{"id":20823,"date":"2023-02-02T16:20:49","date_gmt":"2023-02-02T20:20:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/?p=20823"},"modified":"2025-08-04T12:44:43","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T16:44:43","slug":"question-what-can-i-do-to-stop-the-voles-from-eating-my-seedling-roots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/question-what-can-i-do-to-stop-the-voles-from-eating-my-seedling-roots\/","title":{"rendered":"Question: What can I do to stop the voles from eating my seedling roots?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Vole<\/a>Question:<\/strong> <\/em>I’m interested in doing regeneration planting of oaks and hickories on my property, and have made attempts with both direct seeding, as well as starting in Rootmaker containers and then planting the seedlings after one year of growth. I have been having a major problem with voles, despite my best attempts at barriers, and am wondering if there is anyone who would be able to advise me?<\/p>\n

As an example, I had a black oak seedling, one year old, with great growth, about 18″ tall and with a root ball of comparable size, which I planted this fall. After 2-3 months, in December, the entire root system was eaten and all that remained of the seedling was the stalk, with clear gnaw-marks where it had been chewed off at the base. It was protected by a wire mesh enclosure that covered all sides plus the top, and was set about four inches into the ground. The mesh was finer than the standard chicken wire; the openings were about dime-size.<\/p>\n

I would appreciate any guidance your experts can share.<\/p>\n

Answer:<\/strong> <\/em>Based on your description, it certainly sounds like pine (=woodland) voles, Microtus pinetorum<\/em>, although trapping would be needed to confirm. I am no longer doing work on voles, but earlier work, Selective Feeding of Pine Voles on Roots of Seedlings<\/a>, showed that they really do like roots of oak seedlings.<\/p>\n

When I want to exclude small mammals, I use \u00bc inch mesh size or smaller. One other approach I\u2019ve used with success is to create an \u201capron\u201d of hardware cloth underground and extending outward several inches from the cylinder. Since pine voles create tunnels below the ground surface, this isn\u2019t a guarantee of exclusion, but it certainly should discourage them.<\/p>\n

If the problem is too severe for you to tolerate, a rodenticide bait such as zinc phosphide is another option. Thiram is a repellent that could be used \u2013 like all repellents, it has variable and short-term effectiveness (but still tends to be better than other commercial products).<\/p>\n

The following link offers some practical tips on voles and vole control, including trapping to verify that voles are present, and methods of scouting and treating with rodenticide to reduce exposure risk to other nontarget wildlife and pets, Controlling Voles in Horticulture Plantings and Orchards in Missouri<\/a>, University of Missouri Extension.<\/p>\n

Resources:<\/strong>
\nVoles!<\/a>, Purdue Extension-Agronomy
\nVoles (remember the V)<\/a>, Turfgrass Science, Purdue Horticulture & Landscape Architecture
\nDealing with Mole Damage in Your Yard<\/a> video, Purdue Extension-Forestry & Natural Resources YouTube Channel
\nOrphaned Wildlife<\/a>, Got Nature? blog
\nA Template for Your Wildlife Habitat Management Plan<\/a>, The Education Store, Purdue Extension resource center
\nForest Improvement Handbook<\/a>, The Education Store
\nWildlife Habitat Hint<\/a>, Purdue Extension \u2013 Forestry & Natural Resources (FNR) YouTube Playlist
\nConservation Tree Planting: Steps to Success<\/a>, Purdue Extension \u2013 FNR YouTube Video
\nWoodland Stewardship for Landowners<\/a>, Purdue Extension \u2013 FNR YouTube Playlist
\nWoodland Management Moment<\/a>, Purdue Extension – FNR YouTube Playlist<\/p>\n

Rob Swihart<\/a>, Professor of Wildlife Ecology
\nDepartment of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: I’m interested in doing regeneration planting of oaks and hickories on my property, and have made attempts with both direct seeding, as well as starting in Rootmaker containers and then planting the seedlings after one year of growth. I have been having a major problem with voles, despite my best attempts at barriers, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,80,43,45,54],"tags":[1703,1143,504,1038,570,408,1702,72],"class_list":["post-20823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forestry","category-trees","category-gardening","category-howto","category-wildlife","tag-control","tag-moles","tag-oak","tag-research","tag-seedlings","tag-trees","tag-voles","tag-wildlife","audience-for-enthusiasts","audience-for-homeowners","audience-for-landowners","audience-for-professionals"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20823"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34266,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20823\/revisions\/34266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}