Pest Mystery

If you’ll recall from the July mystery (page 72), a mysterious critter digging in yards was immortalized in rhyme. The culprit was a vole (Microtus spp.). Sometimes known as a field or meadow mouse (which makes some homeowners unfortunately lump them in with deer mice and white-footed mice), this rodent is among the mostprolific mammals around. In fact, up to 17 consecutive litters by a single vole in one year have been recorded. For control strategies, read on:

Voles and moles are small,
Furry mammals,
Both pests of the turf.
Wreaking havoc, causing alarm
As they excavate the earth.

Though each one makes runways
Crissing-cross the yard,
Differentiating them 
Is really not that hard.

If the pathway’s flat, 
Producing ne’er a mound, 
The likelihood exists 
A vole is what you’ve found.

Controlling these wee beasts
Can be a tricky feat.
But if you’re wise and know your facts,
The critters can be beat!

Voles are vegetarians,
Their appetites minute.
But a plant can be distressed
With nibbling on its root.

These critters rival rabbits in
The speed at which they breed.
Numbers that your expectations
Aren’t likely to exceed!

Heaping too much mulch
Is never wise to do.
It provides them with a spongy ‘earth’
They love to tunnel through.

You can poison them with baits, 
Foodstuff that is laced.

In a burrow or the low-cut grass
Is where it should be placed.

Fumigation’s tricky
And takes a lot of time.
And ‘aluminum and phosphide’
Are not much fun to rhyme.

Mouse or multi-use traps
Are something you can rig.
With three of these per acre,
I hope your yard’s not big!

Trapping is an option
You might choose – if so,

Check where your wee captives
May be legally let go.

Exclusion methods may include
A 12-inch wire fence.
With a couple inches below the soil
(Now doesn’t that make sense?).

This should give you a good start
On how to get around
Those pesky little mammals
That are tearing up your ground. 

Readers respond

Dr. Kyle Jordan is a field research project coordinator with Whitmire Micro-Gen Research Laboratories in St. Louis. Contact him atpccontributor@questex.com.