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Re: Moles + wildlife and gardens in general

Now voles I can speak on...and have written plenty.  Other rodents are usually accused of doing the damage that the voles actually do.  Unlike moles, they are herbivores.  They will eat foliage but are primarily root eaters.  While they don't tunnel themselves they will take advantage of mole runs.  Voles tend to stick to the wood and field edge and when moving about are more likely to move under the leaf litter than over it.  They can be a severe problem in apple orchards in the winter when they feed on the bark at ground level.  In the garden they will feed on the roots of a large number of herbaceous plants.  In the nursery they will enter the bottom drainage holes of plastic pots, or chew the holes to accomodate their elastic bodies, and enter the hole, dig up to the plant crown, chew the roots loose then abscond back through the hole with ! their bounty.  I once lost over 1000 lupine plants that were overwintering under cover...and ended up supporting a population of voles.  When it came time to uncover the crop in late winter we had 1000 one gallon pots with the lupines literally pulled out of the pots...from the bottom.  What makes voles different from most other outdoor rodents is that they reproduce year round so long as a food source is available.
    There are no effective repellents.  Zinc phosphide used to be the commercial method of eradication but I don't think it's available to the retail trade...and shouldn't be.  If they get out of hand the best method of control is an old fashioned mouse trap baited with small bits of apple.

Andrew Messinger
The Hampton Gardener
The Hampton Gardener is a Registered Trade Mark
(Published every Thursday in the Southampton Press)

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