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Down the Garden Path: What to know about voles in the home landscape · Kendall County News - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Down the garden Path. What to Know about voles in
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  Speaker 1: the home landscape written by Darley Simmerson, University of Illinois Extension.
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  Speaker 1: This article is being read by an automated voice brought
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  Speaker 1: to you by Everlet. I had a long history of
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  Speaker 1: battling voles in my landscape until I learned how to
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  Speaker 1: discourage them from damaging my lawn and woody plants. If
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  Speaker 1: you have never encountered voles, they are mouse sized rodents
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  Speaker 1: with short, stubby tails. They can be found in the
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  Speaker 1: outdoors year round and do not tend to invade your home.
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  Speaker 1: They have a fast reproductive pattern of several litters per year,
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  Speaker 1: with multiple babies per litter, who then quickly reach reproductive capacity.
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  Speaker 1: You may not notice them in summer when food sources
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  Speaker 1: are plentiful, but noticeable activity increases in the wintertime when
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  Speaker 1: food is scarce. This differentiates voles from moles that are
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  Speaker 1: not active in the winter. Voles like to over winter
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  Speaker 1: in thick ground covers such as junipers, mulch, and tall grass,
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  Speaker 1: and will tunnel under several inches of snow. Food sources
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  Speaker 1: are primarily plant material, including woody stems and trunks, bulbs, tubers,
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  Speaker 1: and turf roots. Damage done to turf during the winter
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  Speaker 1: becomes evident when the snow melts and you see runways
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  Speaker 1: of dead grass indicating paths from burrow to burrow. Luckily,
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  Speaker 1: this turf damage is usually reversed by the time the
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  Speaker 1: lawn growth occurs in spring, although overseating is sometimes needed.
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  Speaker 1: Most damaging is when voles gnaw on the base of young,
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  Speaker 1: thin bark tree trunks. Girdling can lead to the demise
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  Speaker 1: of the tree. Since most damage done by voles is
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  Speaker 1: in the winter, when it is difficult to prevent, what
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  Speaker 1: can we do now to discourage voles from being attracted
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  Speaker 1: to our landscape and doing damage next winter. Decreasing the
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  Speaker 1: habitat conditions that they thrive in is the first step.
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  Speaker 1: Molt should not be deeper than two to three inches
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  Speaker 1: and should be pulled away from the base of young
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  Speaker 1: trees as usial barrier around trees must be buried six
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  Speaker 1: to eight inches in the ground before winter sets in
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  Speaker 1: to effectively block voles from chewing on bark. Keep grass
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  Speaker 1: is short, clear weeds and thin ground covers in preparation
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  Speaker 1: for winter. Voles are attracted to seeds, so considered limiting
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  Speaker 1: the use of bird seed feeders. If you are experiencing
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  Speaker 1: a vole problem, attracting natural predators, such as installing hawk perches,
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  Speaker 1: can be helpful. There are bait products, repellents, and traps
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  Speaker 1: commercially available and can be used as directed on the product.
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  Speaker 1: Traps may not be very useful since voles reproduce quickly
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  Speaker 1: and in large numbers. Poisons are not recommended due to
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  Speaker 1: their potential impact on pets and wildlife. Although voles are
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  Speaker 1: often seen as a nuisance, some relatively simple measures can
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  Speaker 1: be followed to prevent damage to your landscape. It is
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  Speaker 1: important to make those changes now so that you can
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  Speaker 1: rest easy next winter. For more information about voles, check
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  Speaker 1: out this article from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources
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  Speaker 1: Wildlife Illinois Slash identified DASH wildlife slash voles. Darley Simerson
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  Speaker 1: is a certified Master gardener and naturalist volunteer with the
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  Speaker 1: University of Illinois Extensions, serving DuPage, Kane, and Kendall Counties.