Voles in the garden are no fun: they nibble on vegetables and roots and thus ensure that plants simply die quietly. Nevertheless, there is good news: voles are usually alone and they can be scared off quite easily. Find out here how to fight voles with water and which additives make the fight even more efficient.
Flooding the vole exits is one way to get rid of the vole
voles and water
Voles often live in riparian areas and are very good swimmers. Some species of vole, such as the giant vole, which lives even on floating islands in the water, can even dive for several minutes. It is therefore very unlikely that your vole will drown. However, voles don't like water in the bedroom any more than humans do, which is why you can't kill voles with water, but you can drive them away.
Flood the vole burrow
Vole exits are branched, often very long and all interconnected. Therefore, they can easily be put under water. The procedure is very simple:
- Clear the entrance of a walkway so your garden hose fits snugly in the opening.
- Turn on the water and wait.
- Choose another entrance hole and flood that one too.
- Repeat the process several times throughout the day.
Manure instead of water
Wet aisles dry up and the vole may come back. To keep them away from their burrow forever, we advise you to use manure or buttermilk instead of water. Even after drying, these strong-smelling substances leave behind a stench that the vole cannot stand for long. Manure can be made from various garden plants, nettles are often used.
- Locate multiple entrances and choose a hole as an "escape hole" where they don't dump manure.
- Pour at least half a liter of manure into all other holes.
- Repeat after a week if necessary.
tips
Nettle manure is also a great fertilizer and provides your lawn with many valuable nutrients.