How To Prevent Voles

How To Prevent Voles

How to prevent voles from invading your lawn and landscape starts with understanding the sheltering, movement, and food requirements of voles.  Voles often referred to as meadow or field mice can be very challenging nuisance yard pests in Minnesota.  To learn more about their general characteristics, please visit the dedicated Metro Mole Control vole page located here.  If you would like to learn more about the differences between moles and voles, please visit our prior posting titled “Difference Between Moles And Voles.”

Where do you find voles?

Voles may be found just about anywhere in Minnesota but we see a lot of activity within newer housing developments.  As homes are introduced, voles (and other yard pests) get squeezed from very large, undeveloped areas into much smaller, defined areas.  We find heavy concentrations of voles in bordering woods, around detention ponds, and in natural buffer zones.  Voles love these tall grass areas which protect them from their natural predators which include hawks, owls, fox, and coyotes.

Do voles migrate and what do they eat?

While voles can be year-round pests they often migrate to your property in late summer and fall as they transition from neighboring tall grass areas to your lawn and landscape.  Over the winter, voles will live on your property under the cover of snow.  Under the snow, they will venture out in search of food to any part of your landscape without the threat of predators.  They love to eat seeds, bulbs, plants, roots, grass, and tree bark.  Check out this video titled “The Hungry Vole.”

What does vole damage look like?

After winter snow melt, spring vole damage will appear as snake-like trails in the grass and girdling of trees and shrubs.  Sometimes you’ll see open holes in your lawn about the size of a quarter.  We often see damaged insulation around the foundation of homes.  

Spring Vole Turf DamageSpring Vole Tree DamageSummer Vole Turf DamageVole Insulation Damage

After a light raking, grass will generally bounce back on its own but in some cases, it will require reseeding or sodding.  With exposed bark, trees and shrubs may need some form of wound treatment or a complete replacement.   Resident voles will often lead to costly garden and flower bed damage later in the summer.  Vole runways are also loaded with urine and feces and like that of any rodent can lead to disease.  Please protect your children and pets!

Voles are a major problem for homeowners when they become year-round guests or when they cause excessive lawn and landscape damage.  Before attempting any vole prevention strategies, it’s always prudent to first eliminate the resident vole population.  Often the most effective way to prevent and control voles is with professional services.  If you live in the Greater Minneapolis-St Paul Metropolitan area, please contact the professionals at Metro Mole Control at (763) 350-0331 for a no-obligation consultation regarding any nuisance vole or other yard pest problems that you may be experiencing!

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