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Voles doing damage to your Annapolis yard? It may have started with a few small mounds of dirt, but now you have holes and tunnels littering your lawn. Old Bay Pest Control knows what’s making them.
You have an infestation of moles or voles. You can count on our pest control company to identify them on your property and provide mole and vole removal to Annapolis residents.
Voles are tiny rodents extremely common in Anne Arundel County, Annapolis and Throughout Maryland. They have a terrible reputation for chewing the vulnerable stems of small trees, shrubs, and woody ornamentals, resulting in significant dieback and eventual plant death. Though they are often implicated in wreaking havoc in lawns and yards, voles also carry infectious diseases and parasites such as fleas and ticks.
To avoid or get rid of voles, homeowners should keep their yards well-trimmed and eliminate ground cover around crops. However, voles are sneaky and stealthy creatures that often require the help of a trained expert to get rid of them completely. Old Bay Pest Control offers innovative, quality vole removal solutions for Annapolis homes. Your Old Bay expert will thoroughly inspect your yard and design a unique vole management program customized to your specific needs.
Often confused with mice, voles are small rodents with chunky bodies that grow up to 7″ inches long. They have tiny eyes and small, furred ears that are partially hidden. Depending upon the species and level of maturity, voles may be gray or dark brown with a mixture of yellow or hazel-tipped hair that gives them a ‘peppery’ appearance. Observed closely, you’ll notice that voles have dark gray bellies with dense underfur. Their tails are bi-colored with tufted tips, and their feet are brown in color. As a locally owned vole removal service in Annapolis, we can identify them quickly.
Voles are prolific breeders with a short gestation period. A single female can give birth to 5-10 liters per year, and the newborns reach sexual maturity quickly. These opportunistic herbivores have continuously growing teeth that are well-adapted for gnawing plant’ roots and stems. Voles have big feet that they mostly use to create elaborate networks of shallow tunnels in gardens and lawns.
Are Voles Dangerous?
Voles are tiny innocent-looking pests that don’t seem dangerous but are actually highly destructive. Whether its a garden, yard, or orchard, voles dig tunnels. In Annapolis and the surrounding areas, they spend nearly all their time chewing the stems of young trees and ornamental plants, causing extensive damage.
Unfortunately, voles are active during the day and night, all year round. Because they don’t hibernate, these furry invaders continuously eat plants, including grass and seeds during winter, only for homeowners to discover the irreversible damage in the spring.
Voles can also become a problem for golf courses and ground covers. For instance, during winter, when snow protects them from potential predators, voles create surface ‘runways’ through the grass. As they feed in these runways, voles cause significant turf damage while chewing nearby vegetation down to the ground.
Because these opportunistic feeders rarely come in contact with humans, they are not considered a serious public health threat. However, it’s important to note that voles are known to carry parasites such as ticks and fleas. They can also spread diseases such as rabies, plague, and tularemia.
Like other pests, voles have three main priorities: eating as much as possible, reproducing, and avoiding contact with humans and predators. Hence, they spend most of their time protected in underground nests of grass and leaves within a burrow system. In winter, you might notice these mouse-like rodents burrowing in and through the snow.
With that said, voles are seldom seen, and an infestation may be hard to identify. Here are the most obvious signs of voles in your yard:
Here are effective and humane tips to keep vole damage away from your Annapolis yard:
Clear vegetation: Voles are shy critters that avoid open spaces as they expose them to predators like cats, hawks, owls, and foxes. As such, you can keep them away by ensuring your lawn or garden is well weeded, mowed, and free of ground cover.
Fence: Voles are naturally poor climbers. You can use this trait to your advantage by fencing around the garden to deter them. But because they are notorious burrowers, you should ensure the fence is buried underground.
Protect tree stems: Voles are typically attracted to the stems of young plants and trees. To make your plants vole-resistant, wrap the lower area of the stem with a wire mesh or industrial plastic tubing.
Container gardening: Container gardening is one of the most effective ways to keep voles away. If these pesky pests are feasting on the roots of your precious flowers and vegetables, send them away by growing your plants in fabric grow bags or plastic buckets.
Old Bay Pest Control is the top rated exterminator in vole and mole removal experts in Annapolis and the surrounding areas. We are experts at protecting homes in Anne Arundel County and Annapolis from rodents. Our team of rodent experts utilizes professional knowledge combined with local on the job experience to inspect your home and determine the root cause of your problem. Based on these findings, our Annapolis vole removal specialists will give you expert advice and provide effective pest control solutions suitable for your unique needs. Call Old Bay Pest Control today for a detailed survey.
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