Voles are common and damaging garden pests, known for their tendency to chew roots, bulbs, and tree bark just below the soil line. They can ruin a vegetable patch or flower bed seemingly overnight, leading gardeners to seek solutions to protect their crops. A frequent question arises about garlic, and whether this pungent plant is a target for these rodents or an effective tool to drive them away. Understanding the vole’s natural behaviors and dietary preferences provides the answer to this dilemma. This information explores the relationship between voles and garlic, and how to best manage these persistent underground visitors.
Vole Identification and General Diet
Voles are small, stocky rodents often mistaken for mice or moles due to their size and subterranean activity. They possess small eyes, ears barely visible beneath their fur, and a notably short tail, distinguishing them from the longer-tailed house mouse. These herbivores are found across North America, creating networks of shallow tunnels and distinct, one- to two-inch-wide “runways” in the grass as they travel between food sources and nesting sites.
Their diet is primarily vegetarian, consisting of grasses, herbaceous plants, roots, and tubers. Voles are drawn to the fleshy, nutrient-rich parts of plants, including bulbs like tulips and lilies, and root vegetables such as carrots and potatoes. During colder months, when softer vegetation is scarce, they frequently gnaw on the bark and roots of young trees and shrubs, often girdling them completely.
The Specifics: Vole Consumption of Garlic
Voles generally avoid consuming garlic bulbs or the foliage, making it an unpopular food source. This avoidance is biological, centered on the plant’s defense mechanism. Garlic belongs to the Allium genus, and its characteristic pungent odor and flavor are caused by sulfur-containing compounds.
When the plant tissue is damaged or the bulb is crushed, an enzyme converts the sulfur compounds into allicin, a chemical that is highly irritating and unpalatable to many mammals. This strong taste and smell serve as a natural deterrent, convincing the vole to seek a less offensive meal. While a hungry vole might sample a garlic clove, it is not a preferred food item like the sweeter, non-aromatic bulbs they typically target.
This natural aversion is similar to how voles avoid other Allium family plants, such as onions and chives. Planting garlic does not typically invite vole damage, unlike other tempting crops that lack such a potent natural defense. The rejection of garlic establishes its role as a repellent rather than a food source.
Utilizing Garlic as a Vole Repellent
Since voles actively avoid eating garlic, its powerful odor can be strategically leveraged to protect desirable plants. One simple method is companion planting, where garlic cloves or established plants are placed around the perimeter of garden beds or interspersed among susceptible crops. The strong scent released helps mask the appeal of nearby plants.
Gardeners can also create a homemade liquid repellent by crushing garlic cloves and steeping them in water to extract the sulfur compounds. This liquid is often strained, mixed with dish soap to help it adhere, and sprayed onto the foliage and soil in affected areas. The repellent effect relies on the strong, irritating aroma that permeates the voles’ environment, encouraging them to relocate their foraging.
Another practical application involves placing crushed or whole garlic cloves directly into the visible burrow entrances or runways. This targeted approach concentrates the strong, irritating odor within the vole’s subterranean living space. The intense exposure to the allicin-related compounds may prompt the animals to abandon the area due to the discomfort caused by the overwhelming smell.
Non-Garlic Strategies for Vole Control
While garlic is a useful repellent, it is only one component of a comprehensive vole management plan. Exclusion methods provide a physical barrier against the rodents, such as burying hardware cloth (a fine wire mesh) six to ten inches deep around garden beds or the base of young trees. Voles are not skilled climbers, so using raised garden beds offers protection for root vegetables.
Cultural controls focus on making the area less hospitable by removing the voles’ preferred habitat and cover. Keeping grass mowed short, pulling weeds, and reducing dense ground cover eliminates the runways and protective pathways voles use to travel unseen. Keeping mulch layers thin and away from the base of trees prevents voles from nesting and feeding in a protected environment.
For persistent problems, mechanical control through trapping can effectively reduce the local population. Small, mouse-sized snap traps can be placed perpendicular to the vole’s active runways and baited with items like peanut butter or apple slices. This method, when used consistently, can diminish the number of voles in a small area.