Moles & Voles, Oh My!

Those pesky underground critters have eluded us innocent gardeners for decades.  Here we are just trying to beautify our little place on earth and wham, raised runs are intersecting through the lawn like it is a dirt bike track, tubers are planted but never immerge as colorful blooms and the girdling on our plants is leaving us with sleepless nights.  Reminds me of Caddy Shack and Bill Murray’s unfruitful quest to kill the wily gophers, it is a case of life imitating art and just as in the movie it can be enough to drive you mad straight on a path of hair pulling and destructive thoughts all leading to explosives…but, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. 

Lawrence is home to both moles and voles, I had not even heard of the vole until a few years ago which is odd considering voles are the little buggers more likely to be seen by unsuspecting green thumb enthusiasts.  So, what is the difference?  A mole spends almost his entire life underground looking for and eating earthworms, insects and grubs.  A vole is a rodent that is primarily a vegetarian that lives in the underground burrows but forages for food above ground.  Moles damage a lawn visually with soil piles and runs; this can be very evident during a heavy rain when extensive mole damage is prone to erosion due to the washing out of their tunnels.  Moles are often blamed for eating plant roots, moles however only eat worms and insects not plant matter.  Voles actually eat the plants, roots and bulbs – many times killing the plant outright.  Most of the lethal damage occurs during the winter when plants are dormant, unable to re grow and repair their roots.  Vole damage starts to become apparent with the network of runs in the yard or flower bed and the damage to flora.

Todd Olson, owner of Critter Control of Kaw Valley, says the two can even co-exist, “We have treated yards with both moles and voles, voles will sometimes use mole burrows to gain access to the root system of a shrub or plant.  Mole damage is typically a raised burrow in the mulch or turf.  During the winter months moles push soil up from the frozen turf to create mounds in yards.  Vole damage is more subtle in most cases.  Voles create runs along the surface of the ground that lead to and from their burrows and food sources.”  The damage can be most evident in the winter months because of the barren landscape but don’t let that fool you, moles and voles do not hibernate and are busy year round.

Voles

Voles, also called meadow mice or field mice, are often mistaken for a mouse but the easiest way to distinguish a vole from a mouse is that voles have a short “hamster-like” tail.  They have stocky bodies, short legs and stubby tails.  Their eyes are small and ears are partially hidden.  They are usually brown or gray in color.  On occasion soil will be pushed out of retaining walls by voles giving homeowners a sign of their presence.  During the winter, voles will also girdle the base of shrubs and trees, eating the bark from the base of the plant.  This girdling can most definitely lead to a plants ultimate demise.  Vole girdling can be differentiated from girdling by other animals by the non-uniform gnaw marks.  They occur at various angles and in irregular patches.  Most identifiable sign of voles is an extensive surface runway system with numerous burrows.  Voles breed in the spring and summer.  A surprising skill that voles possess is that they are accomplished swimmers and can often escape the sharp claws of a cat or talons of a bird by jumping into a body of water. 

Olson retells of voles damage, “We had one client who was an avid gardener, and he called after 150 bulbs he’d planted never emerged.  After inspecting the yard we found that voles had eaten all of his bulbs over the winter.”

Moles

Moles are loners; they live alone, eat alone and spend a lifetime in relative seclusion.  So, if you see mole damage in your lawn you can feel relatively sure that he is the one and only critter burrowing to China in your garden.  Moles have hairless pointed snouts that are about ½ inch long, their ears and eyes tend to be hidden.  Moles forefeet are very large and broad with palms wider than they are long and webbed toes, built for digging.  Moles enjoy hunting for worms and grubs particularly in moist, cool, shaded areas- which is why suburban lawns are so popular.  Moles actually use a swimming motion to move through the soil.  They eat 70%-100% of their weight each day, the energy expelled while digging aids in their voracious appetites.  A mole will make volcano-shaped hills made up of clods of dirt as an exit point to their massive tunnel systems, surface tunnels or ridges are indicative of an active mole. 

Eradicating

Eradicating the moles and voles in your life is not such an easy task, they do not take well to poisons, fumigating, and traps can be hit or miss.  Olson states, “Prevention for both species is difficult.  Moles can travel 30-50 feet per hour making new tunnels (I have confirmed this with live mole tests in my yard).  Fortunately moles are not social animals; they do not tolerate other moles in their territory.  Voles are a typical rodent, colonial in nature so there tend to be groups living in yards.  In Kansas we have prairie voles and they are very good at surviving in our climate of extremes.” 

Actually the mole is not such a terrible nemesis, their tunnels and subsequent shifting of the soil can essentially help the aeration of a lawn, effectively carrying humus further down into the earth.  Moles also eat harmful lawn pests like the white grub who can really cause extensive damage.  Voles…well I don’t like the idea of anything eating all my tubers or girdling a baby tree or ornamental shrub.  If voles were camping out under where I tread toiling away in the spring working diligently to create a lovely garden just to turn around and have a rodent destroy all my efforts, I’d call in the experts.