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Description Meadow voles are brown, herbivorous rodents that are 5 to 7 inches long.
Where they live They live in burrows but travel along above-ground paths they carve out beneath thick vegetation, mulch, or snow.
Their life cycle Voles are preyed upon by owls, hawks, snakes, cats, coyotes, and foxes, so they have evolved to reproduce incredibly fast—a female can produce five to six offspring every three weeks.
Plants they attack They eat anything from tree bark to the roots, foliage, and seeds of vegetables and flowers.
Organic damage control Voles prefer moving underneath vegetation, so clearing overgrowth from your garden makes voles more visible to predators and encourages them to move elsewhere. Where voles are a problem, do not use mulch. Fence in your garden with ¼-inch mesh hardware cloth buried slightly (this will also deter rabbits). Spray hot pepper sauce on plants, but be prepared to reapply it after it rains. Snap traps, baited with apples and covered to exclude sunlight and protect nontarget animals, set outside tunnel openings or on runways, will kill voles. If you trap them alive, take them at least ½ mile away from your garden (and anyone else's) and release them into an overgrown field. A cat or small dog will keep voles from nesting in your garden.
