I guess that's what I had 2 years ago, when I lost a bunch of my roses.Ms Blackie killed maybe a dozen of them and brought them and laid them by my front door.These things looked like mice,except they had no tail., just a tad bigger then a mouse, too.

jean

I've got something tunneling through my yard and even in some of my garden beds. I never could remember the difference between a Vole to a Mole. I looked the difference up again when this post came up and discovered that I must have a mole as no roots on my plants are eaten, and that's what the infamous Voles do - eat roots. Some of the mounds of soil this mole makes are pretty big too. What I also find interesting is that any underground animal can make it through our heavy clay soil. Our clay soil is so heavy in places that it won't allow tree roots to spread out and the trees literally strangle themselves (and then fall over in the spring winds). In a begruding sort of way I have to admire an animal that can tunnel through this goop...I friend of mine had Vole problems and she had to line all her beds with hardware cloth. The roots that passed through the cloth got eaten, but in her raised beds and her loamy soil, she could dig down far enough to lay the cloth to keep enough roots alive that the plants did well. A lot of work, but one that lasts a long time...........Maryl

Jean, they can kill plants pretty fast.

Maryl, the moles also leave with castor oil. They eat grubs (which is a good thing,) and don't bother plants, but make unsightly tunnels. Voles are my #1 enemy.
kay

Voles like to travel in mole tunnels,and I have found if you reduce the number of moles you will also reduce the voles.

My dog kills some every now and then but I've not discovered any tunnels in my beds though. I have tons of castor seeds I guess if I ever needed to I'd crush them and make my own concoction to shew them away. I do hope you get rid of them soon.

Rena'

I am very glad I don't have any here but Kay I know you have been battleing those nasty things for years. I hope the Caster OIl Product works!

I lost many perennials to voles 2 winters ago, mostly in the front gardens near the sidewalk where the cat doesn't hunt. Fortunately NO daylilies, but that is because I think they found tastier things to eat, like Echinacea, Baptisia, Sedum, Hosta, and Liatris. They also wiped out some nice colonies of bulbs!

Well they caused some more damage the next winter, so I experimented with traps and castor oil last Spring. I caught nothing in the trap, so then I made a Castor oil solution and sprinkled all the perennials and bulbs, except for Daffodils and Foxglove. It worked great! The vole damage stopped as if like magic. I think it's because the castor oil tastes terrible to them. It's very sticky and lasted about 3 months. I noticed some tunneling and needed to re-apply the solution last fall, and so far it appears that there was no new damage this past winter.

I have also planted certain plants with hardware cloth encircling the roots. This barrier also works extremely well.

Thank you all for the information and comments. Terrene, that is wonderful news! I am very encouraged to hear that it worked for you. I am perfectly willing to spray the entire garden with a castor oil blend as often as necessary to eliminate the plant losses.

Since vintage Gardens is closing, I would have a hard time replacing some of the old garden roses I have bought from them...which the voes love. They got Oktoberfest last fall, and have gotten several daylilies before. They have attacked a big azalea. I think they deserve a good dose of castor oil.

kay