Topic: Voles mice or moles?

[Nannyben]

My onions disappeared down holes, my green manure even under mesh disappeared and lots of holes about 2 inches wide in the ground.  I'm not the only one suffering, my neighbour on the allotment has had all her beetroot chewed.  Any ideas of what this is and how to get rid of them over the winter please?

[Big Gee]

My onions disappeared down holes, my green manure even under mesh disappeared and lots of holes about 2 inches wide in the ground.  I'm not the only one suffering, my neighbour on the allotment has had all her beetroot chewed.  Any ideas of what this is and how to get rid of them over the winter please?

Holes of a 2" diameter would suggest something FAR bigger than mice or bank voles. The hole sizes suggest something the size of a mole. However, whilst mice & voles (and holes in the ground suggest voles rather than mice - but not 2" wide!) are plant eaters, moles have a diet that wholly consists of meat (earthworms mostly, along with other the occasional beetle or similar that they may come across in their runs). Moles will certainly not "chew beetroot"! My guess is you have a mole and that your plot neighbour has been visited by something slightly different - rabbit?

Check out the article on moles in the FAQ section of my Gardeners Chat-Shed website:

http://www.gardenerschat-shed.net/pg/faq/list?categoryId=1298 

[gray1720]

Any chance you could post a photo of the damage, especially to your neighbour's beet? My mother-in-law is a small mammal specialist, so voles etc are right up her street.

They will certainly chew beetroot - last year I went out to my plot to discover a dirty great hole dug amongst my beetroot, and munched beet everywhere - mostly chewed from beneath, some hardly more than the skin left. Took me a while to work out what must have happened but with the remains of a nest in the hole, and scratches on the surviving beet, I'm as sure as can be without seeing it that there was a nest of voles under the row, and a fox dug it out.

Two inches does sound very big for a vole hole, though - they're nearly that long - and onions (aren't they poisonous to nearly everything bar humans?) and green manure seem odd choices.

Adrian

[Digeroo]

2 inch holes seems very large for voles theirs are less then an inch here though some of their tunnels are bigger.  Have you seen the voles? Mine are very visible, they have very little fear of me.  No netting keeps them out, the plastic ones and netting simply get chewed and they go underneath metal ones.  So far plastic bottle cloches have kept them at bay.   But I mine have never gone for my green manure.  I think there is enough better stuff.  Gaps between planting also helps they do like to be able to dart about under cover.

What you need is a kestrel or a girl thingy cat.  Suggest also you clean out your compost bin.  Mine is full of vole tunnels.   I kind of tolerate them but I do not put parsnips near the bins, since they simply hollowed them out leaving large holes.  We had a kestrel who did a sterling job but now we have a red kite and that is useless though does seem to deter the pigeons.  Seem to have a rather pretty but rather mad grey cat who does the biz now.   

Moles are very obvious they leave mole hills about the place and your crops suddenly disappear down holes.

For me chewed beetroot is deer.  They also go for green manure but do not replace the netting but do eat through it.  If the soil was soft they might leave 2 inch holes.  They also plop so you can see their droppings about the place.   They particularly like strawberry leaves in the winter. 

[Robert_Brenchley]

Rats?

[gray1720]

Rats would be big enough for the holes, but when we had a bad outbreak of the little sods a few years ago there weren't many holes left behind - they seemed to run in the grass and along edges of beds rather than tunnelling.

I think the fundamental questions are:

Are the holes footprints, or burrows?

Are the beet being munched from above or below (voles will hollow them out from below)?

Are there any droppings left behind, and if so what do they look like?

What do any teethmarks, especially in the beet, look like?

Adrian

[Big Gee]

On the other hand, you could alays take a picture of what's going on. Not as OTT, expensive or technical as it sounds.

If you already have a half decent camera all you need is an IR camera trip.

Check out the link:  http://www.wildlifewatchingsupplies.co.uk/infrared.htm

Once you start this game you'll get hooked and you'll then be taking more night-time photos of wildlife than gardening!!

[antipodes]

I have voles, although perhaps they are of a French variety, or just especially fat, and a 2 inch hole does not strike me as unusual. They are particularly fond of beetroot too!! They also eat potatoes, hollowing out the flesh and leaving just the skin (surprise! suckers!). Little blighters get everywhere. One often hangs around my raspberries too as there is mulch to hide in and I assume he eats the dropped berries.

Also they has had one of my cabbages by digging under it and eating the roots. Suddenly the cabbage is all floppy.

[Nannyben]

Thanks for all the advice.  General opinion from the old guys on the site are its voles.  Is it true that if you use men's erm wee down the holes that will deter them?

[Digeroo]

I was told they did not climb, but they eat my broadbean seeds from the top of the plants, and just look at me when I tell them off at them about it.   

Been looking at mine some of the holes are quite large now the rain has washed away the sides.  There are little tunnels/trails in my green manure wheat patch.

I do not think they come out at night, I think they are more or less tame.  Run over my boots. 

They particularly like dried peas, so perhaps the hamster trick with a bucket would work, but they are rather cute not sure I could squash one.

[Big Gee]

Thanks for all the advice.  General opinion from the old guys on the site are its voles.  Is it true that if you use men's erm wee down the holes that will deter them?

I would not depend on weeing down the holes to stop them! Sad to say the only real answer - if they are causing that much trouble (which they only will if they get to plague level proportions) is extermination.

I also think they're cute, and as it happens I have the odd strangely tame one that will run over feet on my plot - usually when you sit down for a cuppa (the chair is propably in the path of it's run), but they only cause minimal damage - so I leave them alone. However about 15 years ago I had a real plague of them in the flower borders of my previous house. They ate everything in site. Every morning I'd get up to discover plants on their side. They looked as if a mini beaver had felled them!

On that occasion I got some mole "bombs" from the local farmers co-op. Filled up all the holes I could find with sand, leaving just one to put the smoke bomb down. Then filled that one as well. Never saw one above ground again, I presume the whole colony were gassed in their burrows. Not a nice thing to do, but it beats the hell out of despatching them by hand - after catching them - it's a lot more efficient and less effort too! It's also more humane.

One thing to check is whether they're a protected species - they weren't 15 years ago, they may be now. In which case you'll have to co-exist with them!

[gray1720]

Well, if it is voles, and they're bad this year, you should be OK next year, and for a couple thereafter - apparently they run to a four-year cycle, with one plague year and three lean ones.

Know any tame kestrels? They like nothing better than a nice fat vole for supper.

Adrian
 

[Digeroo]

I would not hold your breathe for a lean year as far as voles are concerned.  We have had no let up.    I would like to get rid of the red kites.  They are a menace.  Who decided to release them?

[Big Gee]

I would not hold your breathe for a lean year as far as voles are concerned.  We have had no let up.    I would like to get rid of the red kites.  They are a menace.  Who decided to release them?

No I wouldn't hold my breath either! We're talking voles here - not lemmings! Whilst there's food the population will stay up, until they eat you out of house and home (well lottie anyway) and then they'll have a population plummet due to starvation.

What's your gripe with Red Kites Digeroo? They do hunt voles, but they are primarily carrion feeders and also feed on earthworms that forms a big part of their diet. So they're not as efficient or as interested in small mammals to hunt.

I think they're magnificent birds. Check out: http://www.welshkitetrust.org/brink.html