Voles

The vole is one of the most unpopular occupants of the home garden. A vole will dig up the grass and can cause considerable damage. The animal burrows just below the turf line and pushes the loose earth to the surface, which results in small earth mounds littering the garden. The vole eats the roots of the plants which happened to cross its tunnels, often with the result that the plant is crippled or dies. A small colony of voles in the garden can cripple the vegetation and destroy bushes, flowers and small trees. If you have voles in the garden is highly recommended to get rid of them as fast as possible. The vole is also regarded as one of the most resilient pests in the garden.

Appearance.

The vole is a rodent similar to a mouse but has a stouter body. The head of the vole is flat and round. Due to the life underground, the ears are set back and hidden in the fur. Depending on the species, the coat colour of the vole ranges from brown to red or black. The weight can be between 80 g and 2600 g and the size between 7 and 23 cm. The vole has a short tail and a light, short coat. Its front feet have, depending on the species, either four or five toes. The hind feet have 5 toes.

Habitat.

Voles can be found in Europe, North America and Asia. There are approximately 150 different species of voles. The most common in Europe are also known as the field mouse and the bank vole. They prefer to live in areas with loose soil, allowing them to create their burrow. Especially the loose earth of fields and lawns are an ideal environment to create a whole system of tunnels with a number of nests. When creating the tunnels the surplus earth is thrown out, leaving small earth mounds. These mounds can easily be mistaken as mole hills, but they are usually smaller and more irregular in shape. Voles mainly feed on plants, especially on roots, often causing damage to the plants and leaving them crippled. 

Mating.

Depending on the species, a vole becomes mature after 2-10 months. Mating can take place with multiple partners. The mating time is 9 months of the year. After 16-30 days of pregnancy, an average litter size of 3-7 is born in a nest in the ground. The freshly born voles are blind and deaf for the first days and will leave the nest after 35 days. The life expectancy of a vole is 1-2 years.

Damage caused by voles

The major damage caused by voles results from its feeding habits. The vole will eat the roots of plants, which will then die or become crippled. This can be devastating to gardens. To prevent this, we recommend Gardigo Mole Repellants, ensuring that your garden can be kept vole free. Gardigo offers a large range of products such as the Solar Mole- and Vole-Free, Diamant; the Solar Mole and Ant Vibration Repellent and the Solar Mole Repellent Mini series.