I picked up my A.p. 'Tatoo', which I've had in a pot over the winter, and the whole plant fell over! Upon inspection , there was a hole chewed in the bottom of the pot and a tunnel up to the plant. The roots had been eaten completely away by some malicious creature! Grrr! I also spotted a number of "holes" or burrows around the garden (see pics). What could be doing this and how do you get rid of them!?!
chimera, I think you're right. I've been reading up, and moles leave raised tunnels along the surface of the soil, and gophers leave a little mound of dirt around their holes. So I think this is voles. They are voracious plant root eaters! I got some Mole/Gopher pellets and put it in the tunnels. This is supposed to be effective, and since I don't have pets it should be safe (the pellets are underground). This will do until I find a less dangerous control.
K4, Hope your successful. Peanut butter on mousetraps helps with mice here, but haven't tried it on voles. Suppose a cat would be good, but they don't last very long here outside with the coyotes. Believe the voles are nocturnal and the population cyclic. Maybe other members will have some suggestions.
Looks like voles to me too. A cat will provide some control but perhaps not eradicate the problem. We have lots of cats around, and our Lucy will bring 2 or 3 vols/campagnols/mice into the courtyard per day during the summer. Still have lots of voles too, though. About 15 years ago I tried a system with closed boxes on the surface, poisoned bait inside. Ostensibly the voles make their way inside, but other animals are protected. Didn't work very well. A very frustrating kind of loss, sorry about that K4. -E
Have tried the smoke bombs, which didn't seem to work, and have heard of propane being used for moles, not sure how enviromentally friendly that would be though. This Bobcat, Lynx rufus, has been hunting here, hopefully he gets a few voles.
Gorgeous animal, chimera. Actually it makes me wonder if our foxes don't do a fair amount of vole-control too... their other calling card is not so pleasant of course. Mind you, something tells me K4 has a few foxes around, too. -E
I think birds of prey are the main control for voles in my Cape May garden. We've got coyotes and scores of cats but voles seem to be incredibly fecund. In Cape May the garden is a maze of vole tunnels but never had an attack as vicious as K4's. Sorry for your pain K4.
A tile or slab (paver in the US?) under each pot would serve to protect the potted maples. I don't think you could ever get rid of the voles entirely, just control their numbers.
Thanks for your thoughts and sympathies, everyone. I'm sure animal controls are the best. My sister's cat used to come over regularly, but has since gotten a little feeble and doesn't venture over any more. I also used to have a family of Great Horned Owls that lived in my woods, but I have not heard their hoots in a long while. There is a Bobcat here, but is rarely seen, as well as a fox who makes an occasional appearance. But I don't think they're doing a lot of hunting in my yard. I never see evidence of their activity or any tracks. Between my sister's place and my place we have 65 acres, so they probably find plenty of productive places to hunt away from human habitats. Perhaps this lack of predators explains the sudden appearance and attacks of the voles. I've found 20 or more of those tunnel holes around the house, so numbers must be up. Perhaps its time to get an outdoor cat of my own.. I took some scions from my poor 'Tatoo', and hopefully I'll have a successful graft or two from it. That would keep it from being a total loss.
AHAAA!! Walking back from the Studio this afternoon I saw a VOLE sneaking across my patio, headed stright for my beloved A.p. 'Sherwood Elfin'!! I sprung into action immediately. Let's just say there is now one less Vole on planet Earth!! Bruce Lee would have been proud... :D
Out here in Northern CA, gophers are my big problem. That first image of the hole looks similar to a new gopher hole, but I don't know where these different pests live around the country. I just caught one little bugger with a gopher trap that had dug a hole about 3 feet from the trunk of my Green Maple in the front yard. They seem to like the softer dirt around my front yard, so I have to be vigilant. I've found that the gopher traps work quite well against subterranean pests. Just dig a clean hole down to the level of the tunnel, make sure it's cleaned out of all extra dirt, and put the trap in as far as you can inside the tunnel. I've already caught 2 this way, and it's a constant battle. Oh well, beats living in a concrete jungle...I much prefer our semi-rural location.
