Who can catch a vole?

[martyb]

I'm trying to catch a vole. I'm using peanut butter baited snap traps right in his run. sort of like a baited blind set. So far no luck.

Any one have better success with a different methods?

I'm all ears.

Thanks
Marty

[skidway]

Your method works fine for me.

[17HMR]

Marty, you might have to give him some crackers to go with the peanut butter.

[northof50]

the peanut butter needs some salted bacon fat mixed with it.Block the run way with twigs.
ps save the crakers to go with the cheese.

[Bogmaster]

Marty, last vole I caught--was in a #1 stop loss, inside a Muskrat house.
Tom

[Bob Jameson]

Using a cover and back to back traps will cover each direction.I use a pvc pipe cut in half of the appropriate size. Make sure you have room for the traps to fire without interference.

[rk660]

ambush with a .22 and bird shot, or maybe a 12 gauge if you shooten aint that hot. Odon Corr told me a sure fire deal for a 10 minute dead gopher once, requires a 12 gauge.

[trapperjoemo]

I use the snap traps too. I like the old traps with the BIG fake cheese trigger! It was originally suppose to smell like cheese I think. I set them across the runs, so it`s a blind set. Catches them coming from either direction. (I think the big trigger helps). I had a few sprung traps and discovered dead voles laying 2-3 feet away. Appears the traps hit them hard enough to throw them out but still killed them. Cats, dogs, and big birds might steal a few traps too.

[martyb]

well I'm basicaly on track with everyones suggestions. They might have already left the premesis. I found one that got caught in the mower. Maybe he was the only one.

There was a den of foxes hatched out about 100 yds away from this vole damage. You wouldn't think there would be any vole problems that close to a fox den.

[coyotewhisperer]

There was a den of boxes hatched out about 100 yds away from this vole damage

I didn't know boxes ate voles

What exactly does a vole damage?

Jeff

[Jason Grimm]

What exactly does a vole damage?

Jeff[/quote]

Your pretty manicured lawn.

[martyb]

they make great trails in folks expensive pretty manicured lawns. A couple of 1.5" x 1.5" bodygrips would work great, just like an overgrown coon trail.

[Bob Jameson]

Primarily they are vegetarians. They eat sub surface tubulars of plants of all kinds, bulbs, roots segments, tap roots etc of ornamentals, ivy, shrubs and can completely shear off annuals at the ground level on some varieties. They seems to really like newly planted flowers.The flowers are there one day and gone the next day.They are in essence a minature groundhog in their voracious appetites.Their trails are seen as miniature trails through the grass and thatch areas just at ground level and very descreet in nature.They use the canopy of the grass as protective cover as they dart from their denning area to their feeding areas. They feed underground to a great degree. Their small access holes are seen in mulch beds and border areas as 1-1/4" or so size holes. They usually find concrete slab areas, rock piles, retaining walls and weed block cover areas to name a few as preferred primary feeding and residence sites.They are not difficult to traps with snap traps but it requires maintenance until the population is depleted. We use bait stations with rodenticides to deal with most problems as it is less labor intensive. They make very good predator bait if you can get enough of them and work them up.

[trappermikenc]

Bob Jaminson nailed in the post above for most part ,especialy about what they eat ,and since they are a root eaters/herbavors I add a little anise oild to my peanut butter mix on my snap traps .(And I like to use the ones with the flat fake chees pan )seem that cant resit ,the anise and as far as using them for a preador bait ... GREY fox love em in my neck of the woods seems to me a majority if there diet we have the pine vols in my neck of the woods also they are simular in breeding like a rabbits femals can start to repoduce with in 3 months of age and can spit out a littler ever 28 days ,in agriculture setting with high food source for them you can have 500 to 1000 or more per aquare acre

[northof50]

Their highest reproduction occurs under the snow, especially if it's an early on 6 inches deep. Microtus pennsylvanicus or Meadow vole is the most common up here .The ones that got into my overwintering lily stock, all 100 bulbs could have gone on muskrat streachers this spring. Their droppings are usually green when fresh and Red backed voles(forest habatit) are black. Frozen as bait and used later they do get foxes attention for dirt hole sets.

[mostinterestingmanintheworld]

This post is great and timely for me, I am closing on a house Tuesday that is infested with the damn things. Little trails and holes all over the place.

Got pigeons as well, am currently prebaiting the filthy things.

I'll tell you animals are either working for you or against you.

Joel

[lynxcat]

May 27, 2008 9:50:42 GMT -6 martyb said:

I'm trying to catch a vole. I'm using peanut butter baited snap traps right in his run. sort of like a baited blind set. So far no luck.

Any one have better success with a different methods?

I'm all ears.

Thanks
Marty

NEVER baited em... just set em... did a nice job a few weeks ago.. had out about 50-60 traps..checked em twice a day...first couple days caught 15-20 a day...then drop'd to 8-10..then to 4 or 5.. THEN I baited with the grain.. DONE deal. Had some people had MAJOR problems last year...guy poisoned em right up front... people had to have the underside of their house CLEANED.... HORID smell from the dead voles..They had to use one of those odor neutralizer machines... cost them several THOUSAND dollars AFTER the voles were killed... a LARGE quantity needs to be dealt with properly.. I kill 90% of em...then poison em... takes longer but better "customer" response...
lynx

[Bob Jameson]

That is a good point Lynx. Where in those cases that some are living under a residence or structure and makeing access thru ground level screens, wooden sill plate holes or holes in the block foundation etc. I use small wire one way door system funnels that allow exiting but no returns to the structure.If the building is a canidate for such measures. This works very well with homes that have the foundation vents that have integrity breaches. Just funnel these areas down to your door way system by using cut and fit size pieces of luan or 1/4 plywood or even cardboard for short term evacuations for a week or so. Attach routeing blockages and vent tubes with duct tape or screws.Bait with bait stations for a couple of weeks and they will eventually die out.

In cases of their residency under structural crawl spaces "it is best" to trap them out as best you can first.Then seal/exclude the access areas if the client has the budget and it is a doable job. If not they will reestablish in a few months once again and you are back to where you were originally in no time with populations again.

Most of the homes we see with populations under the houses are older homes with crawl space foundations or with deck attachments to the home etc. We find more of these itypes of problem in mountain type areas with rock ledges and shallow top soil areas that folks build on and had to settle for a short height basement type foundation/storage area. These always have foundation vents with cheesy nylon or fiberglass screen that doesnt last long to rodent exposure.

[northof50]

Depending upon moisture in the area, some times cracks can be filled with 00 steel wool and then caucked shut with expanding foam. It seems the rodent don't chew through these close-ups.
As with the mouse traps a 24 inch string on the dog area and then tied to a eves-trough nail, spiked into the ground, holds the trap so the foxes don't leave with them. Once the foxes learn how step on the trap and lift the trapped mouse out, your not looking for so many gone traps.