The Redwood Sustainable Agriculture farm is proud to host habitats for many beneficial companions; however, some--like the vole--are not necessarily desirable. During multiple visits to the farm, students have spotted these pesky critters burrowing through the beds and marking their territories with their feces. Just recently, a student was startled when one scattered across the shed floor. After further investigation, we found it had sneakily chewed its way through the floor!
Voles are often mistaken for the moles, shrews, and mice because of their short brown fur, dark eyes, and hidden ears. Other names for them are meadow mice, ground moles, field mice, and meadow moles. The most common method of recognizing a vole invasion is by inspecting your beds. These miniature rascals create above ground "runways" to store food and reproduce in. They will often cluster in areas where overhead vegetation is present. As you can imagine, this creates problems for planting: they spread disease through their urine and feces and introduce parasites. Although they won't typically feed on farm crops, their digging will disrupt roots and soil nutrients, ultimately inhibiting growth. If populations are small, one might attempt to trap them in order to avoid damage. But if populations are large, pest control might be necessary.
PS. The vole was too quick to snap a photo, so I included one off the internet. —Olivia C
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