Voles are small, destructive rodents often mistaken for mice or moles. They feed on plant material, creating networks of tunnels and damaging root systems and tree bark. Standard rodent control methods often use toxic baits, which pose a significant health risk to domestic pets through accidental ingestion or secondary poisoning. Effective vole management requires implementing strategies that successfully remove the pests while prioritizing the safety of household animals.
Identifying Vole Activity
Voles create distinct signs of activity that distinguish them from other common yard pests. The most recognizable evidence is a system of narrow, shallow runways that crisscross the lawn, visible through matted grass or mulch. These paths, approximately one to two inches wide, are created as voles clip vegetation while traveling between burrows and feeding areas.
The burrow entrances are small, clean-cut holes, typically one to one and a half inches in diameter, often hidden beneath dense ground cover or debris. Unlike moles, which create deep tunnels and volcano-shaped mounds of soil, voles do not leave behind large dirt hills. As herbivores, another sign of their presence is damage to plants, such as gnaw marks on the bark of young trees and shrubs, or the sudden wilting of plants due to root destruction.
Habitat Management and Exclusion
Long-term vole control begins with altering the landscape to make it less hospitable, a process entirely safe for pets. Voles thrive in areas offering food and protection. Reducing dense ground cover is a primary step, which includes keeping the lawn closely mowed and removing piles of weeds, debris, and excessive mulch.
Removing this protective cover exposes voles to natural predators and makes them less likely to establish a colony. Create a vegetation-free zone, ideally four feet wide, around the base of trees and vulnerable ornamental plants to discourage feeding. A barrier of crushed stone or coarse gravel around foundations or raised beds can also be effective, as voles dislike tunneling through sharp, abrasive materials.
Physical barriers offer the most reliable form of exclusion for specific plants. To protect the base of trees and shrubs from gnawing damage, wrap the trunk with a cylinder made of hardware cloth, which is a sturdy wire mesh. The mesh size should be one-quarter inch or smaller to prevent the rodents from passing through. This protective cylinder should be buried six to ten inches into the soil to prevent voles from burrowing underneath the barrier.
Pet Safe Removal Techniques
The most direct and effective pet-safe method for active removal is trapping, executed with specific safety measures to protect household animals. Standard mouse snap traps are effective when placed directly into active vole runways. To prevent pets from reaching the traps, they must be secured inside a weighted, tamper-resistant station or under an overturned bucket with small access holes cut into the sides.
Another method involves placing the set snap trap inside a section of PVC piping, laid perpendicular to the runway, ensuring only the vole can enter. The trap is most effective when the trigger end is positioned directly in the runway. The trap can be baited with a small amount of peanut butter or a slice of apple. Live-catch traps, which require daily monitoring and relocation, also offer a pet-safe option for removal.
Non-toxic repellents can deter voles without risk of harm to pets, though they require regular reapplication. Commercial products often utilize castor oil, which contaminates the ground, disrupting the voles’ sense of smell and making food sources unappealing. Applying these repellents directly into active burrow systems can encourage the voles to relocate.
Toxic baits, known as rodenticides, are not a pet-safe option and should be avoided entirely. These chemicals pose a risk of primary poisoning if a pet accesses the bait station and ingests the poison directly. More concerning is the risk of secondary poisoning, where a pet consumes a vole that has eaten the bait. Anticoagulant rodenticides interfere with the body’s ability to clot blood, and even a small amount of poison in a dead or dying vole can be harmful or fatal to a dog or cat.