I just can't believe it. This year I figured I would mulch my veggie garden with grass clippings. That way it would get the extra nutrients from the grass decomposing and it would keep my veggies out of the dirt. Well let me tell you. The voles are loving it. I think I posted about this earlier and thought I had the problem somewhat solved when I removed the grass clippings from around the edge of the garden. Not so! I even sprinkled coyote urine around it. I figured I could leave the grass clippings between the rows of veggies. Not a good idea. I went out yesterday to pick some of my beets to do up today. I was hopping mad at what I found. Over half of my beets where eaten away. :-x I was able to get a few to eat for a meal. Then I checked my green beans. They are also eating them. :-x I went to pick a very nice looking bean and half of it was eaten. A lot of the bean plants have no beans left on them at all. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can get rid of the voles?
I can sympathize! When we first moved here we were overrun with "field mice" which are really voles. With the farm and house sitting unoccupied for three years, you can imagine the state we were in! Mouse traps work, even in the garden and especially if bated with peanut butter (the little varmints love peanut butter). Also, anti-coagulant poisons like warfarin work. The danger with these is that they also work on pets and children. If they are enclosed in a bait trap the danger lessens, but they have to be used with great care. I'd go with the mouse traps first, placing them near the plants that the voles are attacking. If you still have too much damage, you could consider moving up to a poison like warfarin. We got rid of the barn mice when our chickens got big enough to be "mousers". The field mice in the garden were taken care of by hawks and the feral cats that live down the hill, and the house mice were taken care of by our calico indoor cat who still has the hunting instincts of a Bengal tiger. Coyote urine probably is less effective because voles are basically tunnelers and coyotes hunt above ground (rabbits, real mice, etc.).
Marlingardener: I was thinking along the line of mouse traps. Peanut butter sounds like the way to go. I have been trapping chipmunks that have been trying to make their home in my front flower bed. I live trap them with peanuts for bait. They can't resist a good peanut. I think I'll put the mouse traps out in the garden just before dark to lessen the chance of catching a chipmunk. If that doesn't work I can try the rat poison. I do hate to us that but when pushes come to shoves you know what happens. I do have a pattern for making a vole poison bait station using pvc pipe. Ya I guess the pee wouldn't work to good on them. Like you said, they are tunneling little critters. We see their handy work in our yard every spring after the snow melts. What type of chickens do you have that they are mousers? I never knew that chicken would do that. Glad you got your varmint problem under control. Have a great day,
Tooty, almost any chicken will go after a mouse (or a rat!). Ours are black Australorps (cross between an Australian breed and Buff Orpintons) and while they are docile and friendly, they do have an attitude. We had rats in the barn until our ladies got full grown (12 lbs.) and then we suddenly had no rat problem any more. They stomp them to death! I hope the traps work for you. I hate to think of all your lovely garden produce being chomped by critters.
Wow that is great to know about the chickens. We have friends that have chickens. They are always having a rat problem. But they keep their chicken penned up so I don't think they can get after those varmints like yours do. I'll let you know how the traps work. We also have something I think it's racoons getting in the raspberries and breaking over the canes. They don't even eat all the berries on them. Just break them over. :-x I think I'll try the coyote urine around them as see what happens. Thanks again for all your info.
I've had moles and voles forever. The thing that has worked the best for me is planting castor bean thru my gardens. It has kept them at bay in the gardens this year. Seeds that I had left over I dropped down the mole holes and they grew. So I will have lots of seeds this year. But my lawns are a mess.
I'm having issues with these darn things too You would think with 8 cats in the yard I wouldn't be having this problem
Donna S: I'll have to try that next year. Thanks for sharing that great tip. I like using ideas like that. Stratsmom: I really dislike those little critters. I think the reason the cats haven't helped a lot is because Voles come out at night. But I guess cats also prowl around at night so you would think they would be able to keep them under control. I know that if you have a woodpile or longer grass in your yard where they can make their underground home in they will. Come to think of it maybe we shouldn't have gotten rid of our woodpile that was only about 20ft from our garden. :-| We never had this problem until we did that. Or maybe it's the hot summer. I also plan on using those metal live traps in the garden and see what I catch.
