Everything I’ve learned from Indiana Jones tells me rats can swim…can they not?
Oh, you need at least a couple of fish. I kept some common gold fish in mine for several years but I switched to fantails last year. They are not as hardy so I have to bring some inside to an aquarium for the winter. I have a hardy water lily that my lids got me that really does well in the pond. I will try and post a photo when it blooms.
It depends on how steep the sides are to allow them to escape, they can swim for awhile…
I notice that voles and field mice are often confused one for the other. They are different, with mostly different diets and habits, and different methods are used to control them.
Field Mouse
Vole
I have been at war with voles for a few years. Here is what works for me to keep them under control
Remove cover by keep grass mowed.
Warfarin based poison placed in tunnels that has a lower risk of killing non target animals
Any tree I have to replace because of vole damage gets replaced with a bunch of gravel on the hole.
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No hits again today. I do note that the grass has recently been mowed, but that wouldn’t affect the tunnel complex they’ve made under the yuccas.
I used to keep goldfish in my small pond, but raccoons kept raiding it.
In my war on voles I’ve used a Cholecalciferol-based (vitamin D3) product with success. It’s pricey, but it’s quick and is low risk to non-target critters, such as animals that might eat voles. Also, it works on warfarin-resistant rodents. The big scare is that if a cat or dog were to eat a large quantity of the bait it would kill them, too. Don’t let that happen…small amounts are adequate for voles and only place it in the tunnel.
Seedy - do you have the name of that stuff? It’s precisely my concern that some other creature, like my non-competent cat, could come along and get the poisoned vole before it dies. Warfarin didn’t pose much of a risk, but the stuff they use instead these days is different.
I agree that the warfarin based bait is very effective. I used to mix it with some peanut butter. I don’t think the vitamin D stuff was as effective. But now I have my daughters dog which I saw going after the peanut butter so I panicked and went to the trapping approach - which I learned from Elliot Coleman who also gardens through the winter.
I have used Terad3 pellets. Some stores have discontinued it so maybe it isn’t available, though the blox (blocks) still are. My ‘foolproof’ method (regarding safety) was to put a rounded teaspoon of it (pellets) in holes where I could see the bottom of the tunnel as it turned horizontal; that way I could monitor it. It would take a day or up to a week for it to disappear and then I would put another teaspoon in. It was usually gone in a day, and the next day the hole would be backfilled, and that was it. If it keeps disappearing, use a double dose. With blocks, I suggest breaking them to achieve similar doses…it doesn’t take much and the stuff is not cheap. I always put it in the tunnels, and never leave it above ground. Tip: I will often use a shovel to cover/close off most of the holes in a little area because often they all belong to one vole. If one gets opened back up it becomes a ‘target’ hole. This method may be too detail oriented for covering a large area.
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I now use 1/2" mesh hardware cloth and make cylinders of 12" to 18" diameter, 2 feet tall, and plant my trees, berries, etc., in them with 1 foot above ground and one foot below. I figure that by the time the tree develops side roots larger than 1/2" the mesh will have decomposed enough to allow that, and the tree will be able to handle a vole or two once in a while. Then it’s the gophers I need to deal with, and for now, I’m winning that battle.
For trees that I plant outside the deer fence I make 2-3 foot diameter, 4 feet tall, double-wrap chickenwire/poultry fence guards held by two big stakes. I’ll need to add another ‘story’ of single-wrap this year to some of the newer trees because they are getting within reach of the deer.
All this is possible because I only have about 30 trees and 30 berries/vines put in over two years, and 20 of each are within the deer fence. Deer fence = all other creatures come and go with ease.
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I had really bad losses this winter in The Espalier rows where they have a runway of grass that is hard to mow. Would installing landscape fabric / mulch help or just give them more cover?
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I think mulch just gives them cover
I put cage of hardware cloth around some trees
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Aluminum window screen prevents almost 100% of above ground rodent damage.
They Tunnel in under the tree guards. I guess I’'l keep things mowed down better kill the grass around the trees and replant with gravel. I will be dropping a bunch of poison down tunnels in the fall.
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Where can I find out more about the Elliot Coleman method?
Curious how to use the screen? Do you have a photo you could share? Do you wrap it around raised beds or individual plants?
You can stuff the tubing with old tangled plastic bird net - it is airy enough for the tree and very unpleasant for rodent to get through. I usually put a layer 5-8 inches on the bottom(think about it like you are trying to put the net in the tube to store) and also make thick plug on top.
Voles tunnel underground and eat the roots. If the ground is not bare around small apple trees going into the winter here, they are on borrowed time.
Has anyone tried planting caster bean plants to deter moles and voles?
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