You have a vermin in the garden and do not know exactly who is up to mischief here? In the following we will explain to you which traces and damage you can use to identify a vole infestation and how you can distinguish the small rodents from moles or rats.
Voles leave food marks on vegetables and roots
Detect vole infestation
Voles can be recognized by two different tracks: their structure and their damage. By examining both, you can definitely tell if you have a vole, rat or mole in your garden.
vole burrow
Voles raise mounds, similar to moles. In contrast to moles, however, they dig significantly fewer entrances into their tunnels and throw the mounds less high. The entrance is next to the heap; in moles it is in the middle. Rats, on the other hand, don't build mounds; the entrances to their burrow are flat and round.
vole damage
Voles are herbivores, moles are carnivores, and rats are omnivores. Moles feed mainly on garden pests such as grubs, caterpillars or snails, which is why a mole in the garden is very useful. Voles, on the other hand, cause a great deal of damage: They nibble on vegetables and plant roots from below and thus silently cause them to die off. Rats prefer to feed on leftover food, insects and seeds. They don't bother digging tunnels under vegetable beds to nibble at roots from underneath.
summary
Do you have gnawed roots and dead plants to complain about? You have a vole in the garden! Do you see brown-black, around 20cm tall animals with long tails running across your compost? Rats probably live with you. Numerous mounds in the lawn, but no damage to vegetable crops indicate the presence of a mole.
Tips: You can fight rats and voles with traps. Live traps are more animal friendly. These are also a good option for the mole. Moles are protected and must not be killed!