The woodland vole is protected as a species of special concern provincially under Ontario’s Endangered Species Act and nationally under the Species at Risk Act.
Are voles a protected species?
Water voles are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. It is an offence to intentionally: kill, injure or take them.
Are voles common in Ontario?
The Woodland Vole is found throughout much of eastern North America, with a range that extends from southern Quebec, Ontario and Maine, south to northern Florida and Texas, and west to Michigan and Wisconsin.
What can I do about voles in my yard?
Voles can be removed humanely from a yard using live traps or exterminated with mouse traps or bait traps (which use poisons). They can also be deterred by fencing and driven away with vole repellents.
What is the natural enemy of voles?
Natural Control
Many predators including coyotes, foxes, badgers, weasels, cats, gulls, and especially hawks and owls eat voles.
Can you get rid of voles?
Remove vegetation
Voles don’t like to feed out in the open. As such, one of the easiest ways to control their numbers is through habitat modification. Remove dense ground cover, keep the lawn mowed, keep mulch light around trees and shrubs, and keep up on snow removal.
How do I get rid of voles in Ontario?
Cleaning up all possible food sources like vegetables left in the garden at season’s end will help keep voles and other rodents away from your yard. Removing mulch from the base of fruit trees in winter will also help avoid an increase in vole numbers.
Can you touch a vole?
Voles can bite, and they can carry many diseases including tularemia and rabies. But, as with moles, there is no documented case of a vole giving rabies to a human. These animals are not inclined to bite people. Animals can cause illness without biting people.
Can voles infest a house?
Although they do not infest houses often or on purpose, they can sometimes be found indoors. One or two of them may find their way into your house by accident. Voles are not the kind of animals that sleep when it is dark, and therefore, they can be active whether it is day and at night.
Do voles come back every year?
They can have multiple litters in a year, and every 3 to 5 years there is a population boom. Lawn damage is most visible in the spring. Prevent and manage vole damage through yard sanitation, reseeding grass, tree guards, trapping and pesticide application.
How deep do voles dig their tunnels?
Some voles burrow and create many shallow tunnels, while other types dig down to a depth of 12 inches. The tunnels give soil a spongy feel when you walk on it. Voles also happily inhabit mole and chipmunk tunnels.
How do farmers get rid of voles?
Vole populations also can be reduced by making the habitat less attractive. Removing cover and food sources can cause voles to disperse to another area. Destroying habitat does not necessarily kill voles; however, they may become more vulnerable to predators and some may die from mechanical treat- ments (e.g., mowing).
Will moth balls keep voles away?
Mothballs or moth flakes are also touted as a supposed repellent. However, not only is there no evidence of such tactics being effective, but these highly toxic chemicals can impact more than just the targeted pest to harm other animals, plants, and even your soil itself.
Do coffee grounds repel voles?
Coffee grounds are also one of the best natural ways to help protect our gardens and lawns. They can deter rodents like voles, gophers, and mice. It can be the best natural vole repellent. This is because rodents do not like the smell of something strong.
What is a good vole killer?
Top 5 Best Vole Poison
- JT Eaton 709PN Bait Block Rodenticide.
- VoleX Vole Killer Pellets.
- Tomcat All-Weather Bait Chunx.
- Ramik Green.
- JT Eaton 750 Top Gun Rodenticide.
What time of year are voles most active?
Voles do not hibernate and are active throughout the year. During severe winters and snow cover, when green vegetation is scarce, voles often girdle tree trunks and roots killing or damaging trees and shrubs. Voles may be active day or night, but most activity occurs at dawn and dusk.
Can you drown voles in their holes?
An effective way you can catch voles or moles in the garden is to drown them out of their holes. Since these varmints leave visible holes in the ground, you should get any ordinary garden hose and plug it down each hole in your garden. This should drown them inside their hole and force them out rapidly.
What problems do voles cause?
Voles are often implicated in damage to young trees and woody ornamentals. Chewing by voles at the base of unprotected stems can cause girdling and result in significant dieback and even plant death. In gardens, voles have been observed to gnaw on roots and crowns causing damage to plants such as parsley and celery.
How do I get rid of voles forever?
Remove woodpiles and hiding places for voles from near your garden, shrubs, and trees. Keep your lawn mowed and bushes trimmed up from the ground. Avoid putting dense mulch too close to trees and shrubs. Keep snow cleared from the base of trees and shrubs.
Are voles worse than moles?
In terms of damage done to your garden, voles are the real culprit. Although moles can cause some havoc on your lawn with their tunneling and mounding, they’re insectivores, feeding mostly on earthworms and bugs. Voles, on the other hand, eat plant roots, bulbs and the bark of young trees (especially fruit trees).
How do I get rid of voles in my yard naturally?
Remove Vegetation
They don’t like to be exposed to predators. “With this in mind,” says Smith, “remove dense ground cover, keep the lawn mowed, keep mulch light around trees and shrubs and keep up on snow removal.” It’s also a good idea to manage plants that attract voles, such as fruit trees.