Voles are making a mess of some Calgary yards

The return of warmer weather means the destruction left behind by voles in Calgary yards is now visible.

With the snow-melt well underway, some people are discovering strips of brown grass and tunnels in their yards — a tell-tale sign of the small, mouse-like rodents known to cause big problems. 

“They’re protected from predators underneath the snow, and what happens is when that sun hits the turf, the snow melts, they disperse into different areas to harbour, to find another home,” says Michael Zborowsky from Canex Pest Control.

Zborowsky says it’s critical to eliminate all potential food sources from yards, like bird seeds, and keep yards organized to prevent voles from wreaking havoc on more than just your lawn. 

“One of the biggest things you’ve got to be concerned of is they could get to your trees, and if you have an irrigation system, it’s burrowed underground.”

He says its possible for voles to chew a hole into the plumbing.

A way to prevent them from taking over a yard in the winter is to set lawn mower blades to the lowest possible setting before trimming grass in the fall. If that doesn’t work, pest control companies have ways to get rid of them.

“We use a couple different types of lures,” says Zborowsky. “Bacon, and we got peanut butter, chocolate, so we add that in here, this is using no rodenticides, and we could run a few traps in the main runways.”

More information on Calgary wildlife concerns can be found on the City of Calgary’s website.