For daily wit & wisdom, get the Almanac newsletter.

How to Get Rid of Voles Without Poison

Voles can chew up your plants and form tunnels throughout your lawn. Learn how to identify and get rid of voles.

Written By: Catherine Boeckmann Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Are your garden beds and lawn starting to look like a miniature subway system? You may have voles to thank. These sneaky little rodents tunnel just under the surface, feasting on your plants and grass roots as they go. Unlike their mole cousins, voles are plant-munching machines that leave behind winding, snakelike trails in your turf. But don’t worry, we’ve got everything you need to identify voles vs. moles, prevent further damage, and kick these furry squatters to the curb. Here’s how to get rid of voles and reclaim your yard!

What’s the Difference Between Voles and Moles?

First off, voles are not moles! People confuse the two animals because they both tunnel through your yard and are small, dark-colored mammals. You might not have seen either critter since they’re usually underground, but they look very different up close. Voles are small, stocky rodents similar to field mice. In fact, a vole might look like a mouse at first glance. In contrast, moles are NOT rodents. Moles are all nose and mouth. And they have big feet used for digging! See our article on dealing with moles here.

Voles have small, rounded ears that are often hidden by their fur, small eyes, and short tails. Their fur is generally thick and light brown to gray. Two common species of voles in North America are the prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) and the meadow vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus). Meadow voles are more widely distributed, but prairie voles are more common in grassland and prairie areas. They are very similar, and the methods for controlling them are mostly the same.

What Do Voles Eat?

Like many other rodents, voles are omnivores, meaning they’ll eat almost anything. However, voles have a primarily vegetarian diet; they mainly eat stems and blades of lawn grass, so it’s usually vole tunnels that you’ll see near the yard’s surface. Moles, on the other hand, have a mainly carnivorous diet consisting of invertebrates. (Moles are actually beneficial in many ways. They help plow the soil and eat pest larvae and insects!)

It’s helpful to know this difference not only because it will help you identify the damage (see below) but also because a vole bait might use peanut butter, whereas moles would be more interested in an insect or earthworm.

If it helps, remember that their frenzied activity does subside. Vole populations cycle, and about every 2 to 5 years, there will be a population boom. Mild winters with good snowfall can help to increase vole populations, as the voles can travel beneath the snow cover, safe from predators.

Close-up of a vole in the yard.
Many of the same methods that you use to get rid of mice can be used to get rid of voles; after all, voles are commonly referred to as “meadow mice.”
Photo Credit: Washington State University. 

Identification

How to Identify Vole Damage

You’ll know voles by the shallow, snakelike tunnels that you’ll see all over your lawn. The tunnels are about 2 inches wide and very near the surface so they can eat their favorite foods: grass stems and blades. Voles are especially manic in the early springtime.

Moles, on the other hand, have deeper feeding tunnels that they use as a network. They do have secondary runways that appear on your lawn’s surface; however, they look more like raised ridges and have little volcano-shaped mounds. Voles leave no mounds behind. 

You’ll also be able to identify voles by the type of damage. Remember: It’s the voles who are plant eaters.

  • If you have partially eaten carrots, potatoes, or other root vegetables in your garden, you probably have a vole problem. According to one reader, “They dig under my carrots, pulling them down, and eating them. There’s just a row of holes where the carrots were. It’s kind of amusing, like a Bugs Bunny cartoon. They’re a real pest this year.”
  • Voles also eat flower bulbs from below the ground, as they’re near the surface.  
  • If you see chewed-up bark near the base of trees and shrubs, look closely. A vole’s front teeth will leave ¼-inch side-by-side grooves in the wood as it gnaws away on the bark. (They’re rodents, after all!)
  • Voles also tunnel through any root system, causing damage to trees and shrubs. If you see young trees or shrubs leaning over, it may be due to vole activity.

Control and Prevention

How to Get Rid of Voles

If you’ve come to this page, we assume you’re looking for immediate ways to deal with these crazy voles! If it’s too late for preventative measures, consider these control measures:

  • In small areas, trapping may be an effective way of reducing vole populations. Try Havahart live vole traps situated perpendicular to the widest vole runways or near the nesting sites at the base of trees and shrubs. Bait traps with peanut butter. Set baits midday to early evening when voles get more active. Reset the traps as often as necessary until you eliminate the population. Relocate voles if it’s legal where you live. (Note that it may not be!) The key to trapping is persistence. You may want to cover the traps so that pets and children do not accidentally find them.
  • Repellents have mixed results and need to be reapplied after it rains. Garden stores sell fox or coyote (vole predator) urine, which usually turns off voles.
  • Bulb control? You can discourage voles from nibbling on bulbs by adding gravel to the planting hole (surrounding the bulbs). When you plant bulbs, drench or powder them with a fungicide to keep voles at bay.
  • Vole damage to tree bark is best prevented by encircling the tree with a light-colored tree guard (mesh or hardware cloth). The guard should be tall enough to reach above the snow line in the winter, and the base should be buried in the soil or have a soil ridge around it. Make sure the guard is loose enough so that it does not constrict the tree.
  • Voles in the veggie garden? These little critters aren’t very good climbers. Protect plants by fencing the area with a half-inch of mesh (hardware cloth), at least 12 inches above the ground, and burying them 6 to 10 inches deep.
  • Some readers have suggested a variety of irritants sprinkled into vole tunnels (from natural to chemical): cayenne powder, garlic, onion, castor oil, a little nitrogen fertilizer, and ammonia. In many cases, these ingredients can be mixed with water or soapy water and put in a spray bottle. However, you will need to reapply after it rains.
  • One of the best control methods is an outdoor cat or a dog that is a specialized ratter!
  • If you are desperate and about to sell your home, large vole populations have been effectively reduced with baits. However, most pesticides recommended for voles are restricted and can only be used by Certified Pesticide Applicators. Contact your local Extension educators for more information.
  • While the damage may look visible in early spring, it is rarely permanent. Vole activity is heaviest in the springtime in most regions and does subside! Simply rake up the dead grass and reseed the area. As the surrounding grass grows, it will cover up the trails. 

How to Prevent Vole Damage

Make your yard inhospitable to voles! Prevention is very important to keep vole numbers down.

  • Voles like dense, heavy vegetative cover, weeds, and meadows because they provide them with protection from predators and provide nesting material. Cut back brush, mow, weed, and create a clean space.
  • Remove woodpiles and hiding places for voles from near your garden, shrubs, and trees.
  • Keep your lawn mowed and bushes trimmed up from the ground.
  • Avoid putting dense mulch too close to trees and shrubs.
  • Keep snow cleared from the base of trees and shrubs. Protect young trees by wrapping the lower trunk with a chew-proof material (such as small-grade hardware cloth).
  • Bird feeders are another attraction for voles and should either be removed, or the ground kept very clean to keep vole numbers down.
  • Fortunately, voles are a prime food source for many predators, such as snakes, hawks, owls, foxes, and badgers!

Learn more about common garden pests like mice and groundhogs.

Garden Pests

About The Author

Catherine Boeckmann

Catherine Boeckmann

Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Catherine Boeckmann loves nature, stargazing, and gardening so it’s not surprising that she and The Old Farmer’s Almanac found each other. She leads digital content for the Almanac website, and is also a certified master gardener in the state of Indiana.

Read more from Catherine Boeckmann

More Like This

Comments

<span>Cherry Bieber</span> Fri, 10/09/2020 - 09:43
This has been a particularly bad year for voles on South Dakota prairies! As bothersome as they have been, nothing is as bad as the badgers that have moved in! Voles are a particular favorite of badgers! The badgers burrowed into the chicken coop killing more than half of our flock! Had I left my barn cats out, they'd have killed them as well! We have trapped 6 so far and every morning find signs of more! The remaining chickens are now housed in a sturdy shed right by the house and use our large, tightly fenced yard as their own. Not an ideal situation, but hopefully will keep what chickens we have left alive! Help!!
<span>Dale</span> Fri, 09/18/2020 - 17:47
Voles and snakes, what a combination! Where there are voles, there are snakes. I tried the Havahart which is excellent for mice but the voles ignore the peanut butter bait. We have at least two dozen holes around our house. Mice are also a problem this year in northern Michigan but the Havahart takes care of them. I got 5 in our basement the last couple of days. We get voles, moles and mice every year but this year in crazy. I continue my search for a remedy.
<span>Lori-Ann</span> Wed, 09/16/2020 - 12:46
I have been fighting voles, gophers, mice, and RATS since moving to this property about 4 years ago. We live in the mid Willamette Valley of Oregon, and are surrounded by grass seed fields, so our mild winters and ample food supply have led to quite abundant populations overall. Since elimination is basically impossible, control is about the best one can do here. I have found that your suggestion of a good cat or dog has been the best one so far. I have a barn cat, (named Jinx because of the absolute trouble she causes for the little buggers) and she is a VOLE-INATOR. Every morning I find her carnage all over our near-acre farm. Sometimes she eats them, but many times she doesn't. I no longer really care. They are so troublesome this year, and she is working to save my crops, whether she knows it or not. My other suggestions are to encourage one's local native predators if possible. Fortunately for us, we also have many owls, hawks, kestrels, harriers, and even some ermine, coyotes, and occasional fox that also eat them in large numbers. (Why my poor chickens DO NOT free-range and are confined to a large run with closed top!). Honestly, the gophers have been harder to control since they are bigger, stay underground and rarely come above the surface, but the Voles have the sheer numbers. That's their survival strategy. Like weed seeds. Good luck everyone.
<span>Marilyn</span> Wed, 09/16/2020 - 11:14
The vole populations in this part of Colorado have been huge. I have tried most of the suggestions in the article. The voles boosted the moth balls out of the holes, they munched on plants and roots right beside the toy windmills, they stayed away from the traps, the electronic devices to scare them away were like a "come and get it" call, pepper flakes liberally placed on and around the plants just made the plants more yummy for them. So as a very last resort, I called an exterminator!
<span>Doug</span> Thu, 06/11/2020 - 09:34
I had voles under the exterior wooden porch steps at my new house. I bought 4 ultrasonic gizmos to drive them away. While it did force them to leave, they simply moved 20 feet around the foundation and dug in there.
<span>Linda Ungarian</span> Tue, 04/21/2020 - 23:40
Very good information in the article however, both have taken over most of my acreage. One year ago they destroyed my lower lawn. The next year they also destroyed the East Lawn. This year they also destroyed the North Lawn. I am beyond traps and have no idea how to get rid of them. I have never seen them but I know it is them. They tunnel everywhere destroyed the lawn eating the roots. When I try to have a garden they eat the carrots they eat the beets they eat anything under the ground. I never see them I could be a million but I still never see one. I am beyond my wits end.
<span>Scott Patten</span> Tue, 02/25/2020 - 22:12
I have over 20 years in Horticulture and own a landscape design,build, and maintenance company. I graduated from NCSU and have spent years dealing with Voles. I couldn't find a reliable product to protect new plants or bulbs from Voles. All repellents and noise makers were inconsistent and expensive. I developed, trialed, and released the wire mesh baskets we currently offer after the passed all my test and clients satisfaction. Vole King should be used on all new plantings to provide instant and future protection!!!
<span>Charlie Hutch</span> Sun, 09/22/2019 - 15:30
"While the damage may look visible in early spring, it is rarely permanent. Mole activity is heaviest in the springtime in most regions and does subside" adding to the confusion as the last point in your VOLE article. I have extensive experience with pocket gophers and voles. after ridding the grounds around my cabin of pocket gophers by summer the voles move in to the convenient gopher holes... every year. I use Cinch traps for the gophers because nothing else works that is viable or effective... get the smallest ones if you are considering it. When the Voles move in I use Havaheart mouse traps which are only hit and miss. but steel snap kill bar rat traps placed in active sections do the real work. The gophers are the worst from spring to late fall but mostly in the summer unlike your reporting.
<span>Maureen Guest</span> Thu, 07/04/2019 - 19:27
Here in the High Desert of Central Oregon we have both voles and sage rats. Your photo looks like what we call sage rats. Are they one and the same? I have gotten rid of quite a view with the vole poison, but the best way is to shoot them with a BB or pellet gun. Some of the guys here actually go out on a "hunting trip" for sage rats. LOL
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Tue, 07/09/2019 - 12:52

I believe sage rats are a type of ground squirrel. Voles look like meadow mice (though they are not rodents). Also, moles are usually more prevalent in early spring when they eat grass stems and start breeding. You'll see mamas with their babies right around Mother's Day.