Are Any Hosta Plants More Resistant To Moles/Voles
jmcdmd
10 years ago
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hostafreak
10 years agoUser
10 years agoRelated Discussions
Vole/Moles -- do they bother vegetable beds?
Comments (21)Field mice ARE voles. At least around these parts that is the common name for voles. :-) Since they spend quite a bit of time underground, building networks of tunnels called "vole runs", they gnaw on tree and shrub roots to keep their teeth from growing too large, just like other rodents. They also find tasty morsels that we plant, like root vegetables, that give them the opportunity to gnaw and have a tasty meal. Voles seem to be particularly fond of potatoes and sweet potatoes. They completely devastated my small crop of sweet potatoes a couple of years ago. Not one single sweet potato was untouched by the time they were done. After that, I decided the root veggies will be grown in fabric pots, not the ground. If you have small beds, you could use hardware cloth around your garden. Voles can't climb very high so you only need about 12 inches above ground and 6 inches below ground. Most voles only burrow about 6 inches or less below ground level, unless you have pine voles, in which case the hardware cloth should go down about 12 inches below the ground at the garden perimeter. Of course, this could be both expensive and time-consuming if you have huge gardens. I grow all of my root vegetables in fabric pots or containers now. I hate those little spawns of satan. Moles, on the other hand, disrupt your ground but they eat grubs and worms, not plant matter. They certainly could disrupt young plants as they push through the soil looking for food, but they don't eat plants and won't eat your almost fully grown root vegetables. If it doesn't have eyes, it's a mole. If it looks like a mouse and has eyes, it's a vole. You can have both at the same time. I certainly do. I don't mind moles all that much and tend to leave them alone. Voles are rodents; moles are NOT rodents. Appearance-wise, voles are a bit different from a mice, but it's not immediately obvious. Voles have smaller ears and shorter tails. However, I don't care - they are still destructive little mice to me. They give me the creeps, like all rodents. So 1/4 inch hardware cloth, installed like a fence, except you put about 6 inches of it under the ground and the rest above ground. Make sure it surrounds the entire perimeter of the area where you want to grow root veggies. If you have pine voles (and they seem to be more common in the west and midwest) then go down a foot. The idea is to block them from getting in via underground tunneling. Like all rodents, they can "collapse" their bodies and get through small holes. Since they are small, 1/2 inch holes probably won't stop them, so use the 1/4 inch. Best of luck....See MoreEver use those 'windmill' fans to get rid of moles/voles?
Comments (2)It's called a 'mole chaser' Here is a link that might be useful: mole chaser...See MoreVoles or Moles
Comments (2)The research is fairly clear, Scream, that a mole's food interest goes only so far as insects, earthworms, and such. I also have trouble with voles in the garden. I've spent my entire life calling these rodents "field mice" and only slightly feel the need to change now (Muridae Family: Rats, Mice, Voles and Lemmings). They are abundant in an alfalfa field near my larger veggie garden and move right into the veggies when the plants get large enuf to provide cover. Yes, they like to dig burrows under the tomato vines. Altho' that has not been a problem when the plants are set in rows and the plants carefully staked and tied. I've also bee successful getting rid of the voles by putting a hose directly in be burrows and flooding them. They were also a problem in the melons in 2006. Since we are a little out of the good melon growing area, I've not had many of these vines in the past but when I discovered a good, early-maturing variety and put in more plants - the voles moved right in. One thing, the neighbor brought me a pickup load of old hay and I planted the melons close by. That was a mistake - or, at least, it was a mistake to not immediately turn the hay into an active compost pile. The voles have taken up residence under it. We have enjoyed having castor beans in our yard. They are large attractive plants with interesting flowers. However, with 911 and then the anthrax scare, we got a visit from a very curious stranger. I still don't know what prompted this woman to stop and grill us with questions for nearly an hour. The plant hasn't yet been banned from sale in the US but the cooperative extension folks are telling us not to allow castor beans to flower and seed. That takes quite a bit away from its ornamental value. It is considered an invasive weed in parts of the US, so I guess, it isn't going anywhere. Turns out that Ricinus communis is one of the deadliest natural poisons. Ricin used as bait is highly toxic to rodents but only a few seeds can cause death in humans and lesser amounts may result in symptoms of poisoning. There are numerous documented cases of ricin poisoning and death to livestock and poultry, even wild birds, eating the seeds. I think it beginning to be seen as a rather dangerous act to grow the plant for any reason. Steve Here is a link that might be useful: The Castor Bean - Botany & Biology...See MoreVole, Moles, some kind of critter!
Comments (7)Actually, I think the dog holes are worse than the mole tunnels. An elderly neighbor helped me with a lawnmower problem not long ago and almost fell after stepping in one of those holes. If I hadn't been by his side, he really might have hurt himself. I'd have a fit if I found a dead mole in the center of my bed - loving gift of my dogs or not! One of my cats brings her toy stuffed mouse and dumps it on me in bed sometime during the night. I live in fear she finds a real one! At a Hosta society meeting a couple of years back a former county extension agent presented a program on moles and voles. He reported that though there are lots of products on the market that claim to repel moles, nothing really works except the spike trap. Also, even though the moles are only eating grubs, etc., voles will use the mole tunnels to get at the plant roots. If it's not one thing it's something else....See Moredon_in_colorado
10 years agoken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
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