Voles love plants - especially roots. But do they have special food preferences? Are there any plants they avoid and do voles also eat insects? Here you can find out everything about the diet of voles, as well as what they like and what they avoid.
Voles love roots
What do voles like to eat most?
Voles nibble on plants from below, so the damage often only becomes apparent when the affected plants die. Roots are their favorite dish, but plant parts above ground such as leaves, grass or fruit are also eaten more rarely. Voles particularly like to eat the roots of:
- clematis
- fruit trees
- flower bulbs
- vegetables
Lure voles into the trap
When adding attractants to a live trap, consider the vole's dietary preferences. While other mice trap cheese and meat, voles are strictly vegetarian and as such will not eat ham, cheese or insects!
Therefore, you should instead stock your trap with vole food such as potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, carrots, celery, or other vegetables.
Learn how to make your own vole decoy in this post.
What don't voles like?
In order to make the garden as unappetizing as possible for voles, it is recommended to plant plants that voles avoid. These include, among others:
- imperial crown
- Cruciferous Spurge
- daffodils
- mullein
- oleander
- tagetes
- as well as strong-smelling crops like garlic, basil, and thyme.
Fighting voles with plants alone is usually not sufficient. Combine the deterrent plants with other unpleasant smells like buttermilk, flooded vole burrows or ultrasonic devices.
tips
To protect individual plants from hungry animals, you can equip them with a plant basket. The wire mesh keeps voles from chewing on the delicate roots.