voles?

[Gro-Bag]

I have a new allotment, in its first year, on what used to be agricultural land. Potatos, broad beans, courgettes, onions, garlic, lettuce, herbs, globe artichokes and a few other things have grown well - but every brassica plantlet has been munched, also peas, beans, asparagus peas and strawbs...some of it was rabbits getting in a gap under the gate, but I am pretty sure I am keeping the rabbits out now, and have planted and replanted and replanted with brassicas under nets secured down really well - all munched to nothing within days of planting, soooo frustrating. There are little tunnels left beside the munched stalks so I think it is probably field voles (?). Anyone any ideas what to do about them? I'm hoping for a wildlife-friendly solution - ie to persuade them to move on...or ideas for other veg that voles won't eat? btw, the other allotments around me seem to be able to grow wonderful brassicas, peas and beands etc, so it seems to be very localised to my plot. I have planted some in the garden plot, although less space there. Any ideas?

[chris]

Are they netted? It could be pigeons and the tunnels coincidence?

Anyway, a solar powered mole scarer - perhaps look into one of them?

[chris]

Ann's Organic Garden: Mole and vole control: More expert tips - seattlepi.com may be of some use..

Or, alternatively how about getting a pet owl?

[Gro-Bag]

Yes they were securely netted and pigeon-proofed. Doesn't look like the work of pigeons. Interesting article about moles, although it doesn't say so much about voles. No evidence of moles around.
Did an internet search and found this article
http://www.which.co.uk/documents/pdf...les-153652.pdf
which confirms that they love brassicas, peas, beans and strawberries - and that they are hard to get rid of, bar trapping, although prickly stuff amongst the seedlings might help. I didn't want to trap as it would be hard to get to traps to check them frequently enough. The solar powered mole repeller sounds like the thing as apparently they work for rodents generally. Has anyone used on here used one? How did it go?
I might order one tonight, they have them on Amazon...thanks for that - fab idea!

[chris]

My father in law uses them for moles with success I believe.. They were ruining his lawn.

[Two_Sheds]

I've always had voles on my lotty: they nest in the daleks and run little tunnels through any long grass. They've never been a bother, tbh

I haven't seen any this year though, since I got new neighbours and they've strimmed down all the long grass

[Gro-Bag]

I think they are a problem when there are a lot of them and/ or not enough other food. Or maybe Scottish voles have a particular penchant for brassicas, I don't know. I would think they were really cute if I saw them, and don't want to cause them any harm...but I love brassicas too!!!

[Gro-Bag]

Thought I'd share this article with you - apparently field vole numbers have increased exponentially in Scotland over the past couple of years... Benvironment /

[Two_Sheds]

Taken from your link:
"This year however, the figure [number of voles] is potentially ...pushing their number into the hundreds of millions.
And then of course the predators have a field day ...The British Trust for Ornithology has reported that raptors and owls are thriving this year and are having large broods. Especially the short-eared owl."

Nature finds a balance

[Gro-Bag]

Yes, true. Except on my lottie where I had firmly netted the beds off against birds and rabbits!!! The voles were left to eat in peace while sticking their tiny little fingers up skywards, lol.

[snohare]

I pity you, Gro Bag. I think they will be right little blighters to shift. I have seen what they do to a crop of tatties once they get into raised beds, and it is worth fearing !
Physical barriers, dug into the soil, might give them pause; but once you have them in an area...well, that's a tuffie.
In the garden I saw the tattie problem in, we had to put strong woven membrane down, or a layer of stones above chicken netting, before building raised beds. But membrane left on the surface...well I suppose you could be a b*stard and leave it there, maybe with a board or something for added insulation, and then reduce their numbers by whipping it all off some cold spring day when they have nowhere else to go.
You could try a silhouette of a bird of prey, say an owl, suspended or painted above the area you want to protect. After all, evolution will have spent a lot of time teaching 'em not to ignore that, to run away...

[Gro-Bag]

Funnily enough, they didn't bother with my potatoes, I had a great crop of tatties. Perhaps brassicas are first choice. Ooh-er, wouldn't want to freeze 'em to death. I did wonder about a bird of prey dummy. Might try that first, over the winter, and then a solar mole repeller in the Spring if need be - (decided not to buy one just yet now that the nights are drawing in). Maybe if I clear the snow off this winter...having read that article...although where to put it would be a problem. When we cleared the drive last winter it took about 12 hours and we created an alpine range to either side, it was ridiculous.

[Two_Sheds]

Grobag, where are your voles nesting? Do you know? If they're using long grass for tunnelling to your plot, can you strim that down?
They won't like to be in the open air, they like to be hidden (from predators) so can you clear a bit more space at all?

[Gro-Bag]

Good point. I am using the autumn to clear as much as I can, but my allotment is pretty much paths and beds, a shed and a couple of benches, and not a lot of overgrown areas, although have let wild strawbs take over under the blackcurrants, and there are a few pots and compost bags and a few weeds around the side of the shed - must move them about a bit and investigate. And some of my paths aren't surfaced and are pretty weedy - I am gradually replacing these with gravel paths, but they don't look wild enough for nesting in. Ooh - and I have one bench on a pallet board - might they nest under there? Or under the shed? However, the usual nesting sites are grassy overgrown areas and there are empty and overgrown allotments on two sides of me and a pretty poorly tended one on the third side - so plenty of nesting opportunity all around me really : - ( The site owners do strim down the weeds in the empty plots every now and then. Not sure if that would be enough to deter voles though. The site is bordered by agricultural fields (and indeed was one til recently), but I am three allotments in from the nearest field boundary. So, I'll check my wilder areas, but I'm guessing the empty allotments???

[Gro-Bag]

The tunnel entrances are apearing in pretty much weed-free beds tho - just little holes in the soil between the remains of brassica stalks...