Friday, May 18, 2012

Adventures with voles

I am not deeply in love with my lawn but having it look nice is better than not.  So, when three holes appeared in our backyard, I wasn't pleased.  Besides the holes there was a depression in the ground located in the center of the area outlined by the holes.  We have had experience with voles and fingered that animal as the culprit right away.  

We called two different local exterminators because we had had no luck catching, trapping or otherwise ridding ourselves of the problem previously.  One said he didn't work with vole problems and the other assured us we didn't have a vole problem.  He was clear that voles don't live this far north.

I did what often helps me: turn to Google.  I put "vole" in the search window and immediately got the suggestion of "vole control".  We watched this video on vole control and got some good ideas of what to do on our own.  In the last two days, we have "harvested" five of the voracious little grass eaters/burrowers.  That video was a great help.

The man in it starts out saying, "That is VOLE, with a "V", not "mole".  Many people have not heard of nor seen one.  Here is a link to many images of voles, little mouse-like creatures without much of a tail that look rather burly and fat.  We are considering calling the local exterminators and exhibiting our carcass collection to further their education.

Moles are blind and I read they eat grubs and worms found in the soil.  Voles are not blind and eat the roots of grass. 

--
Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety


X

Popular Posts

Follow @olderkirby