Moles & Voles
Resource Page
Carefully maintained lawns and yards attract voles and moles. The more lush and lavish your landscape, the more appealing it is to moles and voles.
HOW DO I KNOW IF I HAVE MOLES AND VOLES?
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Voles make holes and moles make mounds.
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Moles leave their telltale hills everywhere they go.
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Mole hills are easily identifiable by their conical shape.
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They also leave ridged tunnels all over your lawn.
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Voles, also known as lawn rodents or field mice, create both above-ground and underground passageways in the soil.
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Voles feed mostly on vegetation, causing damage to not only your grass but also to your gardens and flowerbeds.
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If you are seeing destructive activity in your lawn in springtime, it is more likely a vole.
WHAT DO MOLES AND VOLES LOOK LIKE?
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Moles are small mammals 5 to 8 inches long with dark gray or brown fur
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Moles have long, narrow snouts, small eyes and no visible ears.
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A mole's feet, nose and tail are pink and their front feet are equipped with well-developed claws that allow them to dig rapidly.
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Moles live almost exclusively underground.
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Voles are small rodents approximately 3 to 5 inches long.
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Voles have thick, furry coats that can range in color from brown to gray
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Voles have short tails and short legs.
ARE MOLES AND VOLES DANGEROUS?
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Moles are generally not dangerous unless threatened.
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It is advisable to keep your pets away from any mole hills to avoid mole bites.
CAN MY YARD BE DAMAGED BY MOLES AND VOLES?
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Moles can do great damage to lawns, landscaping and golf courses by tunneling, which destroys plant root systems.
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The ridged tunnels make lawn mowing difficult, and may cause trip-and-fall accidents
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Voles destroy landscaping, killing as much as 50% of a lawn over a winter.
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Voles will also destroy flower beds, girdle fruit trees, and kill vegetable gardens from the roots up.
WHY ARE MOLES AND VOLES IN MY YARD?
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Lawns that have a lot of worms, grubs, and beetle larvae are good hunting ground for moles.
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Moles prefer soil that is shaded, cool, and moist because of plentiful worms and grubs and easy digging.
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Moles typically make their home burrows in high, dry spots often under large trees, buildings or sidewalks.
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Voles are attracted to landscaping with long grass, lots of ground cover and heavily mulched planting beds.
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Grass or crops that are left long in the fall and then covered by snow can also attract voles.
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Voles very rarely enter buildings, but may end up inside a building by accident.
WHAT DO MOLES AND VOLES EAT?
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Moles are technically insectivores; not rodents.
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Moles feed primarily on earthworms and white grubs, but will also eat millipedes, centipedes, beetles, spiders, and other insects that venture into their underground tunnels.
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As the moles tunnel underground they uproot the soil and expose roots of trees, shrubs, plants and grass.
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Moles eat from 70% to 100% of their weight each day. This is because they burn so much energy digging.
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Voles like to nibble on the bark of fruit trees, ornamental plants, and plants in vegetable gardens.
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They usually eat grasses and weeds, but they also relish insects like gypsy moths, snails, and the remains of dead animals.
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In the fall, voles gather and store seeds, bulbs, tubers, and rhizomes.
WHAT IS THE LIFECYCLE OF MOLES AND VOLES?
The gestation period of moles is approximately 42 days.
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Three to five young are born, mainly in March and early April.
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The moles have only a few natural enemies because of their secluded life underground. Coyotes, dogs, badgers, and skunks dig out a few of them, and occasionally a cat, hawk, or owl surprises one above ground. Spring floods are probably the greatest danger facing adult moles and their young.
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A vole can have several litters of three to six young in a year.
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Vole populations have natural peak cycles of 3-5 years.
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Natural predators of voles include owls, foxes, wolves, weasels, shrews and snakes.