How to Deal with Moles, Voles, and Chipmunks in the Garden - Part Two: Repairing the Damage
Here in “How to Deal with Moles, Voles, and Chipmunks Two,” you’ll learn how I repair the damage that these guys and gals cause in my garden, and how I make sure that they don’t return to their favorite excavation sites.
Welcome to “How to Deal with Moles, Voles, and Chipmunks Two,” the second part of my three-part article outlining my methodology for dealing with moles, voles, and chipmunks in the garden.
So, moles, voles, and chipmunks it is… Where do I begin?
Well, I can tell you that my thoughts are filled with them. I often think of their cuteness. Small. Warm. Furry. Definitely cute. But as they say, appearances can be deceiving.
Here, my thoughts take a darker turn. As I continue to consider these creatures and their cuteness, the vexing reality of their collective existence is slowly but surely brought to light. I understand fully then. For when it comes to garden wreckers, only one universal and immutable law applies: the cuter they are, the more destruction they cause.
Did I mention that moles, voles, and chipmunks are extra cute?
Make no mistake, each one of these little darlings is capable of wreaking a huge amount of havoc in a garden filled with ornamental perennials. I’m fortunate to have had all three ruining my garden at one time. How do I know I’ve had the whole gang in my garden? I’ve seen each of them. In action. Many times now. Some more than others. But I’ve definitely seen ’em all and I know I’ve played host to ’em all. Thanks to this bit of luck, I can write from the perspective of intimate experience on this particular topic. Pretty great, huh?
Before we get too much further into this article, let me give you a little topographical background regarding the location and nature of my garden. If you follow my stuff here on The Renaissance Garden Guy, you’ll know that our property is located in the forest. We’ve got lots of dense tree growth on our land. And the only thing separating my cultivated ornamental garden from my decidedly uncultivated forest growth is a privacy fence. As a result of this ostensibly idyllic situation, there are always those forest denizens ready to pay a visit to my garden. When this happens, said visitors typically make the status change from forest residents-cum-garden tourists to full-fledged garden citizens. Who can blame them? No predators, lots of good food, and you can’t beat the property taxes. It’s a no-brainer. There’s probably a mole/vole/chipmunk move-in waiting list out there somewhere. And if you’re a regular reader here, you’ll know that there are no “wide open spaces” in my garden. No lawn. No expanses of emptiness. The garden consists of various planting features delineated by walking paths, planters, and retaining walls. There are plenty of opportunities for my destructive garden citizens to move quickly and easily from one planting feature to another. To further complicate matters for me (and simultaneously aid and abet my vermin), all of my planting features are fairly heavily mulched with wood chips. This makes the application, and consequent effectiveness, of varmint repellent a bit tricky, as the presence of mulch substantially inhibits the penetration of the repellent’s active ingredients into the soil beneath the mulch where the varmint tunnels lie. So, because of where my garden is located (and the resulting endless supply of varmints), and the way my garden is designed, laid out, and mulched, the task of dealing with my moles and voles and chipmunks can be pretty challenging. I’m realistic about my prospects for making the total and permanent eviction of my varmints a quick fix. For me, it’s going to be a case of “slow and steady wins the race.” A definite war of attrition.
In Part One of this article, I gave you a rundown on what each of these creatures is and does, and what particular brand of monkey wrench each one happily throws into your gardening plans. It’s those “monkey wrenches” I’m writing about here in Part Two – the damage that these adorable little fuzzy-wuzzies visit upon your garden. I’m going to discuss how to fix that damage (optimally in permanent fashion) and, at the same time, how to begin the process of ultimate and permanent elimination.
And while we’re on the subject of “permanent elimination,” I’ve gotta let you know right here and now that by “permanent elimination,” I mean “permanent eviction.” You guessed it – I’m working toward eliminating these pest populations humanely. I do not employ any lethal methods in combatting my pests. I must admit, however, in a moment of weakness, utter frustration, and fury, I did set some lethal mouse traps (for my vole population) one evening. Wracked by guilt and haunted by gossamer vole-wraiths shimmering in my dreams that night, I got out of bed early and hauled myself outside to remove the traps. None of them were sprung and no voles were killed. A left-handed gift from the gods… To make a long story short, there are probably a number of effective lethal methods for eliminating moles, voles, and chipmunks. I just don’t use them and I’m not going to write about any of them here.
So, back to the damage and how to repair it…
All three of these creatures tunnel. The type of tunnel, and the consequent problems it causes for your garden and plants, depends on which of these animals digs it. Knowing a little bit about the behavior of each of these animals and understanding why they tunnel (and what they use their respective tunnels for) is critical in understanding mole/vole/chipmunk tunnel architecture. To properly fix the damage caused by a tunnel (and simultaneously initiate the specific animal’s removal process) you need to understand the tunnel. Here, I’m just going to review briefly the how’s, where’s, and why’s of each animal’s tunnel system for the purposes of repair/repel. (For a more detailed look at each animal’s habits – tunneling and otherwise – please refer to Part One of this article). And I’m going to discuss my methods for repairing the damage caused by their tunnels, and the steps I take to repel the critters themselves from the specific tunnel itself and the area near that tunnel. Although the actual mechanical process involved in physically repairing the damage caused by each type of pest’s tunnel is basically the same, the steps taken to simultaneously repair and repel vary slightly depending on the animal in question.
(To read Part Three of this article, which deals with global, garden-wide banishment of moles, voles, and chipmunks, please click here. If you’re interested in protecting individual, specific plants from vole and chipmunk grazing, please click here. Finally, please click here for my all-time Top 10 List of mole, vole, and chipmunk repellents. All of these articles have been written to outline my own personal experiences with moles, voles, and chipmunks, and they each contain tried and true strategies and product recs for use in evicting the troublesome critters.)
How to Repair Damage From Chipmunk Tunnels in the Garden (and Repel Chipmunks at the Same Time)
In my garden, chipmunks are the least problematic of the three types of pest we’re discussing here. In fact, at this time, I can say I have effectively removed the chipmunk population from my garden. And although this “population” consisted of only one individual, I consider my efforts to evict him/her a success.
Why Do Chipmunks Tunnel and What Do They Use Their Tunnels For?
It’s the chipmunk’s behavior and diet which I believe have made the repair (and subsequent repel) process comparatively easy. Chipmunks are solitary, except when mating or birthing/weaning. And they primarily use their tunnels to get from one part of their territory to another in undetected fashion. An individual’s territory is pretty extensive and it’s pretty easy to persuade him/her to relinquish a portion of it in favor of the acquisition of land elsewhere. Their tunnels are deep but not arbitrary. They’ve got a pretty well-defined system consisting of a main run with an entrance and exit, a den, a food store, a vertical plunge tunnel or two, drain tunnels, and a few minor side tunnels. So if you can determine which tunnels are the important ones, and make those tunnels inhospitable, you can pretty much repair the damage and lose your chipmunk. For good. If you’re persistent. And lucky. The chipmunk’s diet also makes the repair of its excavating work and corresponding eviction a bit easier than that of moles and voles. They like to eat mostly seeds and nuts. Although sometimes plant bulbs are on their menu, in my garden, my chipmunk never bothered to eat anything growing below ground. Because of this culinary predilection, my chipmunk never zigged and zagged its tunnels all over my garden, zeroing in on the roots or bulbs of my perennials with the intent to chow down on them.
None of this means that chipmunk tunnels are not harmful to your garden and plants. Chipmunks prefer obscurity. They therefore like to locate the ingress and egress points of their tunnel system under things, like the leaves or branches of a plant, for example. And if a chipmunk birthing den or storeroom is excavated directly beneath the main root system of a specific plant, it could lead to the injury or death of that plant. Whether a chipmunk’s tunnel is next to or underneath a plant’s roots sytem, it means that at least a portion of that plant’s root system (if not most or all of it) is exposed to the air. Or at the very least, not immersed in soil. This is a problem.
Chipmunk Tunnels: The Repair (and Repel) Process.
There are a number of approaches one can take when attempting to fix and/or eliminate chipmunk tunnels. I’m going to outline the techniques which I use and which seem to work for my particular set of circumstances. When I’m aiming to fix chipmunk tunnels, I’m always keeping four things in mind. A) I want to make sure the tunnel itself is filled and rendered inhospitable and useless to the chipmunk. B) I want to make sure the root systems of any impacted plants are re-covered with soil. C) I want to make sure that the general area around the tunnel becomes a place that chipmunks want to avoid. D) I want to re-apply repellent to maintain a chipmunk-free zone at and around the specific tunnel’s location.
A) Filling chipmunk tunnels. This is a two-pronged objective and process which involves physically cramming the chipmunk’s tunnel structure with dirt, and making sure that the dirt with which I fill the hole is bad dirt. By “bad dirt” I mean soil which is mixed with granular chipmunk repellent. Heavily mixed with granular chipmunk repellent. As in crammed. There are a number of quality products available which effectively repel chipmunks and voles, and many which additionally repel moles. These products are non-lethal and safe for humans, pets, and plants when used as directed. They work by inflaming and irritating the burrowing animals nasal passages and by interfering with the animal’s sense of taste. As a short adjunct to this article, please click on The 10 Best Burrowing Animal Repellents for a list of my favorite mole/vole/chipmunk repellants.
Note: Burrowing animals, like chipmunks, voles, and, to a much lesser degree, moles, tend to become “nose blind” after awhile. They gradually can become accustomed to the scent of one particular type of repellent (if used continually/repeatedly without variation) to the point of acclimation. It’s best to mix up the products you’re using by alternating them every thirty days or so, or mixing them together in varying combinations. That way you can always keep your pests guessing.
Please further note, that for the purposes of this entire article, the term “repellent” shall refer to chipmunk/mole/vole repellent in GRANULAR FORM ONLY unless otherwise specified.
So, step-by-step, here’s how I fill my chipmunk tunnels.
- Step One: Clear mulch, twigs, leaves, etc. away from the tunnel opening. By moving surface materials away from the opening of the chipmunk’s tunnel, I’m able to get a pretty good idea of the size of the tunnel and the general direction of its run. And since I want to fill the tunnel with soil and repellent only, moving debris away from the opening reduces the amount of unwanted material which could possibly get pushed into the hole while I’m filling it.
- Step Two: Manually feel for the direction and slope of the tunnel. Knowing the direction and slope of the tunnel helps me understand from which angle I’ll be packing it, and also approximately how much packing I’ll need to do. The slope of the tunnel gives me a pretty good idea of the nature of the tunnel. For example, if the tunnel runs straight down, there’s an excellent chance that it’s a vertical plunge tunnel (or bolt-hole) which can travel a foot or more down directly to the main tunnel run. If the slope is more gradual, it could be a side tunnel or one of the main ingress/egress points to the tunnel’s main run. In any event, knowing what the tunnel’s used for helps me understand how to fill it, and how much filling I’ll need to do. And physically feeling for the direction and slope is my best method for making those determinations. I use two different techniques for determining the direction and slope of a chipmunk tunnel. The first involves simply sticking my fingers down into the hole as far as I can. Sometimes I can get a good read right away by feeling with my fingers. The other way I try to get a handle on what the tunnel is doing involves using a rod, or “pusher.” This is a long narrow tube made of plastic which I use to extend my reach into the tunnel and also to push soil and repellent down into the tunnel’s depths/lengths. I use two sizes. One is approximately 13 inches in length with a diameter of approximately 5/8″ and the other is approximately 16″ in length with a diameter of approximately 7/8″. They are hollow and made from CPVC plumbing tubing (1/2″ and 3/4″ nominal inside diameters, respectively) cut to the above lengths. I like these because the two different sizes allow for more adaptability to the tunnel’s architecture, and as they fill with dirt, they become effective narrow-yet-blunt soil-cramming implements, perfect for packing a tunnel with soil and/or pest repellent. These implements, incidentally, double as markers for plant locations when I’m designing and laying out planting features in my garden (please see my article about lilies detailing the use of this versatile pipe material as a plant location marker). By inching these plastic tubes into a chipmunk tunnel, I’m able to extend my tactile sense of each tunnel’s slope and direction.
- Step Three: Pack the tunnel. Packing the tunnel serves a few purposes. It replenishes lost soil around the roots of any plants impacted by the tunnel’s location (more about that a bit later), fills (and thereby “removes” the presence of) the tunnel, and, when packed with soil and repellent, renders the tunnel unusable to the chipmunk. The amount of soil and repellent I pack into the tunnel depends upon the slope of the tunnel, and therefore, its utimate nature and purpose within the chipmunk’s overall tunnel network. As I mentioned earlier, and based on my observations, there is one good thing about a chipmunk tunnel system: although extensive, it’s pretty direct. Any ingress and egress point – whether a plunge tunnel, main entrance/exit, or side tunnel hole – ultimately leads to the tunnel’s main run. Some lead to that main run more quickly and directly than others. Bottom line, I know that if I cram enough soil/repellent into a chipmunk hole, it’s going to end up in the main tunnel. And the presence of that repellent will convince the chipmunk to relinquish that portion of the run. Like I said earlier, a chipmunk tunnel system is extensive. In my chipmunk’s case, I figured out that part of the tunnel system extended out of my garden, under my fence, and out into the woods. My thought was that I could encourage my chipmunk buddy to stay out in the forest by making the part of its tunnel system that ran in my garden proper stinky and inhospitable, and filled and unusable. After all, the amount of tunnel that extended out into the forest was probably substantial. No need to hang around the stinky garden part of the the tunnel when so much of it lay out in the fresh-smelling woods. (I guess in order to outsmart a rodent, you’ve got to think like a rodent). So I packed the hole (actually there were three) in the northeast section of my garden as follows: Hole #1 – plunge tunnel which went straight down. I packed handful after handful of soil and repellent (alternating between the two materials) and shoved it in until I couldn’t fit anymore in. At that point, I was sure I had packed a soil/repellent combo down into the tunnels main run. The other two holes, located in the same section of garden (in my fern area) within a few feet of the plunge tunnel and one another, were either side tunnel or main tunnel ingress/egress points. These ran downward, but at a much more diminished angle than the vertical plunge tunnel. Again, I packed these holes directly with alternating handfuls of soil and repellent until they were stuffed to the point of heaving up the surrounding surfaces of ground. And here I want to really clarify: I literally take handfuls of soil and repellent and guide them down into the holes, then shove them further and further in using my plastic pushers. I generally start with a handful of repellent, follow it up with a handful of dirt, and continue in alternating fashion. Sometimes the ratio is 1:1 soil to repellent, or sometimes 2:1 or 3:1 soil to repellent. When I’m done filling the hole (I know I’ve reached this point when I can’t cram anything more down the hole and the surrounding earth starts heaving up as I try to continue cramming), I make a fist and push vertically straight down with as much force as possible. At that point, I add another fistful of repellent (to the depression I just created with my clenched fist), more soil, and another handful of repellent. I then place a moderate amount of mulch over this little mound, and then add another sprinkling of repellent. I then apply the repellent to the surface of the ground in the vicinity of each packed tunnel out to a roughly circular patch of approximately 6 feet in diameter with the packed tunnel as the center (these 6-foot diameter circular application zones tend to overlap one another slightly due to the fairly close proximity of one packed tunnel to another). As a final step, depending on the type of repellent I’m using, I either lightly water or heavily soak with water each packed former hole and its corresponding 6-foot diameter surrounding application zones. The various repellents which I use release natural oils into the surrounding soil when the granules are watered in. This allows the repelling action of the specific product to leech into the deep soil immediately in and around the packed tunnel and also into the soil near the surface within and around my 6-foot diameter circular application zones.
I Must Garden Mole & Vole Repellent. Here in “How to Deal with Moles, Voles, and Chipmunks Two,” you’ll see what a critical role a high-quality repellent plays in reclaiming your garden from these furry little invaders. This stuff was an extremely close second on my Top 10 repellents list. Like Repellex Mole & Gopher Repellent, this product packs a hefty punch of castor oil at a 20% concentration. And, like the Repellex product, it’s got lots of other ingredients that little digging mammals can’t stand. An excellent product. To learn more about it, or to order it right here, directly from Amazon, please click the #advertisement link.
B) Re-immersing the exposed roots of impacted plants. This item goes without saying and is pretty much a no-brainer. And, it was mostly taken care of in the above “Filling chimunk tunnels” section. It’s critical that a plant’s roots are always in contact with the soil. The plant derives water and nutrients from the soil through its roots. Any interruption of this lifeline can result in serious harm or death to the plant. Exposing portions of the plant’s root system to the open air is always a problem, but it becomes an even bigger problem during periods of extreme heat in summer, or freezing temperatures in winter. Our ornamental perennial garden plants have evolved, as organisms, with their root systems as their subterranean structures (as opposed to their aerial structures like leaves and flowers). Subterranean means underground. And underground is where the plant’s roots must remain. A plant has no defense against the exposure of its root system to hot and dry, or freezing cold air.
Even though it didn’t appear that my chipmunk was eating any underground plant growth, it was tunneling right next to the roots of a number of my ferns, thereby exposing at least parts of those root sytems to the open air. Specifically remedying this problem would require simply replacing the soil around each plant’s roots. I’d already done that when I packed the chipmunk tunnel as outlined above. But, I also engaged in repelling action which included the addition of granular repellent. Thankfully, all of the granular products I’ve used contain both active and inert (filler) natural ingredients which cause no harm to the plant’s root systems.
So, filling the chipmunk holes with soil and repellent really accomplished three things for me. I plugged the tunnels, caused the chipmunk to abandon them, and replenished the soil around the roots of my plants which the chipmunk had removed while digging the tunnels.
C) Making the general vicinity of the filled tunnel inhospitable to the chipmunk. As discussed, when I’m repairing chipmunk tunnel damage and protecting the roots of nearby plants, I’m also persuading the chipmunk to abandon the tunnel for good through a heavy application of granular repellent directly into the tunnel itself. But what’s to prevent the chipmunk from re-tunneling next to the tunnel I just filled and treated? That’s the million dollar question. I’ll give you a big part of my answer to that question in the upcoming Part Three of this article. A shorter and more immediate answer I’ll give you right here.
Since my chipmunk was solitary, and I knew a big part of its chipmunk tunnel world existed outside of the boundaries of my ornamental garden, I thought it wouldn’t be too hard to eliminate my chipmunk population of one by forcing a relocation decision on this particular individual. Remember those 6-foot diameter circular repellent application zones surrounding each repellent-packed tunnel? I believed that by re-applying the granular repellent every several days (and by alternating repellent products with every few applications) for a month or so to these 6-foot diameter application zones, and watering it into the layer of mulch and underlying soil substrate, I could make the general vicinity of that part of the chipmunk’s tunnel system uninhabitable. Keep in mind, the tunnels themselves were already packed with repellent, as well. I knew that watering directly at each packed tunnel location and its corresponding 6-foot diameter application zone would allow for the thorough release of the repellent into the soil below ground at tunnel depth as well as near the surface out to a distance of at least 3 feet in all directions from each packed tunnel. As it turned out, I was right. The filled tunnels stayed filled and, in spite of a few half-hearted attempts to breach the surface of one or two of my 6-foot diameter application zone circles, my erstwhile resident now indulges in all things chipmunk in the bold frontiers beyond my fence. As you’ll read below, I do reapply the repellent to the circular application zones (per each manufacturer’s directions) in order to convince the chipmunk that it’s permanently persona non grata or, more accurately, rodens non grata.
D) Re-apply repellent. A critical step. Re-applying repellent product to the vicinity of my recent chipmunk repair/repel site (and to the entire garden, as you’ll read in Part Three of this aricle) per the manufacturer’s directions is imperative in order to prevent a case of chipmunk re-occupation. It’s important that I remember to use a rotating variety of repellent brands with varying ingredients to avoid the possibility of the chipmunk developing immunity to one specific product and one specific set of ingredients.
Again, broad-spectrum varmint repelling will be discussed in greater detail in Part Three of this article. I’ll give you a heads-up when I’m about to post it.
That’s the long and short of repairing chipmunk tunnel damage while convincing said critter to abandon ship and set sail for less troubled waters. To sum it up, the mechanics involved with chipmunk tunnel damage repair is very similar to those used in the repair of damage caused by the tunneling of moles and voles. I believe it’s easier to repair chipmunk tunnel damage and simultaneously evict the chipmunk than is the case with moles and voles. And I think I can safely attribute this fact to a combination of the chipmunk’s nature, diet, and tunnel structure. Chipmunks are almost entirely solitary. My chipmunk did not eat the roots or bulbs of any of my plants. The tunnels this animal created were fairly consistent with standard chipmunk architecture and pretty easy for me to understand. These factors made possible a successful chipmunk eviction from not only the immediate vicinity of those tunnels which I packed and treated, but evidently from my entire garden.
How to Repair Damage From Mole Tunnels in the Garden (and Repel Moles at the Same Time)
Of the three garden pests I’m writing about here, moles fall somewhere in the middle between chipmunks and voles in terms of the damage they cause and the difficulty of simultaneously repairing that damage and repelling the creature itself. A basic understanding of the mole’s behavior with respect to its tunnel system’s architecture is helpful at this point.
Why Do Moles Tunnel and What Do They Use Their Tunnels For?
Moles are solitary insectivores which spend virtually their entire lives underground. The mole’s tunnel system consists of a nest, which is the hub of its tunnel system, several deep main, or permanent tunnels which all terminate at the nest, and any number of randomly constructed feeding, or temporary tunnels, which exist just below the surface of the ground and arise from the mole’s deeper main tunnels. The nest is generally located approximately 12 inches below the ground and is often constructed beneath a shrub or bush. The mole uses its tunnel system for shelter, travel, birthing/weaning offspring, hunting, feeding – everything.
What are the most relative facts about the mole’s behavior and the nature of its tunnel system with respect to the twin objectives of repairing and repelling?
- The fact that moles are insectivores is good news in one respect: they don’t eat any vegetable matter. A mole will never kill a garden plant by eating it. On the other hand, the construction and placement of their feeding tunnels is totally arbitrary – they literally tunnel as they pursue their prey (mainly earthworms) and feed (almost continuously). Since their prey inhabit the soil (or mulch) level just below the surface, it’s at this level where moles dig their feeding tunnels. And since their prey can exist in literally every square inch of an ornamental perennial garden, moles likewise run their feeding tunnels all over the garden, creating raised/domed lengths of ground as they hunt. It’s possible to find dozens of these raised humps criss-crossing the earth in a garden. I know this for a fact. I’ve seen it in my garden. I’ve also seen the eruptions of earth commonly known as “molehills” which are often found at various intervals along a given feeding tunnel’s length. These molehills are formed as the mole pushes dirt upward as it burrows its way from a deep permanent tunnel toward the surface, with the intent to excavate a feeding tunnel.
- Although moles do not eat any plant material, their feeding tunnels, which are created as the mole pursues its prey through the soil just below the surface, often run directly under or alongside the root systems of garden plants. This results in all or part of a given plant’s root system being exposed to air. This, as we know, is a bad thing.
- Since a mole often excavates the “Grand Central Station” of its tunnel system – the nest – directly underneath a bush or shrub, that specific plant’s root system will also become separated from the soil. Again, a bad thing.
- About the best news I can come up with here is the fact that moles are definitely antisocial and solitary. Individuals do not share their respective territories with others of their kind. A good rule of thumb is that no more than five, but usually two or three, individuals will occupy an acre of land simultaneously. Even though our property occupies a sizable chunk of wooded land, the actual area of my ornamental garden proper is substantially less than an acre. I have never had more than one mole occupy my garden at one time. I have, in fact, had two moles occupy my garden this last year – each at a different time. First it was Larry. Then Susie. You’ll know all about Larry if you’ve read Part One of this article. If you haven’t read it, you’ll need to keep reading here to learn Larry’s story. And Susie’s story, too. She’s the new kid on the block. Wait ’til you meet her – you’re gonna love her…
Mole Tunnels: The Repair (and Repel) Process.
As in the case with chipmunks and their tunnels, when I’m fixing the damage caused by the tunneling activity of moles (and subsequently working on convincing Larry, Susie, and/or any other of their little mole chums to split), I’m always taking a number of things into consideration. Because mole tunneling activity differs from that of chipmunks, my mole tunnel damage repairing (and mole repelling) objectives vary slightly from those pertaining to chipmunks. So, what do I want to do about moles and the damage their tunnels cause? A) I want to make sure I replace lost soil around the roots of any plant affected by the presence of a feeding (temporary) tunnel and smash that tunnel (being careful not to harm any plant roots). B) I want to look for signs of mole nest location under any of my larger bushes/shrubs. If I find soil excavation in such a spot, I want to replace the soil and make sure the mole abandons the nest. C) If possible, I’m locating the tunnels which connect feeding tunnels to the deeper main (permanent) tunnels of the mole’s network (as generally marked by the presence of a molehill), and filling those with soil and repellent. D) I’m looking to render the vicinities of observable mole activity inhospitable to the mole. E) I consistently reapply repellent topically to all areas of observed mole activity.
A) Re-immersing the exposed roots of plants impacted by a mole feeding tunnel. A little different here from what I did in the case of the chipmunk issue – but I’m still basically placing dirt and repellent back into any empty space around the plant’s roots. Sometimes I remove the mulch and the immediate underlying soil along the length of the feeding tunnel leading directly toward the base of a given plant (which the mole has heaved up during his or her excavations) for better access to the plant’s roots (and also to look for tunneling which connects the feeding tunnel to a deeper main tunnel, if there’s a visible molehill indicating such a connecting tunnel) and to spread repellent along the feeding tunnel’s length for good measure. Once I reach the base of the plant which is in the feeding tunnel’s path, I determine if soil has been excavated away from its roots. If so, I carefully replace the soil to re-cover any exposed roots. At this point, I also add mole repellent at this location. It’s important to note here the fact that moles cannot tolerate the smell or taste of castor oil, which is the main active ingredient of virtually all mole repellent products. This fact never changes. Moles do not become “nose blind” to castor oil. This is a universal truth in the realm of mole repelling. Each and every product which I use to repel moles contains castor oil as its primary active ingredient. And it does work. (Chipmunks and voles are also repelled by castor oil, but there is a number of other substances which they also cannot tolerate – you’ll read about some of these in my adjunct post, The 10 Best Burrowing Animal Repellents). Note that I’m not using my plastic pusher tubes to replace the soil and add repellent at the spot of roots exposed by the mole’s feeding tunnel. This is because the tunnel is shallow and I do not want to damage any plant roots by inadvertently ramming a rigid plastic tube into them. (You’ll soon see below, however, that there are many times I do make definite use of my pushers in my mole tunnel filling endeavors). Once I’ve re-filled the empty area around the roots and applied repellent there and along any length of the feeding tunnel I may have exposed, I re-cover the area with soil and mulch. Then, I smash down the surface of the ground along the visible length of the feeding tunnel using my foot. Next, I apply a generous sprinkling of repellent to the general vicinity of these repairs (I’ll discuss this further a bit later). As a final step, I water the repair spot directly, as well as the area in the general vicinity of the repair where I just sprinkled the repellent. This allows for the penetration of the castor oil deep into the soil (more on this a bit later).
B) Looking for the presence of a mole nest under a garden shrub/bush, repairing the damage its presence causes, and keeping the mole away. In Part One of this article, I relayed the story of a rhododendron in my garden yellowing as result of Larry the mole constructing a nest underneath its root system. The unseasonal yellowing of the foliage of any bush or shrub can definitely be an indication of a mole nest existing under that plant’s root system. I noticed this yellowing of my rhododendron sometime in late September. In the case of herbaceous or deciduous perennials, this yellowing may have been misread as a simple display of normal fall foliage yellowing. But rhododendrons are evergreen, so I knew something was going on. The following spring, I excavated and discovered Larry’s nest under this shrub. By digging up a nearby expired dianthus with the intention of replanting a new one there, I discovered a fairly deep tunnel leading toward the rhododendron. I excavated this tunnel and found a large void beneath the roots of the rhodie, strewn with some old, moist leaf material. Ah-ha! Larry’s nest! I also found a number of tunnels leading to the nest from several different directions and angles. What I did in response to the discovery of this nest represents my exact methodology for dealing with a mole nest under a shrub and making sure the mole never comes back to build a new one. Here’s what I did:
- Step One: Excavate nearby. I dug out the remains of a dead dianthus located about 20 inches from the rhododendron in question. At the bottom of the excavated dianthus hole is where I found the deep tunnel heading toward the rhodie. I also dug around the circumference of the rhodie (I did this very cautiously because I didn’t want to damage roots and because there was weed barrier beneath the mulch coming within about one foot of the base of the rhodie). Starting from the site of the bottom of the empty dead dianthus hole, I followed the mole tunnel with my hand from this hole to the hollow space under the rhodie. I widened the tunnel to the point that I’d created a ready access to Larry’s nest under the rhodie. From this access point I was able to clean all of the leaf material out of the nest and locate several of Larry’s main (permanent) tunnels leading into the nest. The space under my poor rhododendron was literally Larry’s command center and base of operations.
- Step Two: Pack the main tunnels leading to the nest with soil and repellent. I used the same technique to accomplish this as I used in packing the chipmunk’s tunnels. Reaching down into the empty chamber under the rhodie, I located each main mole tunnel leading to/from it and packed each tunnel with alternating handfuls of repellent and soil. And I used my pusher to the best of my ability and to the degree that this awkward angle would allow to cram the repellent/soil combo as deep into the main tunnels as possible. Note: This situation presented me with one of the rare opportunities to manually probe and pack a portion of a mole’s deep main (permanent) tunnel system.
- Step Three: Pack the nest with soil and repellent. This means exactly what it says. I filled the empty nest space with enough soil to re-immerse the rhodies roots and enough repellent to keep Larry (and any of his buddies) away from my rhododendron forever.
- Step Four: Cover my tracks: I filled the access space I had created from the empty dianthus hole to Larry’s former nest with more soil and repellent. Then I filled the bottom of the empty dianthus hole with mole repellent, then soil and more repellent, and planted a new dianthus in that spot.
- Step Five: Apply repellent to the vicinity of the nest. I applied a generous sprinkling of mole repellent to a sizable circular area (again, about 6 feet in diameter, as in the case of the chipmunk tunnels, with the rhododendron as the circle’s center). I haven’t researched the amount of permeability that the weed barrier I had installed in this location allows. I assumed that since it allows for oxygen exchange with the underlying soil and for water penetration, that the castor oil released from the repellent granules when watered would probably seep down through the membrane into the depths of the soil below.
- Step Six: Water heavily. Water is what causes the release of the castor oil from the repellent granules into the soil. Sustained watering allows for the penetration of the castor oil deep into the soil down to the levels of the mole’s nest and deep main tunnels. Castor oil adversely affects the mole’s sense of taste and smell. They very quickly associate the presence of castor oil with awful stench and lousy food, and they leave.
C) Locating tunnels leading from surface feeding (temporary) tunnels to deep main (permanent) tunnels and packing those connecting tunnels with soil and repellent. Finding these junctures between the mole’s shallow feeding tunnels and the deep main tunnels is a good thing (sort of like only needing three wisdom teeth extracted instead of four). It does allow me to locate the main tunnel and get an idea of which way it’s running. It also provides me with a pipeline to get repellent granules directly down into the mole’s main tunnel system. So, how do I find these connecting tunnels and what do I do with them? Ask and ye shall receive…
- Step One: Identify the feeding tunnel, then look for a molehill. Remember, the mole’s feeding tunnels are located just under the surface of the ground and they’re easy to spot. They’re elongated domes snaking along the ground. They’re temporary, arbitrary in location and direction, and constructed to pursue whatever the mole is looking to eat at a given time. When I find a feeding tunnel, I know there’s gotta be a molehill somewhere along its snaky length. The mole needs to get to the surface from one of his deep main tunnels in order to make a feeding tunnel to pursue prey. As I wrote earlier, as the mole pushes upward from the main tunnel below, dirt is displaced upward and eventually forms a pile, or mole hill on the surface. The location of the molehill tells me I’ve found the point of connection between the feeding tunnel and the main tunnel deeper below.
- Step Two: Manually feel for the direction and slope of the tunnel. This step is exactly the same as in the case of the chipmunks tunnel. I want to feel for the direction and angle of descent of this connecting tunnel. The slope is usually steep. In fact, it’s often vertical, going straight down to the main tunnel. Having this information gives me my plan for packing this connecting tunnel with enough soil and repellent to get shoved down well into the mole’s main tunnel.
- Step Three: Pack the connecting tunnel with soil and repellent. Once again, starting with a fistful of repellent and alternating with a fistful of dirt, and using my plastic pushers, I cram the connecting tunnel (and hopefully a sizable portion of the deep main tunnel) with repellent and soil. Physically applying the actual repellent granules to the interior of one of the mole’s main tunnels is akin to hitting the jackpot. It’s good when the castor oil from the repellent granules applied at the surface leeches down into the mole’s main tunnel system. It’s even better if I can deliver the actual granules themselves directly into that main tunnel system. This allows for a much faster and more direct impact on the mole. Again, the intolerable presence of the castor oil is what ultimately persuades the mole to abandon that part of its tunnel system.
- Step Four: Smash down the feeding tunnel and molehill. I stomp my foot down on the feeding tunnel and corresponding molehill to compact the soil and mulch. Plus I see no reason for leaving unsightly humps and piles all around my garden.
- Step Five: Apply a generous sprinkling of repellent to the vicinity of the repair. Again, I use my “6-foot diameter circle” rule with the packed and treated connecting tunnel as the circle’s center when applying topical repellent granules.
- Step Six: Water in heavily. I always do.
D) Rendering the areas of observable mole activity uninhabitable to the mole. This is a critical item. If this is done everywhere I see mole activity in my garden, ultimate eviction of the mole from my garden is virtually assured. This is what I do:
- Step One: Topically apply the repellent. When I see evidence of mole activity, I always apply a topical sprinkling of repellent to the vicinity of the activity. Even if I can’t find a tunnel travelling downward and linking the feeding tunnel (which I can see) to the main tunnel (which is deeper underground and is visually undetectable), or a corresponding molehill – even if I have nothing to pack and fill, I still apply repellent to the area of the visible activity (the feeding tunnel). Obviously, if I do find a tunnel that I can pack and treat, or if I do re-cover the roots of a plant that happened to be in the path of a feeding tunnel, or if I unearth a mole nest and pack/treat it, I still do topically apply a sprinkling of repellant to the vicinity. As you know, my typical application zone is a 6-foot diameter circle surrounding and encompassing the epicenter of the damage. This is a critical step. The castor oil released from the repellent granules does leech its way deep into the ground to the levels of the mole’s deep main tunnels and nest.
- Step Two: Heavily water in the repellent. I know, I know. I’ve repeated this point a thousand times. But it’s critical. Especially with castor oil-based repellents. And especially when it’s moles I’m looking to repel. The water helps the granules release the castor oil. And sustained watering carries this robust oil down into the depths of the mole’s tunnel system. And again, moles detest castor oil. So, water, water, water!!!
E) Consistently re-applying mole repellent topically to all areas of observed mole activity. As in the case of successful chipmunk prevention, this final point regarding mole repelling is critical. On each brand of mole repellent offered for sale, there are directions for re-applying the product in order to keep moles away. I do not disregard those directions. Moles are ubiquitous and tenacious where I live. By reapplying mole repellent as directed by the product’s manufacturer, I stand a fighting chance of keeping my garden (or at the very least the areas of my garden where I’ve repaired and treated mole tunneling damage) free of moles.
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Mole Observations and Developments
The Capture of Larry – How and Why it Happened. Larry the mole made wide use of three of my planting features for his own gratification. All three planters were mulched (as all of my planting features are) and one had weed barrier separating the layer of mulch from the underlying soil. Generous openings were cut in the weed barrier to accommodate the plants. My dogged and sustained packing/treating of tunnels, topical application of repellent, and heavy watering of the two planting features without the weed barrier ultimately herded Larry back to the feature with the weed barrier. (This was where I discovered and destroyed his nest and saved my rhododendron). I continued to saturate this feature with repellent until I began to see signs of Larry’s feeding tunnels above the weed barrier but below the surface of the mulch. I believe that enough of the castor oil from the repellent had leeched into the soil under the weed barrier to reach intolerable levels for Larry. This is what drove him to begin making his feeding tunnels in the mulch. In order for him to get to this level from a deeper main tunnel, I knew he would have to surface through one of the openings in the weed barrier next to a plant. And the day I caught him, that’s exactly what he did. I happened to be within a few feet of one of my small hostas in this planting feature when I saw the mulch around its base heave up. And out popped Larry! I watched him for a few seconds as he prepared to dig a feeding tunnel in the surrounding mulch. I quickly grabbed a nearby plastic container and surprised him by scooping him up. The end of this story is rather antclimactic, but at least happy. Happy for me and happy for Larry. I transported him to a very distant place in the woods where he could tunnel and feast in unmolested fashion. (Get it? Un-MOLE-ested?) But Larry’s story does illustrate both the effectiveness of my technique and the fact that my understanding of Larry’s behavior was at least somewhat helpful in his eventual capture and relocation.
The Rise of Susie. After Larry’s departure, I continued to apply “maintenance doses” of mole repellent to a large portion of the garden. This included my usual granular application plus a heavy dousing of liquid castor oil repeeling product, as well. (The liquid product and the foliage and flowers of ornamental perennials don’t make for a good combination – you’ll read all about this issue in a future post). Large areas in the garden, especially the perimeter and Larry’s erstwhile territories, were heavily saturated with castor oil. On August 21st of this year, I expanded the boundaries of my garden by having my old fence removed and installing a new one further out southward and westward. The newly incorporated garden ground, now within the boundaries of the new fence, had NOT been saturated with castor oil. And it was in the area of this new garden land, virgin and untreated with repellent, that the first new mole feeding tunnels appeared. Susie had arrived.
It’s interesting to note, however, that there is no evidence of Susie having breached the repellent-treated areas of my garden. There’s evidence of some minor approaches/investigations, but no actual tunneling into the ground where the castor oil has penetrated. I’ll therefore keep up a regular regimen of repellent applications to my existing planting features, and begin treating the virgin lands within my garden’s newly re-fenced boundaries. I’m certain I’ll be able to convince Susie to go elsewhere.
In summing up the process of mole tunnel damage repair and simultaneous mole repelling, there are a few points to keep in mind. As with those of the chipmunk, the mole’s diet (bugs and worms, not plants) and behavior (voracious feeder and virtually entirely subterranean) informs its tunneling activities. The architecture of a mole’s tunnel system (shallow, arbitrary feeding tunnels and deep main tunnels and nest) is a direct reflection of those tunneling activities. Understanding the architecture of a mole’s tunnel system and identifying its components will make eradication of the tunnel system, repair of any and all garden damage caused by the mole’s tunneling activities, and repelling of the mole itself from the vicinity of observable tunneling (and ultimately from the garden in general) a likely outcome. The steps I’ve taken, as outlined above, have helped me, for the most part, begin to achieve that goal. Yes, much like the mole himself, pursuing an earthworm through the soil, I am inching my own way toward a successful resolution.
How to Repair Damage From Vole Tunnels in the Garden (and Repel Voles at the Same Time)
What do I know of voles?
Can I speak of them in awed and fearful whispers? Do I write of them in sepulchral darkness – forever condemned to scrawl my grim testament to their deviltries by the mere waning light of ember’d tallow, upon the stretched and bleached parchment hides of those unfortunates who have come before me? Shall such foul tome thus penned ever tear asunder sanity’s fragile veil and pierce the pure and sweet light of day?
What do I know of voles? Can mortal man ever truly know a vole? Should he?
Ok, I bet you can guess which one of my three garden pests is the worst. Simply put, voles suck. It’s hard to even write about them without getting nauseous. But write about them I must, if I’m to help spare others the grief they’ve caused me, and the miserable shitstorm they’ve created in my garden. They are a massive pain in the ass.
Why Are Voles Such a Huge Problem in the Garden?
When I posted Part One of this article back in July this summer, I was bragging about the fact that my vole population hadn’t killed any of my perennials. Even as recently as mid August, I openly lamented the presence of voles in my garden but remained smugly unaware of the true nature of the damage they’d been causing. Well, times do change, don’t they? As it stands today, my voles have killed quite a few of my plants. They’ve killed shasta daisies and dianthus. They’ve killed campanula and coreopsis. They’ve killed veronica – sweet veronica! And it apparently didn’t take them long to do it. They’re murderers. Homicidal plant marauders. Damn. I also mentioned in Part One, that I didn’t believe I had a vole infestation. I knew all along that I had one or two in my garden, but I didn’t think I had entire populations. Wrong again. So, with this little preamble in your hip pocket, on to the answer of the above not-so-rhetorical question.
- Diet. Voles eat plants. Plain and simple. Roots, stems, bark. You name it. If it’s part of a perennial’s anatomy, it’s on the vole’s menu. As I wrote earlier here in Part Two, my herbivorous chipmunks never ate any part of any one of my garden’s perennials. My bug-and-worm-eating pals Larry and Susie never did either. But my voles sure do. That’s the first major thing that makes them much worse for me to have around than either chipmunks or moles. They eat plant parts and they are capable of killing an entire plant – many plants, actually – by virtue of this dietary habit.
- Population. A small number of voles, two for example, can quickly become a large number of voles, say 30, 40, or more. No joke. And when I say quickly, I mean quickly. The gestation period for the woodland vole is a little more than three weeks. They bear litters consisting of as many as eleven offspring (but usually around six), and they can reproduce as often as five times a year. They live in colonies of nine or ten adults, plus whatever bouncing bundles of joy baby voles happen to be in the nursery. And, more good news… When the census count gets too high for a particular vole colony, the exiles split off to form a new, nearby colony. I believe I have (or at least have had) three or four separate vole colonies in my garden.
- The vole’s tunnel system. A problem you’re going to read all about a bit later.
Is There a Silver Lining Anywhere When it Comes to the Presence of Voles in the Garden?
The answer is yes. There are few isotopic forms of vole kryptonite in the Gardening Periodic Table of Elements.
- Sensitivity to repellent. I’ve discovered that any number of repellents work quickly to dissuade moles from doing their dirty work in a given area. Products containing castor oil by itself, or castor oil mixed with any number of other olfactory assailants, work well. And products without the castor oil but containing other offensive smellies also work well. I’ll mention again, however, it’s important to switch, mix, and match repellents when dealing with voles. Because, as is the case with other burrowing rodents, voles do develop immunity to the effects of one particular product over protracted periods of time.
- Short life span. Voles don’t live very long. Under the best circumstances, in protected and controlled environments, an individual might be expected to live about 18 months. In the wild, a max of 6 months is not uncommon. This fact could definitely work to my advantage, especially if the answer to the question below is “Yes.”
- Does stress impair reproduction? I’ve read a number of studies about the impact of various types of stress on voles, and I can’t seem to get a definitive answer to this question. So it’s up to me to find out. I’m proceeding based on the assumption that my constant barrage of various repellents and my concurrent physical destruction of their tunnel systems (you’ll read all about this below) is, in fact, causing my voles stress. Stress impacts voles in so many ways, both biologically and behaviorally, that I’m hoping that the particular brand of stress I’m causing them is negatively impacting their reproduction. So if the adult voles only live six months, and they’re too stressed out to have babies, is it reasonable for me to hope for an extinction event in my garden in the not-too-distant future? A massive extinction event. I like it. But this time, instead of dinosaurs, it’ll be voles. Is this a reach? Is it too much to hope for? I’ll let you know what happens. In the mean time, it’s something for me to hang my hat on.
Why Do Voles Tunnel and What Do They Use Their Tunnels For?
Voles tunnel for a variety of reasons and they use those tunnels for a number of sinister purposes. As is the case with chipmunks and moles, the vole’s diet and behavior inform its reasons/uses for, and architecture of, its tunnel system. Knowing the vole’s diet and behavior, and its consequent reasons and uses for its tunnel system, helps me to understand its underground architecture, and the above-ground signs of its presence. And understanding the tunnel’s architecture is imperative in my efforts to repair the damage to my garden that the vole and its tunnels do cause. For a much more detailed examination of the vole and its various characteristics, as always, please feel free to refer to Part One of this article. Just a quick review of the vole’s habits and tunnel uses is in order here.
- Like chipmunks and moles, voles use their tunnels for underground/undetectable travel. But, unlike the tunnel systems of chipmunks and moles, the actual area that an individual vole colony’s tunnel system occupies is pretty limited. In my garden, it seems to be no more than a few feet in any direction. And the tunnels themselves are not very deep – maybe several inches belowground for the very deepest of them. In addition to secretive travel, voles also use their tunnel system to mate and birth/wean offspring. And since there are quite a few members of an individual colony – both adults and young – residing in a particular tunnel system, there are a lot of mouths to feed in a comparatively small area. Furthermore, voles tunnel directly to the roots and stems of plants with the express purpose of eating them. They also conveniently locate the small openings to their tunnels beneath the foliage of plants for purposes of obscurity and easy access to food.
- Individual vole colonies can and do locate their respective tunnel systems in extremely close proximity to one another. This fact leads to the unhappy result of having a whole bunch of voles living and eating, in concentrated numbers, in my densely planted garden.
Given this information, it’s easy to understand how so many of my plants were killed by voles in a seemingly short period of time. But in retrospect, I must concede that this seemingly overnight decimation of my hard-won planting triumphs can realistically be attributed to not only this terrifying array of vole behavioral and tunnel system characteristics, but also, to a great degree, my own ignorance (or ignoring) of the signs of vole destruction. There’s a bit more on the topic of recognizing the effects of vole destruction coming up in just a bit.
Vole Tunnels: The Repair (and Repel) Process.
The process for repairing vole tunnel damage, and effecting a successful repelling campaign simultaneously is a bit more complicated than is the case with chipmunks and moles. There are a few added considerations here. Now that I’ve finally realized what a truly multifaceted and overwhelming threat voles (and their tunnel systems) represent, I’ve devised what I think has proven to be, over the last several weeks, a successful repair/repel paradigm. One of the reasons I haven’t posted this article before now was my dawning realization, back around the middle of August, that voles were a much more enormous problem than I had thought, up to that point. So, now that I think my plan is sound, here’s my list of repair/repel priorities: A) I identify the signs of vole damage by examining the tunnel openings. B) I identify and understand the signs of vole damage to plants by conducting thorough examinations. C) I pack the vole tunnels with soil and repellent and physically press down the immediate location of the packed tunnels. D) I treat any visually impacted plants, and nearby plants with a systemic repellent. E) I physically press down the surface of the area (when possible) where I believe a complete vole colony’s tunnel system exists. F) I topically saturate the surface of the ground on top of a suspected vole colony’s tunnel system with granular repellent. G) I topically saturate the ground surrounding/adjacent to/contiguous with/in the vicinity of a suspected vole colony’s tunnel system. H) I consistently re-apply vole repellent topically to the general vicinity of any and all suspected vole colony tunnel systems.
A) Identifying the signs of vole damage – locating and examining vole tunnel openings. This the first step for me in getting a handle on the location, nature, and extent of vole activity and damage. Here’s how I proceed:
- Step One: Locate and examine the hole. Surface openings to vole tunnels (holes) are small and generally found beneath the foliage of a plant, but can be located beneath any object(s) which provides cover for the vole when it comes out of its tunnel system to explore the surface. The hole is the only outwardly visible structural sign of a vole’s tunnel system. But nearby, small piles of excavated earth are also common near vole holes and can be an indication of a vole tunnel system. When I do find a vole hole, it’s almost always connected to an adjoining part of the vole’s larger tunnel system, or it heads directly to the root system of a nearby plant, or both. I manually palpate the hole with my fingers to determine the direction, depth, and extent of the tunnel.
- Step Two: Test the immediate area to determine surface yielding under moderate pressure. I apply moderate pressure to the surface of the ground in the immediate and general vicinities of the hole/tunnel. A “caving-in” feeling when pressing indicates that the ground below the surface has been hollowed out by voles as a result of the excavation of their tunnels. This usually indicates the location of all, or a significant part of a given vole colony’s tunnel system.
- Step Three: Look for possible nearby holes. I always look for other holes in the immediate vicinity which could indicate another connection to that particular colony’s main tunnel system, or a passageway to the roots of another nearby plant. If I find such a hole, I examine it according to the above two steps.
B) Identifying and understanding the signs of vole damage to plants through careful examination. I now really know what to look for. Obviously, I take a really close look at plants that look like they might be suffering from the effects of vole damage. Even if a plant looks totally healthy, if it’s anywhere near a vole hole, I carefully examine it. Here are the steps I take when examining my plants for vole damage:
- Step One: Visually examine the aerial structures of the plant. I look at the above ground parts of the plant to check for signs of mole damage. Some examples of this damage include unseasonable yellowing, wilting, and/or drooping leaves or stems, unseasonably dropping leaves, and the leaning or laying down of the stems of normally tall plants. I had seen examples of all of this damage, in one form or another, as early as July, but I misinterpreted it. For example, the stems of a number of my taller shasta daisies began to sort of collapse outward. Since these plants behaved in much the same way the year before, and then began immediately yielding healthy new growth from their root systems at that time, I assumed the same phenomenon was taking place this year. So I chose to write off this obvious sign as nothing other than a normal die back/re-grow cycle. Although some new growth did begin to sprout from the affected plants’ root systems, by the middle of August, I noticed this new growth was dying back. And it was then that I began to pay extra attention to the vole holes (and their implications) in the immediate vicinity of these plants.
- Step Two: Check for vole holes at the base of each plant, or close by. Obviously, if visual inspection of a given plant indicates vole damage, I immediately check for vole holes. Even if a plant looks healthy, if it’s anywhere near an affected plant, or near an area where I think vole activity is present, I check for holes.
- Step Three: Check the structures of the plant at the point where it meets the soil level (the crown) and the roots, bulbs, stolons, and/or rhizomes below ground. Check the plant to see if the lowest part of the stem, and/or the crown has been damaged. If a vole has chewed through the main stem or the crown, I’ve found that the plant will literally separate from its roots when I gently grasp it. If there’s a hole right next to the crown, I’m sure that the roots underground have been attacked. I’ve found coreopsis, dianthus, and campanula literally separated from their root systems by the chewing habits of voles. I’ve discovered some of these plants with well-concealed small holes at their bases and literally no roots left belowground. This is recognizable vole damage.
C) Pack the hole and corresponding tunnel with soil and repellent and press down the immediate location with solid force with my hands. This is the beginning of the physical, mechanical repair/repel process. This step is not much different from corresponding steps in my chipmunk and mole repair/repel methodology.
- Step One: Pack the hole and tunnel with repellent and soil. Since I’ve already palpated the hole to determine it’s direction, depth, and angle (see above), I can begin to pack it. If it’s near the roots of a viable plant, I’ll replace the soil around its roots and proceed cautiously with the administration of alternating amounts of repellent and soil. In the next part of my repair/repel process, you’ll learn of the added measure of protection I give to plants when I believe they’re in danger of vole damage). When I know there’s no chance of damaging the roots of any viable plants, I’ll use my pusher tubes to cram the soil/repellent as deep into the tunnel as possible. Since vole tunnels are not deep, I usually see the ground above the hole/tunnel begin to heave up after a few good pushes of soil and repellent with the pusher. As a finishing touch, I use my fist to press down into the packed tunnel and, as I did with chipmunk and mole tunnels when packing them, I add subsequent handfuls of repellent, soil, more repellent, mulch, then even more repellent to top it all off.
- Step Two: Press down the immediate location of the packed/treated hole and tunnel. After I’ve done all of my packing and treating per the above, I push forcefully down (with either my clenched fists or my booted feet – whichever is less dangerous to any nearby plants) on the packed/treated tunnel along the direction I packed it. This ensures the collapse of the tunnel. Since this immediate location is now saturated belowground with repellent, and firmly collapsed, the voles will be unable to tunnel through it.
- Step Three: Water it all in. Even though there’s more treatment of the vicinity of this repair/repel to come, I still water everything in which I’ve done to this point. This initiates the leeching of the repellent’s active ingredients into the surrounding soil.
D) Treat any impacted plants and/or nearby plants with systemic repellent. The thing that I always keep in mind about vole damage is that it’s not only the presence of the vole’s tunnel at the location of a given plant’s root system (and the resulting removal of soil from around the plant’s roots) that damages the plant. The vole actually eats the roots and stem of that same plant. So even though the packing of soil and repellent in the nearby vole hole and around the roots of the compromised plant replenishes the nutritive soil around its roots and helps protect that plant from future vole damage, the addition of a systemic repellent to the soil immediately around the roots of that plant ensures that the vole will not be back to chow down on it. The systemic repellent is absorbed into the treated plant’s roots and throughout its entire anatomy. As a result, the smell and taste of all of that plant’s tissues becomes intolerable to the vole. The highly effective granular version of this type of repellent which I use is worked into the soil around the base of the plant and watered in. The plant immediately begins absorbing the repellent into its system and it begins to work quickly. I have seen this product’s effectiveness in action with one of my hardy hibiscus which had suffered from some vole damage. An entire stem, which had begun to sag and droop leaves, began sprouting new nodes and corresponding branches and leaves within approximately ten days of treatment. Note: Any time I bed a new plant now, I always add either systemic repellent (per product directions) and/or general repellent to the bottom and of the new plant’s intended hole and along the vertical sides of the hole as I immerse the rootball in soil and situate it in the hole. This allows the plant itself to absorb the repellent’s ingredients and allows for a barrier of repellent to be created around the roots of the new plant.
E) Physically press down the surface of the entire area (if accessible) on top of a probable vole colony’s tunnel system. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Likewise, where there’s one vole hole/tunnel, the whole colony’s tunnel system is probably immediately adjacent to it. Remember, the entire system does not encompass a lot of area.
- Step One: Feel for the location of the underlying tunnel system. Starting with the hole/tunnel I just packed and treated (as described in the above step “C”) as my center point, I tentatively apply tactile pressure to the surrounding roughly circular area, out to a radius of a couple of feet. If I feel sponginess or hollowness (a “cave-in” feeling) to the underlying ground, I’m betting the colony’s tunnel system lies right here, not terribly far beneath the surface.
- Step Two: Prepare to work around nearby plants: Because of what I’m about to do, I need to make sure that no plants will be damaged. I’ve got to be prepared to work around, between, and/or next to them. And I’ve got to be careful. There’s no sense doing the voles’ work for them by wiping out my plants with my own carelessness.
- Step Three: Forcefully (and carefully) press down on this entire roughly circular area, working carefully around, between and/or next to any nearby plants as necessary. This process effectively caves the colony’s tunnel system in upon itself.
F) Topically saturate the above referenced area with repellent. This is straightforward and easy to accomplish. I saturate the surface of the ground I just caved in on the vole colony’s tunnel system, the whole circle, with a heavy sprinkling of repellent. Then I water it in very heavily. I want those repellent granules to release their actve ingredients, and I want those active ingredients to leech deep down into the soil of this entire area, making the former tunnel system uninhabitable to voles.
G) Expanding outward from the entire tunnel system I’ve just treated in the previous step, I topically saturate the surrounding ground with repellent. First I’ll give this surrounding and adjacent ground some tentative pushing to see if there is another vole colony’s tunnel system nearby (remember, individual colonies like to set up shop in close proximity to one another). I’ll also look for nearby holes, plant damage, and any other sign of nearby vole activity. If I find anything, I repeat all of the above steps to address my findings. If I find nothing, I proceed with saturating the outwardly expanding area with a heavy topical sprinkling of repellent and give the entire area a heavy watering. Again, the goal being to get enough of the repellent to penetrate into the soil in an ever-expanding area from the very first hole/tunnel packing and treatment location.
H) Consistent topical re-application of repellent to all areas of previously suspected vole activity, past and present. By continuously reapplying repellent (and as always, watering it in heavily) to the ground’s surface not only in areas where I’ve already taken the above repair/repel steps, but to areas adjacent to these locations, and to areas where I suspect the beginnings of new vole activity, I believe I will ultimately achieve enough ground saturation with repellent to permanently keep voles out of my garden entirely. Again, total and permanent broad-spectrum purging and repelling will be discussed in detail in the upcoming Part Three of this article.
Repellex Systemic Granular. This product works a bit differently than your typical burrowing mammal repellents. It’s a systemic granular, which, when watered in to the soil around a particular plant, is taken up through the plant’s roots and distributed throughout the entire tissue structure of the plant. Since its major active ingredient is capsaicin (the stuff that puts the “hot” in hot peppers), it effectively turns a treated plant – roots, stems, leaves, etc., into one big, impossible-to-eat, hot pepper. Read about how I use this product to protect my plants from voles and chipmunks by clicking here, and how I use it to keep my plants safe from deer by clicking here. This is an incredibly effective product. To learn even more about this product, or to order it here, from Amazon, please click the #advertisement link.
How to Deal with Moles, Voles, and Chipmunks Two: The Wrap-up
Now that you’ve read the above section of this article about how I deal with voles in my garden, and the fallout from their destructive lifestyles therein, I’m betting you’ve got a pretty good idea why I can realistically consider them the bane of my existence. Their dietary habits, their large population, and the architecture and locations of their communal tunnel systems make them an existential threat to my garden. But by utilizing my above-outlined repair/repel combinations, especially in conjunction with my broad-spectrum repelling techniques I’ll be telling you about in Part Three of this article, I believe I can exploit their few weaknesses and completely eliminate them from my garden.
Hopefully, by no later than 2049.
So now you know the steps I’ve taken in my garden to repair the damage caused by chipmunk, mole, and vole tunnels and to eliminate the actual presence of the chipmunks, moles, and voles themselves from the fairly immediate vicinity of each of those tunnels. My methodology has been informed by my garden’s particular location and topography. Thanks to the fact that I so intelligently located my garden in the middle of the forest, my never-ending supply of forest-dwelling varmints remain more than happy to demonstrate their destructive talents within the confines of my garden’s fence. And once they get inside, they find plenty of available housing options and a five star menu waiting for them. It’s a deal no self-respecting, red-blooded vermin could ever pass up. Plus, as I’ve already mentioned a couple of times, the wood chip mulch which I’ve layered on the surface of each of my planting features impedes the repellent’s saturation into the soil and tunnels of my pests, and it adds one more wrinkle to my cause. As a result, I’ve had my work cut out for me, and I probably always will. But the bottom line is that my methodology has been working. And although no two gardens are alike, I think my general approach can be applied to a number of different garden locational and topographical situations, especially when combined with the broader approach I use for repelling these troublemakers which, again, I’ll talk about in the upcoming third part of this article. But for now, all we’ve been talking about here in Part Two are the techniques I use for site-specific tunnel damage repair and site-specific varmint repelling. When you’re trying to ultimately and completely rid your garden of these creatures, you’ve gotta start someplace, and their tunnels are that place. Part Three’s the whole enchilada – my methodology for an entire garden vermin purge. Coming soon.
Note: Be sure to click on The 10 Best Burrowing Animal Repellents for my list of recommended granular mole/vole/chipmunk repellents. I’ve used all of them and I’ll tell you how they perform for me. And please click these links to read Part One and Part Three of this article. Finally, and once again, I’ll invite you to click here to read my article about keeping individual plants from being eaten by voles and chipmunks.
Well, we’re at the end of another article. A long one, no doubt. But hopefully at least a little interesting and informative. And I’m hoping it’s more than a little helpful to you if you’re ever faced with the prospect of confronting any or all of these formidable adversaries in your own garden. In that case, I’m hoping that you can put some of this information to effective use. I thank you once again for your readership and your kind and patient indulgence. It’s appreciated more than words can express. As always, Cheers, and Happy Gardening!
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Thanks for your step-by-step not to harm but to locate too relocate “fuzzy wuzzies”. Serious attention necessary with a strong helping of castor oil for a safety net. Very helpful!
You have really had a fight on your hands. I hope you have gotten rid of them for good!
Wow! Quite an ordeal to get them out of the garden! That was a lot of research and continuous work toward eviction. Awesome report.
Wow!! I had no ideal voles were so dangerous to my plants!! I know I have them . Matter of fact I had all 3 until I adopted my mom’s cat and her two kittens!! The mom was half way feral because a neighbor decided he didn’t want her anymore. The kittens were feral! But tame now with lots of love! You did a great job getting them out!! I could never physically do any of that and it had to be hard work!! Congratulations!! You had a plan and applied it!! You had a battle plan ( a great one) . Also knowing your enemies. It worked!!
Great information, very helpful getting rid of my voles!
Well done!