I lost some of my prized lilies this last winter. We had unusually prolonged snow cover which the voles take full advantage of. As the snow melts you find the tunnels where they've been busy doing their dastardly work. One winter's melt I found stockpiles of perhaps 500 crocus corms stashed throughout the garden, most partially eaten (*!##d'x!! - Why me, Lord???)). In my experience, Scilla spcs., Camas, Galanthus, Freesia laxa, Anthericum, Paradisea, Crocosmia, Alstroemeria and, of course, Narcissus are not bothered by them. They also favor California native bulbs, at least here they do. Haven't tried the stalite, yet. Part of the problem is my beloved, cherished cat died last November. He was a great mouser and voler(?) and would call (yowl) to me to come and see what he'd proudly caught, luxuriating in the praise heaped upon him, before devouring his prey. Cats are great assets in the control of all rodents, except perhaps moles which my cat would never eat (or catch). Minus a cat, I've had no luck with baited traps, voles appear to be bait shy or else their tastes are too discriminating for me, but have had much success with the very small have-a-heart traps. I noticed an area frequented by scurrying voles, field mice, and kangaroo mice - a transition area between heavy perennial cover to a more open area. I laid only about ten feet of hardware cloth (12" tall) with a cut section near the middle where I place the trap. Sometimes I'm astounded how often the trap has a prisoner. How to dispatch with the live rodents can be a problem. I've had success using the same technique, larger trap (double open ends), with rabbits. I live in a rural area, so it's not difficult to find a new home for them. Let's not even talk of the problems caused by the largest rodent, namely deer. On the Galanthus thread - Galanthus, Crocus tommasinianus, Scilla siberica, Chionodoxa, and Camas all have naturalized here (with some help from me and rodents), especially the first two - mostly in partially shaded meadows, where they receive no additional water, ever. The soil is very well drained. The Freesia laxa is naturalizing in both more shaded areas or areas that receive some additional water. Sorry I've been so loquacious. I guess I'm missing my cat - and all those lilies and crocuses. Mike Western Washington, USA zone 7/Mediterranean climate On Sun, Jul 16, 2017 at 8:55 PM, <nickplummer@gmail.com> wrote: > I use stalite (permatill, volebloc) mixed into the soil when I plant new > bulbs, unless they are toxic plants like daffodils. Stalite looks like > pumice and supposedly voles don't like to dig through it. It does seem to > work. > > Picture and description on my blog here: > https://sweetgumandpines.wordpress.com/2017/03/… > > Nick > > > On Jul 16, 2017, at 4:02 PM, Kathleen Sayce wrote: > > > > A horticulturist friend who gardens nearby says he lost a third of his > lilies to voles this past winter. So I’m curious to know how others deal > with these voracious herbivores. Do those non-poisonous pellets work? Or > are predators (cats, dogs), poison baits, or traps the way to keep them > somewhat at bay? > > > > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… > _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…