After first having problems with voles in my vegetable garden this year and now that a mole seems to have moved in (yes, I can tell the difference… frustratingly, that’s more or less the only result search engines turn up for my initial question), I’ve been wondering whether voles and moles tolerate each other, or whether the mole’s presence prevents the voles from attacking my vegetables again? I couldn’t find an answer right away, what do you think?

  • harrys_balzac@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    61·
    24 hours ago

    They don’t as they can’t get motorist licences with their poor eyesight.

    Seriously, though, probably not. Moles and voles have very different diets which means they’re looking in different places for different things.

    That is, your yard mole is digging underground looking for chewy worms while the vole family is at the surface looking for plants and roots.

    If they do bump into each other, voles would have a numerical advantage that would overwhelm the mole.

    • GardenGeekOPEnglish
      3·
      23 hours ago

      Okay, first of all, thanks for your input!

      I think I need to clarify this a bit: We have several species of voles here. What you’re describing (above ground, looking for plants) would be the common vole (Microtus arvalis) in our area; they’re also found in my meadow, but they cause me fewer problems in my garden beds (and are easier to catch there). The really nasty creatures are the voles (Arvicola terrestris), because those pesky beasts feed underground, mainly on roots, and can ruin both fruit trees and most types of vegetables.

      I’d heard once that field voles and moles can’t stand each other (and in captivity, moles apparently even eat young field voles, though the natural relevance of that is perhaps rather questionable), which is why I asked.

        • GardenGeekOPEnglish
          2·
          23 hours ago

          Well, haven’t seen that one in a while, thanks! xD

    • GardenGeekOPEnglish
      3·
      22 hours ago

      That’s a very interesting read indeed! Thank you very much.

      Unfortunately (or luckily) moles are under protection where I live and I personally also wouldn’t want to eradicate them. But the paper recommends destroying the tunnels… maybe that way I can get both moles and voles to move elsewhere.

      • BCOVertigo@piefed.worldEnglish
        1·
        22 hours ago

        It’s a good idea, and I think if you fail to herd them it will be related to where they placed their larder.

        In Earthworm Ecology, edited by renowned entomologist Clive Edwards, researcher James P. Curry notes, “Large quantities of mutilated earthworms are stored in caches within a mole fortress as future food.” One study found 470 live earthworms in a single chamber. This amounted to nearly 2 pounds, of worms. A study of moles in Britain found a single mole consumes approximately 39 to 70 pounds of earthworms annually.

        I wonder if voles are thieves, and a population boom in a mole tunnel system results in the mole starving?