Voles!!!

[bigbadboss101]

Thinking of getting one of these 2nd hand. May be a smaller one. Only thing is if there are a bunch of gophers/ground hogs I will have to do a few trips of catch and release.
May be the smoke/gas out method instead? I do have a small dog hence some options are not ideal.

https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.m...000417671.html

[JudasJimmy]

Both my front and back yard are almost destroyed by Voles. I never seen it this bad before. My back yard is one big hay bail and mounds of grass. I was perfect in the fall. I make sure I cut it short and leave no clipping before it snows, just to minimize vole traffic. It didn't seem to work this year. I shot one of those fkers last yr with my pellet gun. out the window :-)

[suntan]

Doesn't look like any vole damage at all. That white powdery stuff (that's not snow) is snow mould. It will go away on its own now that it's been exposed to deadly sunlight.

[JudasJimmy]

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Doesn't look like any vole damage at all. That white powdery stuff (that's not snow) is snow mould. It will go away on its own now that it's been exposed to deadly sunlight.

Its vole damage. All that dry grass is rooted up to cover the surface tunnels.

[craigcd]

My experience from last year was rake it up, spread some top soil, seed and fertilize. Was surprised how well it came back and that there was no lasting damage. I have moved since but I am guessing they came back over the winter at my old place.

[suntan]

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Its vole damage. All that dry grass is rooted up to cover the surface tunnels.

Yup, good pics. Damned voles.

I do like catching them though. They're sorta cute too.

My entire front lawn is covered in rabbit poo lol.

[bigbadboss101]

So I bought a trap a few days ago but didn't get a chance to use it. Also I haven't seen the gopher(s) in a while. Today my neighbor said there's a hole near their front door!
I guess that will be our gig for this weekend. Set the trap, and smoke or stink them out with dog pee. Also some said flooding. Let see how it goes.

[bigbadboss101]

10 days ago I trapped the gopher/prairie dog using peanuts and a cage trap. I took it down the road by the pond. When I released him it ran back toward the house! Yesterday I spotted him near our front steps again. Granted it could have been a different one but I have only seen one at a time. Some people said you have to take them 10km+ away or they do come back.

Yesterday I put the trap out and this morning my wife sent me a picture with him in the trap. This time I used a fortune cookie in the cage. My veggies and nuts are all organic stuff. I am too cheap to use them :-). Wonder what the fortune said. "Catch me once, good for you. Catch me twice, bad for me"

[colinxx235]

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10 days ago I trapped the gopher/prairie dog using peanuts and a cage trap. I took it down the road by the pond. When I released him it ran back toward the house! Yesterday I spotted him near our front steps again. Granted it could have been a different one but I have only seen one at a time. Some people said you have to take them 10km+ away or they do come back.

Yesterday I put the trap out and this morning my wife sent me a picture with him in the trap. This time I used a fortune cookie in the cage. My veggies and nuts are all organic stuff. I am too cheap to use them :-). Wonder what the fortune said. "Catch me once, good for you. Catch me twice, bad for me"

So you trap rodents but then you release them...? I've killed voles with my shoes and also a metal pan I was using to pick up dead ones from poison/traps

Monday I went through and let off 5 sulphur bombs (4 front, 1 back of house). Fingers crossed my back yard is finally safe. The front I'm not sure, I haven't seen any vole activity the last month and think a ton of the holes are from the winter. I'm hoping the long winter killed them off or they went over to my douche bag neighbors house.

Should have taken a picture for the forum here, I'm guessing I filled in roughly 35 holes give or take in the front yard. Took up a massive bag of soil and as is I need to get another one this weekend to finish up the one side. I would be very happy if they finally fucked off so I can actually grow my grass in a few sections.

[bjstare]

Haha catch and release rodents, that's a good one.

Whem my wife's dad catches rodents in his trap, he puts the whole thing in a garbage bag and attaches it to his tailpipe and idles the truck for a bit

[schurchill39]

I catch them and let my Shiba lose on them. Efficient little killer.

[Pacman]

Last night, I had polyurethane foam injected under my concrete along the driveway and front steps. I did this for 2 reasons, one was to fill up the voids and lift the concrete as the voles had dug out so much dirt that the concrete had started to sink. The 2nd reason was to trap the voles in the foam.....similar to Hans Solo when he was encased in carbonite. The foam expands quite a bit and filled up the voids under the concrete and was coming out of all the holes along the side of the driveway. It's quite dense and wouldn't be easy chew through. I'm hoping the voles leave for good, but at least it will be easier to monitor as I'll be able to see if a new hole pops up. Before, there were 20 or so holes and i couldn't tell which ones were active.

[suntan]

You can buy pest-resistant foam. It's super bitter.

[Pacman]

10 days since the foam injection and no sign of any voles. I'm cautiously optimistic they are gone. If I see any other holes pop up, I'll pick up a can of spray foam.

[craigcd]

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10 days since the foam injection and no sign of any voles. I'm cautiously optimistic they are gone. If I see any other holes pop up, I'll pick up a can of spray foam.

If i recall they naturally leave in the spring so it might have just been timing. See what the next winter brings!

[88CRX]

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10 days since the foam injection and no sign of any voles. I'm cautiously optimistic they are gone. If I see any other holes pop up, I'll pick up a can of spray foam.

Guaranteed that if you keep traps out you will catch more. They're never gone.

[D'z Nutz]

[bigbadboss101]

So are you guys winning? I have notice some of late and some damage to the lawn.

[TurboMedic]

Have some holes next to my driveway for the first time ever now. I'm guess moles because of the mounds of dirt that are randomly scattered in that little area. Driving down the boulevards to my house I saw a bunch of the same mounds now too. I'm guessing that the chunk of remaining farm like land that was not yet developed by Old Banff Coach road and 85th/77th that is now ripped up for a development has moved them towards my house which is right at the top of COP. Been pest free for 5 years here. Gonna buy some smoke later today!

[colinxx235]

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Have some holes next to my driveway for the first time ever now. I'm guess moles because of the mounds of dirt that are randomly scattered in that little area. Driving down the boulevards to my house I saw a bunch of the same mounds now too. I'm guessing that the chunk of remaining farm like land that was not yet developed by Old Banff Coach road and 85th/77th that is now ripped up for a development has moved them towards my house which is right at the top of COP. Been pest free for 5 years here. Gonna buy some smoke later today!

Sounds like you don't live too far away from me. I have yet to ever see a mole in the yard/area but Voles a plenty. They destroy near driveways/patios/flower beds that they can tunnel to.

I'd like to say I've probably let off between 16-20 sulphur sticks this entire season. Everytime I think they are gone 2 weeks will go by and another hole pops up. But it is definitely an improvement over the 50+ holes that I had before. All that work on the bowtrail/85th i'm sure has disturbed a bunch of them behind my house.