal companies and let them know any nonvenomous snakes there called for can be relocated to your yard.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You can contact a few pest removal companies and let them know any nonvenomous snakes there called for can be relocated to your yard.

That's the kind of attitude I like.

 

[flowerbug]

Howdy, catfish -- I'm in NC, too -- Greenville. Right in the middle of town, and I'm pretty sure I'm the only one in my n'hood growing veg's/herbs and with a major # of fruit trees. Folks here do love their dogwoods and azaleas, and make their yards a desert for the other animals. When I moved into the house 17 years ago, the 1st thing I did was start ripping out the ornamentals and start planting fruit trees, grapevines, "delawning". Not the most beautiful yard in the 'hood anymore but fersher the most productive and natural! .... and the birds, fish, frogs, bees, 'coons, 'possums, etc, etc seem to approve.

Mitch

similar to our experience here too, we are an oasis for many creatures. i do not mind sharing the space with them as long as they aren't too greedy, i even plant things for them that i don't ever plan on eating. usually i can scoot most of the rabbits and others along to other places to forage and that is the end of it and i don't have to resort to meaner measures. if i do i make it as quick and painless as possible.

poisons go against too many things for me and like you say in the other post, sometimes they have collateral damage.

 

[flowerbug]

You can contact a few pest removal companies and let them know any nonvenomous snakes there called for can be relocated to your yard.

we'd gladly take snakes here too, we already have a lot of them.

 

[Zeedman]

Reading through this thread, it seems that there might be some confusion regarding moles, voles, gophers - and possibly even ground squirrels.

Voles dig holes in the garden to feed on plants & plant roots, but those holes are shallow, and usually just below the surface. They prefer to nest in sheltered areas (such as nearby landscaping or debris, heavy mulch, and thick vegetation) and come out from those sheltered areas at night to feed. I tend to have trouble with voles late in the season, when plants have formed a dense canopy. Placing snap traps in their runs has been very effective in keeping their population manageable; I use traps with a bait cup, and jam pieces of dried apricot tightly into the cup. The scent of the apricot makes it very effective as bait. Since vole runs tend to be under the thickest foliage, I use survey flags to mark the trap locations.

Gophers tunnel several inches below the surface & their tunnel systems can be extensive, often leaving fan-shaped dirt piles at the entrance to some of their burrows. If you have plants disappearing or being eaten, and need to use a lot of water to flood a burrow, chances are the culprit is a gopher. You can flood them out (I've done so), provided you are waiting with a shovel or dog to catch them when they emerge... they don't move very quickly on the surface. There are also tunnel traps, but I personally had poor success with them. Placing poison in their burrow was pretty effective; I dug open a portion of the main run, laid the poison, then covered the hole with plywood to block light & air. This made it easy to check if the tunnel was being used - in which case either the bait would be gone, or the gopher would have closed off the tunnel. If no activity, chances are the burrow is an old one & unoccupied.

Moles also tunnel extensively, with burrows just below the surface; but do so in search of prey (worms & insects), and do not eat plants. They will not leave the fan-shaped dirt piles left by gophers. Their predation of underground grubs & cutworms makes them beneficial, so unless they are digging up plants or damaging roots (or ruining a lawn) they should be tolerated. And re: "ruining a lawn", just an FYI... if you have Japanese beetles, chances are the moles are searching your lawn for their grubs.

Ground squirrels generally will not nest in the garden... but when they do, their tunnels will be very deep. If you choose to flood one of those burrows, it is best to place hardware cloth over the opening, since they will dash out very quickly. Most often, ground squirrels will have a permanent colony in an undisturbed location nearby, from which they will run into nearby areas to feed - usually during the day. They will dig small (but deep) bolt holes in their feeding areas, which they run to if threatened. You can pick off ground squirrels with an air rifle, but the best solution is to poison the main nest.

For all rodents, one of the best preventative measures is to reduce hiding places nearby - such as piles of rock, wood, or debris; compost heaps; and heavy shrubbery or landscaping. For surface traps, try to use them proactively - before damage becomes noticeable. Unfortunately, if you have neighbors which allow rodent populations to flourish on their property, pest management will be a greater challenge (especially with gophers). Been there, done that, it was an unending battle.

 

[majorcatfish]

We all have to make up our own minds on poisons and other methods. I'm not going to try to convince anyone one way or another. I will mention that some poisons get passed up the food chain much easier than others so which poison used matters. I have used poisons, especially for mice and rats, but only certain ones and in ways that specifically target the critter I'm going after.

I do use poisons to go after certain pests on plants too. In my opinion a poison is a poison, whether organic or not. I try to use the same guidelines, use certain ones in a way that target specific pests and don't get passed up the food chain that much or have very short half lives.

And dosage is important. A friend told the story where their lab had eaten poison so they called the CDC. The CDC asked how much did the dog weigh, what was the poison, and how much did it eat. Luckily in that case it was not even enough to get the dog sick.

My dogs are not terriers but they do love digging my yard up looking for and catching moles. But no way would I allow them in my garden. The digging would do a lot of damage.

I have had plants killed by voles in the garden. They tunnel under certain plants, especially soon after sprouting or transplanting, and disturb the roots. I've also had voles chew up carrots and sweet potatoes. I've never gone after voles in the garden though, the damage has not been enough to make it worthwhile. I have more problems with rabbits and rats.

my clan has nothing to do with your problem... you are on the chocolate substitute by-product next year...

 

[so lucky]

A couple years ago my DH got so fed up with the mole infestation we had, that he called "The Mole Man" which is an extermination service. The guy put down traps at fresh areas and covered the trap with an inverted bucket, telling us to leave the buckets in place. He would come back a few days later and check the traps. The buckets were to shade the trap, so the mole wouldn't realize their run had been disturbed.
The process was effective, and he managed to eradicate moles from our lawn. The only complaint I had was that it took him a few days to come after he was called to attend to fresh runs. Of course, with fields on two sides of us, the moles didn't stay away permanently.

 

[thistlebloom]

I have only ever trapped gophers. We have voles and shrews and moles too I'm sure, but they haven't drawn my attention like a gopher does.

There are lots of gopher traps out there, but my favorite is still the simple Macabee. I've had lots of success with it and what I especially like is the confirmation of my success. Nothing beats physical evidence (and I also note gender for my gopher demographic study )