Dear Rebecca:

Thanks for contacting the UVM Extension Master Gardener Helpline about your problem with voles.

Voles usually live where there is ground cover that they can hide in or under to escape from predators. This includes “vegetation greater than 6 inches in height, snow cover, brush piles, leaves, and low-hanging tree limbs.” Thus, an important step in vole control is to eliminate the ground cover. You can do this by mowing fence lines, mowing grass to about 3 inches or shorter before it snows, clearing weeds and debris, lightly till field perimeters, use aluminum flashing or hardware cloth to serve as entry barriers, and create weed-free cultivated buffer strips around the garden. We attach links to useful resources:

https://www.uidaho.edu/-/media/uidaho-responsive/files/extension/publications/pnw/pnw0627.pdf?la=en&rev=e75b266efbcf44119f4698ad30373a75

https://ipm.ucanr.edu/home-and-landscape/voles/pest-notes/#gsc.tab=0

https://icwdm.org/species/rodents/voles/vole-damage-prevention-and-control-methods/

https://extension.umn.edu/planting-and-growing-guides/vole-damage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUuXs-x7eho&t=1486s

You may not be able to eliminate voles in your gardens, but you should take steps to reduce the population. Trapping is the safest way to remove voles in home gardens and prevent large increases in population. Voles are easiest to trap in the fall and late winter. The attached link to a fact sheet from Penn State describes the best way to place and bait traps.

https://extension.psu.edu/voles

We also attach a link to a video that describes another type of trap you might want to consider. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzouRBNSfsM

In raised beds, you can repel moles and gophers by using a barrier of hardware cloth (with ¼ inch squares) attached to the bottom of the raised bed frame. An effective wire fence around the garden also should have a mesh size of ¼ inch or smaller and be at least 12 inches above the ground and 6 to 10 inches below the ground. Aluminum flashing with the same height and depth can also be used as a fence. To increase the fence’s effectiveness, create a weed-free and debris-free barrier on the outside of the fence. If your chicken wire has openings larger that ¼ inch, it probably will not exclude voles.

According to the Penn State fact sheet, although repellents containing capsaicin are registered for vole control, little data is available on the effectiveness of repellents to deter vole damage and many sources believe that repellents are not effective. Thus, if you choose to use capsaicin, you should not rely on it as only method of vole control. The Penn State fact sheet also cautions that you should “never apply repellents to any portion of a plant likely to be eaten by humans or livestock unless the label permits it.” Further, “capsaicin should be applied only before the fruit sets or after the harvest. Capsaicin is registered for use on vegetable plants and agricultural crops only before edible portions and/or heads begin to form.”

A few resources suggest that plants (daffodils, hellebore, salvia) can repel voles, but there is little data on their effectiveness.

In sum, your best bets for controlling voles and limiting damage to your plants are good garden sanitation, traps, and barriers. We hope that you find this information to be helpful.

Good luck.

Pat