I can see now why you are so frustrated at the voles. Wonder how many little 'buggers' you had there? They are the tiniest little mini mice looking creatures that just sit in a little ball. It is hard to believe that they can do so much damage.

Last fall I also had holes in beside some of the lily bulbs just like your 6th picture. I was also devestated and wasn't sure what to do.

Friends of mine said that I may have voles. So, I set my mouse trap box and over the course of time I caught 3 voles in it. This winter there was no more damage. I am really glad they came in early enough for me to see the damage and then catch them last fall.

Keep us updated as to how your garden does come up and hopefully they left some of each bulb behind.

Just a question...does household insurance cover damage to perennial beds in your area by wildlife? I know we had woodpeckers pecking on the house and the insurance wouldn't cover the cost to repair the cedar shakes. They said that the only thing for wildlife is window coverage if a deer were to run into it. Nothing for ant damage or skunk or raccoon or......

Brenda

Boy, they sure made a Hilton Hotel out of your garden during the winter.

How devastating!

I hope you can put a stop to them.

Sharon

Ow! Poor plants. I hope you can stop the little beggars. How can such little things cause such a mess?
Connie

A dirty shame Sierra. My friend who also has severe vole/field mice damage caught 14 of them in the barn in one night when they made a trap out of a bucket placed at a grain bag they seen holes in. The little beasties are smart and can pick the peanut butter off a trap without tripping it. savona

What a mess they made. At least you've got a few green shoots coming there. Hopefully there will be a lot more shoots popping up for you soon.

Now that you posted pics, Sierra, it looks like i might have one or two as well, but maybe it's something different because i don't have the damage you do - just a little nibbling on my eunonymous shrubs. The cat might have caught whatever made the holes in my one bed because we did find some guts (yum!) on the sidewalk a couple of times.

Such a shame, Sierra - hope you can get rid of them. There probably aren't too many "vole resistant" plants!

Well, I guess you can see..I wasn't making a mountain out of a tiny mole hill. :0 ;-)))

Most of my garden looks like this....and there is still snow melting in spots. I don't want to count up the $$$ of the lilies that have been shredded.

Brenda, no the insurance doesn't cover wildlife damage. I completely expected deer, moose, coyote and bear damage....but it has been very minimal over the years. These damn things I didn't expect or even know they were there........and I still haven't actually seen one.

It wouldn't surprise me if we catch large #'s as well...although there hasn't been any new damage in the last few days....the stray cat that was waking me up at night howling under my bedroom window, hasn't woke me up for a few nights either. Hmmmmm maybe this means the mice have been caught....Okay...I am hoping here!

Marcia, if you have minimal damage...get those little (insert word of your choice :O) now, if they are still around......before you end up with the mess I have. Voles can multiply every 21 days, according to what I read. Where are those hawks when you need them.

On a happy note...it looks like the Bonica and Hope for Humanity roses have come through the winter for me....as long as they make it through the rest of the freeze thaws that we get. The lilacs have minimal damage, as well as the blueberries and rhubarb and raspberries. The martagons that I started from seed, have no holes around them. I think thats the only lilies that don't have holes. A blessing perhaps that I didn't get around to moving them out front last year.:O

I can't seem to get motivated to get out there and clean it all up...but I guess I will spend this weekend out there as long as this rain stops.

Sierra....sigh

I found another couple of holes in the back bed this evening, but i can't remember if i planted any bulbs in there last fall. Everything looks okay so far. I won't be able to get into the garden until next week because we'll be gone for the weekend - hopefully there aren't any more of them around. Maybe the cat did get them - fingers crossed!

Oh Sierra, what a mess. I had alot of tree damage on my roses and cherry trees. My worst was not quite as bad as yours. But luckily for me they never found any of my bulbs nor did I find any holes in the ground. Just grass runs. After seeing your mess, I'm going to try harder to eliminate them this year.

Shelley

The important thing for your peace of mind is to start your garden anew. Go out there and say to yourself, "it begins today." That way you're not stuck on what you've lost, but on the summer that is coming. I hope that doesn't sound too blase(accent on the e), but this summer, you'll look back and say to yourself that you changed this around and my aren't you amazing!!

I have 2 dogs that have eaten quite a few mice; we see dead mice and mice body parts. So my dogs broke off one of my rose canes, so what. They saved my garden from hundreds? of mice/voles. Maybe you need to get a terrier!

This year was a bad one, usually it happens with deep snow cover, the rodents have a great time, perhaps they can breed in the same time.
One of my worst one was a small honey crisp apple, it looked like your Nanking, I think it's a goner!
Konrad