Are moles and voles basically the same thing? The answer to this question is yes and no. While they are actually very different creatures, they both create similar damages to lawns and gardens.
When moles and voles penetrate defenses and make their way into yards and gardens, the real danger is to trees, ornamentals, and lawn turf. This can be disturbing in many ways, especially if you have poured your hard-earned money, time, and energy into creating a beautiful landscape. When moles and voles target your property, they cause dead patches to appear on your lawn. They will chew on trees, do damage to plants, and leave raised tunneling and mounds of dirt, among other things. Both of these animals can also carry various parasites onto your property, including, fleas, ticks, and mites.
Voles are rodents which usually have grayish-brown coats. They are stocky and between 4 and 10 inches in length (which includes their tail). A voles limbs are short and they have tiny eyes and ears which are hard to distinguish.
Moles are typically gray, black, gold, or deep brown in color. Their smooth coats sometimes have feature markings. Moles usually grow to be around 6 to 8 inches long and their physical features include tiny eyes and ears, wide feet, and angular snouts.
Vole damage in yards is often seen by the lengthy pathways they create. They also frequently create shallow holes in the ground. Their food sources typically consist of seeds, bugs, tree bark, and plants. They can be extremely damaging to trees and will often tear through the bark all the way around.
Moles leave unsightly dirt hills on landscapes. They are also very destructive to plants, specifically their root systems.
Do-it-yourself methods of ridding your property of moles and voles can be a never-ending headache of thinking all the lawn-damaging pests are gone, only to have them come back to haunt you time and time again. Not only can it be dangerous to try to get rid of these pests with chemicals, but other methods of removal are futile. Some of these methods include flooding tunnels, pouring gasoline down tunnels, and introducing mothballs into tunnels. None of these things ultimately work to remove these animals, not to mention the fact that they usually just cause the animals to move to a different area and dig more tunnels.
If you are frustrated with moles or voles damaging your property, reach out to the pest control professionals here at Thomas Pest Services. We have the tools, the expertise, and the knowledge to take care of your mole and vole problems for good.