EVERY spring as the snow melts, many Winnipeg homeowners are greeted by lawns and gardens that have been extensively damaged by voles.
A vole is a small rodent -- usually 10 to 20 centimetres long, with about a two-centimetre-long tail -- that breeds very quickly and can live under the snow cover throughout the winter while feeding on the grass. When the snow melts, the lawn looks like it's covered in runways of dead grass.
Lincoln Poulin, general manager of Poulin's Exterminators, says installing traps now is the only way to prevent your lawn from looking eaten come spring.
The condition of a yard has nothing to do with the likelihood of it being infested with voles, says Lincoln Poulin, general manager of Poulin's Pest Control. Unlike other pests, avoiding a problem with voles isn't a matter of cleanliness.
Poulin said the only factor that increases the chances of an infestation is being close to forested areas such as Assiniboine Forest.
While a problem with voles often isn't discovered until the spring, it is in the fall that action needs to be taken to avoid any trouble.
"With voles, breeding activity will start in the fall," Poulin said. "They'll breed in open fields, under fallen trees, stuff like that. They'll try to make nests under decks, garden sheds, and junipers."
When asked the best way to prevent voles from nesting, Poulin recommended installing exterior bait stations along fence lines or the outer walls of the home. The pests will feed on seed-based rodenticides like Poulin's gopher dew and eventually die off before the snow falls.
Voles cause damage.
Some people put glue board in the bait stations and get rid of the voles before they've had time to be poisoned.
The mild weather Winnipeg has been treated to in recent winters has produced some negative side effects, according to Poulin.
"Over the last couple of years, voles have been becoming a bigger problem in the city, and one of the main reasons is the mild winters," he said, adding the voles live outdoors all year and breed more frequently in milder temperatures.
Because they live below ground most of the time, voles are often difficult to discover before their damage has already been done. This is why using the rodenticide as bait is often the only way to prevent an outbreak.
After voles begin to nest in the fall, their population can be significant by the time spring rolls around. They can produce anywhere from three to 12 litters per year, with each litter containing anywhere from one to 11 young.
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