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Sunday, March 20, 2005

Voles - Part Two

Hi Pat and all,

Here's what I learned about voles yesterday from an avid Hosta collector. Voles are voracious eaters in the spring. You can make poison balls to put down their holes. This is what you will need:

Heavy duty rubber gloves
Heavy duty plastic bags
Plastic container for mixing (that you can throw away)
Rat Poison in a bar form
Cheap Peanut Butter

Put the rat poison in a plastic bag and bang with a hammer or mallet until it is very crumbled. Mix crumbled poison together with cheap peanut butter.
Break off pieces and roll into balls like little meatballs.
Stuff balls into vole holes.

You can freeze the unused poison balls if you do not have children around and clearly mark the container.

Saftey precaution: Wear heavy duty rubber gloves at all times. Do not use any utensils that will later come in contact with food. Preferably work in an area that will not come in contact with food (garage? shed?) Dispose of any containers that were in contact with the poison.

Stan also told me that he has great luck in the fall with the clay pot/trap/peanut butter method that was in my previous post. When I explained my dilemma about taking voles out of the traps he told me that he disposes of the whole thing, trap & vole. Traps are sold cheap, in multiple packs at the supermarket.

Good luck and let me know your favorite way to eliminate voles!
Melanie

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This works for chipmunks: Take a 5-gallon plastic bucket. Fill halfway with water. Pour an inch of sunflower seeds on top. (They float.) Put a ramp or some logs next to bucket. The rodent smells the seeds, walks up, sees a bucket full of seeds, and jumps in. Fish out drowned rodents daily.

Anonymous said...

anyone know if a vole is the same as a mole?? Little brown creatures that leave mounds of dirt in the lawn and garden....eat bulbs & such??

I'm anxious to try the rat poisen/P. butter balls.....I've tried everything else, to no avail.

Anonymous said...

I have been in a bitter battle with mole and VOLES. Last summer my husband almost committed me to a mental institution (I developed Obsessive Convulsive Disorder due to the voles).

I am swamped with perfect little holes, connected with raised ground. I assess a hole for activity, place a trap with peanut butter (also great for mice) and got my first mole. This is ONLY the beginning.

Oh and just to be mean (because I can) when rinsing out the cat box, I pour it down the holes. I doubt it really has any effect but it makes me feel better!