Are Voles Harmful?
Voles, though small and seemingly innocuous rodents, can be surprisingly harmful in various ways—particularly to homeowners, landscapers, farmers, and property managers. Their behavior, diet, and reproductive rate make them a formidable pest when populations go unchecked. Here are some of the ways voles can be harmful:
- Irrigation Systems: Underground tunnels can compromise irrigation infrastructure by displacing soil and damaging lines.
- Foundations and Retaining Walls: Though less common than with larger burrowing animals, large vole infestations can contribute to soil instability around these structures.
- Lawns and Turf: Voles create surface runways and clip grass to maintain these paths, leaving unsightly tracks in turfgrass and undermining lawn health.
- Ornamental Plants and Shrubs: They often gnaw on the bark of shrubs and trees, particularly during winter when other food sources are scarce. This can girdle the plant, effectively killing it by interrupting nutrient and water flow.
- Garden Crops: Voles consume bulbs, tubers, and root vegetables, posing a direct threat to home gardens and commercial crops like carrots, potatoes, and tulips.
- Girdling: As mentioned, voles chew bark around the base of trees and vines. If the girdling is complete, it can kill even mature trees.
- Root Destruction: They also feed on root systems, weakening or killing young trees and vines, which can lead to long-term economic losses for orchard owners.
- Parasites: Voles can host fleas, ticks, and mites, which can transmit diseases to humans and pets.
- Zoonotic Diseases: They can carry pathogens such as hantavirus, leptospirosis, and tularemia, although transmission to humans is rare and usually occurs through contact with urine or feces.
Learn more: Do Voles Bite? || What Do Voles Look Like?
Vole Removal
Voles may look small and harmless, but these rodents can cause extensive damage in a surprisingly short amount of time. Removing them is important because they undermine both the health of your landscape and the safety of your property. These rodents feed on plant roots, bulbs, and bark, which can kill shrubs, young trees, garden plants, and turf from below the surface. Their tunneling creates networks of runways that weaken soil structure, contribute to erosion, and leave uneven ground that can damage equipment or create tripping hazards.
They also reproduce rapidly, turning a minor presence into a serious infestation within a single season. As their numbers grow, so does the destruction—lawns thin out, ornamental plants decline, and entire sections of landscape may need costly repair or replacement. Beyond the structural and aesthetic impact, voles can carry parasites that affect pets and wildlife, adding another layer of risk. Addressing the problem early limits damage, protects your investment in your property, and helps maintain a healthier outdoor environment overall.
Learn more: How To Get Rid Of Voles
Vole Control
Our professional vole control is essential if you want lasting protection for your property and landscape. Voles may look small and harmless, but they can cause serious and costly damage in a short amount of time. Here’s why hiring our professionals is the best choice:
- Protects Lawns, Gardens, and Trees: Voles feed on grass roots, bulbs, and plant stems, leaving behind unsightly runways and dead patches across your lawn. They also gnaw the bark of trees and shrubs, which can weaken or kill valuable landscaping. Our professionals can quickly stop the damage before it spreads.
- Prevents Expensive Repairs: Unchecked vole infestations destroy turf, ornamental plants, and young trees, forcing homeowners and businesses to spend thousands on replanting and lawn restoration. Our professional control minimizes these long-term costs.
- Expert Identification and Targeted Solutions: Voles are often mistaken for mice, moles, or shrews. Our professionals know how to properly identify the pest and use targeted control methods designed specifically for voles, rather than wasting time and money on ineffective DIY approaches.
- Safe and Effective Treatments: Vole control often requires specialized baits, traps, or habitat modification techniques. Our professionals use safe and regulated products, applying them in a way that protects children, pets, and non-target wildlife.
- Long-Term Prevention: Our professionals don’t just eliminate current voles—we also help prevent new infestations. By addressing conducive conditions and providing ongoing protection plans, we make sure voles don’t return year after year.
- Saves Time and Stress: Dealing with vole damage on your own can be frustrating, since these rodents reproduce quickly and are difficult to control. Our professionals bring experience, equipment, and proven strategies that deliver faster, lasting results.
Our professional vole control protects your investment in your property, eliminates the problem at the source, and provides peace of mind that your lawn, garden, and trees will stay healthy.
Vole Exterminators
Choosing our local exterminators for vole control provides a level of precision, accountability, and responsiveness that national chains rarely match. Our local professionals work every day in the same soil, climate, and habitat conditions that shape vole behavior in the area, so our recommendations tend to be far more accurate and immediately effective. We know which species are most active, the seasonal patterns that influence tunneling, and the specific landscape features that attract them. That familiarity translates into treatments that actually solve the problem rather than just manage the symptoms.
Our local team also depends heavily on our reputation, which means we have a strong incentive to deliver results, communicate clearly, and follow up until the issue is genuinely resolved. You get faster service, easier access to the technician handling your property, and greater flexibility with scheduling and ongoing monitoring. Our combination of targeted expertise, consistent service quality, and personal accountability makes our local exterminators the more reliable choice when you want an infestation addressed thoroughly and with long-term success in mind.
Vole Solutions
Our exterminators use Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to control voles because these small rodents can cause extensive damage to lawns, gardens, and orchards by feeding on roots, bulbs, and bark, leading to plant death and landscape deterioration. IPM begins with a thorough inspection to identify active runways, burrow entrances, feeding areas, and environmental conditions that attract voles, such as dense ground cover, tall grass, and accessible food sources. Management strategies focus on habitat modification, including reducing ground cover, maintaining short turf, removing brush and debris, and protecting vulnerable plants with barriers or repellents. Physical controls, such as traps, and selective rodenticide applications are used only when necessary to minimize environmental impact. Ongoing monitoring allows our exterminators to track vole activity, evaluate the effectiveness of control measures, and prevent reinfestation. By integrating inspection, habitat management, selective control, and monitoring, IPM provides a long-term, environmentally responsible, and effective approach to managing vole populations.
Where Are Voles Found?
Voles are highly adaptable rodents found throughout North America, Europe, and parts of Asia, and they thrive in environments that provide ample ground cover and food sources. Their habitat preferences vary slightly depending on the species, but in general, voles prefer areas where they can remain hidden from predators and where vegetation is abundant. Here's where you're most likely to encounter voles:
Lawns and Landscaped Areas
Voles are commonly found in suburban and residential settings, particularly:
- Well-mulched flower beds
- Dense groundcover or ornamental grasses
- Under shrubs or low-hanging bushes
- Edges of lawns near fields or wooded areas
These areas offer food and shelter. Homeowners often notice their presence through surface runways in the grass or damaged plants.
Meadows, Fields, and Pastures
- Meadow voles, in particular, are named for their preference for open, grassy fields.
- These environments offer ideal conditions: soft soil for burrowing, dense vegetation for cover, and abundant food sources (grasses, seeds, stems, etc.).
- Agricultural pastures and hayfields are frequent vole hotspots, especially if mowing or grazing is infrequent, allowing thick vegetation to accumulate.
Orchards and Vineyards
- Voles thrive in orchards and vineyards where ground vegetation is left unmanaged.
- Fallen fruit, bark, and root systems offer abundant food.
- They often establish nests at the bases of trees or vines and feed on bark during winter, which can lead to tree girdling and death.
Forest Edges and Woodlands
- Voles often inhabit the transitional zones between wooded areas and open fields. These ecotones offer a mix of cover and open feeding grounds.
- Pine voles, in particular, are adapted to life in wooded environments and prefer leaf litter, tree roots, and forest floor debris.
Gardens and Agricultural Crops
Home gardens, especially those with root vegetables (like carrots and potatoes), bulb flowers (like tulips), or legume crops, can attract voles. In commercial agriculture, vole infestations can occur in:
- Row crops (e.g., soybeans, corn, grains)
- Vegetable plots
- Cover-cropped fields, especially if left undisturbed over winter
Areas with Ground Debris or Mulch
Voles prefer environments with dense ground cover—this includes:
- Woodpiles
- Brush piles
- Heavy layers of mulch
- Overgrown weedy areas
These features provide protection from predators and harsh weather, especially during winter.
Along Fences, Foundations, and Outbuildings
Structures with adjacent weedy or grassy edges provide perfect vole corridors. You might find vole burrows or surface trails running along these features, especially if vegetation isn’t well-trimmed.
Wetlands and Riparian Zones
Some vole species prefer moist environments like marshes, ditches, or the banks of streams and ponds. These areas provide thick vegetation and soft soil—ideal for tunneling.
Telltale Signs of Vole Activity
To identify whether voles are present in a given area, look for:
- Surface runways: Narrow, well-worn paths in grass or mulch, often leading to burrow entrances.
- Burrow holes: Small (1–2 inch) holes near runways or at the base of vegetation.
- Gnawed bark or roots: Especially at or just below the soil line on young trees and shrubs.
- Nesting materials: Grass or shredded vegetation in hidden areas.
You’re most likely to find voles in areas with dense ground vegetation, ample food sources, and minimal disturbance—such as meadows, orchards, overgrown gardens, forest edges, and even residential landscapes with heavy mulch or groundcover.
What Do Voles Eat?
Voles are primarily herbivorous rodents with a diet focused on a wide range of plant material. Their feeding habits can make them particularly destructive in gardens, orchards, agricultural fields, and landscaped areas. What makes voles especially problematic is that they feed year-round—above ground in warmer seasons and below ground during winter—causing damage in all seasons. Here is what voles eat:
- Grasses and Herbaceous Plants: Grasses make up the bulk of a vole’s diet. They consume both the blades and the roots of various grass species. Voles create well-worn surface runways through grassy areas as they forage.
- Roots and Tubers: Voles are notorious for feeding on the roots of perennial plants, which can lead to wilting, stunted growth, and plant death. They commonly damage root vegetables (e.g., carrots, potatoes, beets), perennials (e.g., hostas, daylilies), and turfgrass (root systems and crown).
- Bulbs and Corms: In landscaped areas and gardens, voles often target tulip bulbs, crocus, gladiolus, and other ornamental flowering bulbs. They will dig these up and consume them entirely, often leaving behind empty holes or chewed remnants.
- Tree Bark and Cambium: During winter or times of food scarcity, voles gnaw on the bark and cambium layer at the base of trees and shrubs. This is especially problematic for young fruit trees (apple, pear, peach), ornamental trees (maple, dogwood, crabapple), and shrubs (juniper, burning bush, arborvitae). Girdling damage (chewing all the way around the trunk) can kill a tree by cutting off the flow of water and nutrients.
- Leaves and Stems: In addition to roots and bark, voles consume tender green shoots, stems, and leaves of vegetables (lettuce, spinach, beans), weeds, and low-growing ornamental plants. Vole damage often appears as irregular chewing or stripping near the base of the plant.
- Seeds and Grains: While not their main dietary staple, voles will eat seeds—especially in fall and early winter. This includes crop seeds (corn, wheat, soybeans) as well as birdseed (if accessible from feeders or storage). Seed predation is a common issue in agricultural fields or gardens with direct seeding methods.
- Fruits and Vegetables: Voles will consume soft fruits and vegetables when available, including apples, berries, tomatoes, squash, and melons (especially if fallen or close to the ground). They may not climb to reach fruit, but anything accessible at ground level is vulnerable.
- Bark from Vines and Groundcover: In vineyards or areas with groundcover plants, voles may gnaw on grape vines, ivy and creeping groundcover, and strawberries (both the foliage and the fruit).
Though voles are primarily herbivores, they have been observed eating insects and their larvae (opportunistically), as well as fungi or decaying organic matter. This behavior is not common and generally does not contribute significantly to their diet.
Vole Life Cycle
The life cycle of voles is relatively rapid and plays a significant role in their ability to quickly establish large populations, especially when food and shelter are abundant. Voles are prolific breeders and, under favorable conditions, can reproduce year-round. Here is an overview of the typical life cycle of a vole:
Mating and Reproduction
- Mating Season: Voles are polygamous and can breed year-round, although their peak breeding season is typically in spring and summer. In some regions with mild winters, reproduction may continue throughout the year.
- Mating Behavior: Male voles are territorial but will mate with several females during the breeding season. Mating usually occurs in hidden areas such as burrows, tall grass, or under debris.
- Gestation Period: The gestation period is short, generally around 20 to 30 days, which allows for rapid population growth.
Birth and Early Development
- Litter Size: Female voles typically give birth to 3 to 6 pups per litter, though this can vary depending on environmental conditions and food availability.
- Frequency of Litters: Voles are capable of producing several litters per year—usually between 3 to 5 litters, though some species may have even more under optimal conditions.
- Newborns: At birth, vole pups are hairless, blind, and completely dependent on the mother. They are very small, weighing just a few grams.
Growth and Weaning
- Weaning Age: The pups are nursed for about 2 to 3 weeks, during which time they begin to develop fur and their eyes open. The mother typically cares for them in a nest made of grass and vegetation.
- Development of Skills: By 3 to 4 weeks of age, young voles begin to eat solid food (grasses, seeds, and small roots) and gradually start to leave the nest, although they remain close to the mother.
Sexual Maturity
- Reaching Maturity: Voles mature extremely quickly. They typically reach sexual maturity at 4 to 6 weeks of age. This rapid development allows young voles to begin breeding within a few weeks of being born.
- Breeding Success: By the time they are a couple of months old, young voles are capable of breeding and contributing to the next generation.
Longevity
- Lifespan: Voles have a relatively short lifespan. Most voles live for less than a year, though under optimal conditions (i.e., limited predators and ample food), they may live up to 1–2 years.
- Mortality Rate: Vole populations are heavily influenced by high mortality rates. Many voles fall victim to predators such as hawks, owls, snakes, foxes, and weasels. In addition, harsh environmental conditions, disease, and starvation also contribute to their short lifespan.
- Survival Strategy: Due to their high reproductive rate, voles are able to maintain stable populations even though individual lifespans are short. A single female vole can contribute to the population by producing multiple litters of offspring within a single year.
Burrowing and Habitat
- Burrow Systems: Voles live in underground burrows, which they dig themselves or inhabit tunnels created by other animals. Their burrows provide shelter, protection from predators, and a place to store food. Voles are highly territorial, especially during the breeding season, but they can form colonies when food and space are abundant.
- Tunnels: Voles create complex tunnel networks just below the surface of the soil. These tunnels serve as travel routes, feeding areas, and nesting sites.
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