While most Winnipeggers are welcoming the spring weather and the long-awaited snow-melt, the lack of white stuff on some homeowners’ lawns is revealing an unexpected mess.
Damage and destruction caused by voles — small rodents related to hamsters and lemmings — has been happening to some local lawns, hidden under heavy snow cover during winter.
Pest control expert Taz Stuart told 680 CJOB’s The Start he believes there’s a larger population of the burrowing creatures this year, leading to more destruction to yards and plants.
Because of the heavy snow, the vole population hasn’t been as accessible by its natural predators, he said.
“It’s been a fun one for sure…. Those little tunnels have been being made all winter, and being covered by that nice heavy snow coverage that we had.
“You’re seeing it now — what they do is they feed on those roots, those shoots … they like to eat the bottoms of flowers,” Stuart — best known for his role as the City of Winnipeg’s entomologist in the 2000s and now operating his own Taz Pest Control business — said Monday.
“There’s one lovely place down the street from me, and (the voles) actually stripped all the bark, literally about six inches up, from the bottom of an ash tree. They had a ravenous over-wintering.”
While voles may look cute from a distance, Stuart said homeowners will want to get rid of them as soon as possible to prevent a repeat of their destructive behaviour next year.
Reseeding and throwing soil onto tunnels is key, he said.
“What you want to do — if you don’t have any pets — is perpendicular to where those tunnels are, look for the hole entrance and exit point in the ground, put (a trap) down there.
“(You can bait the trap) with some nice little peanut butter, chocolate sauce … a little jelly, jam — and you really want to have those tier-one traps.
“The voles will come in, they’ll feed on the poison … and, of course, die.”
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