voles and cages

Kathy Stokmanis vikingdoc@earthlink.net
Fri, 03 Sep 2004 21:54:37 PDT
My mistake, I did use quarter inch hardware cloth to make the cages, not the half-inch that I stated in my previous post.  Voles are tiny.  The waste baskets I found also have quarter inch holes.  So far I have not had any creatures dig in from the top, in spite of having several cages that are quite large (they are painful to make, sharp edges as someone noted, so the larger and fewer the better).  I've been lucky, because everything that I've read seconds Jane's comment about voles surfacing and then tunneling down right by a choice plant.  Crushed lava rock buried around the bulb is also supposed to help due to it's abrasiveness and is something that I will be trying this fall.

I have watched a hosta frantically waving as a vole pulled the roots further down into it's hole.  All of my hostas are currently caged or in pots, too.  I understand that voles eat rose roots, as well.  Gahh!  

Nasty recipe, never tried it, must be very sure to keep little children, dogs and other animals away because it's too tempting (part of the reason I've never tried it because all three live here)  peanut butter mixed with powdered plaster of paris, tuck in tree branches for the squirrels--unfortunately it would also be quite tempting for birds as well.  Might work with voles if buried in their tunnels. I deeply sympathize with those who have lost choice plants.  Not one lily or fritillary survived my first year.


Kathy Stokmanis
Northern California, Mediterranean climate, zone 8/9


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