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Animal Information Sheet

Vole

Meadow and prairie voles · Microtus species

Eastern meadow vole emerging from a snow runway
A meadow vole and the runway form that helps distinguish vole activity. Photograph: Chuck Homler d/b/a Focus On Wildlife, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Clear close-up of an eastern meadow vole
Close-up showing the eastern meadow vole’s compact body, small ears, short muzzle, and brown-gray coat. Photograph: T. Middleton, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
Eastern meadow vole viewed from the side
Eastern meadow vole in the United States. Photograph: Erik Schiff, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
Meadow vole among strands of grass
Meadow vole using grassy ground cover. Photograph: John J. Mosesso, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Recognize the visitor

Voles are compact, short-tailed rodents. Their activity may leave worn paths at ground level, holes leading into shallow tunnels, cleanly cut stems, or tooth damage near the lower trunk and roots of woody plants. Injury can become more extensive beneath snow, mulch, or thick vegetation where voles move under cover.

Protect plants

Keep grass and mulch pulled back from trunks, mow or thin dense cover around high-value plantings, and use hardware-cloth guards around young woody plants. Bury the guard several inches and leave room for trunk growth. Do not pile mulch against bark.

Use an integrated response

First distinguish vole injury from rabbit browsing, mower damage, and other causes. Habitat modification and exclusion are the safest foundations. If trapping or a pesticide is considered, follow Indiana rules and the exact label; protect children, pets, and non-target wildlife.

Sources

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