Been there, seen that. :-(

Oh noooooooo!

I'm so sorry! I seriously do not like those little buggers!

I mean, can Dr Huey really taste that good?

This is my idea of a nightmare. Bad dreams tonight for sure, you have my sympathies.

How awful! So sorry.

Oh no! That's just awful! What will you do?

That looks like gopher damage to me. Are you sure it's voles? I'm sorry, though, for your awful trouble and hope there's a solution for you. Diane

I didn't know gopher did that too. Do they travel through the ground and eat rose roots as well?

Definitely voles - no gophers in CT - and I've killed a few dozen in mousetraps already. Been stuffing D-con down every hole I see for months, which works, but after a few weeks new ones just move back in.

ebharvey- Been here too!! I have lost at least 20 roses over the winter to voles. I'm in the process of replanting every one that is left and new ones in a hole surrounded by a seashell moat. I've read that shells are a deterrent since they won't dig through the sharp shells. I don't know if this will work since I only seem to get vole damage through the winter, thank God for small favors, so I won't be able to assess if it works till next spring. I'm planting the roses in biodegradable pots since this will make the moats easier to build. I don't know if you have access to seashells where you live but luckily there is a landscape supplies company in Dudley, MA that has shells available by the yard. I tried crushed oyster shell chicken grit but they ate through the stem of a coneflower. they didn't chew the root though. I've found some vole holes in my raised beds but so far they haven't touched the roses. They seem to do far more damage in the winter though. I'll try to post some pics of how I'm planting the roses when the pots come in. My smaller roses are just going to be planted in their plastic pots for now with a layer of shells at the bottom of the planting hole and across the bas of the canes. If they eat the canes off at least the root ball will be safe. I'm also battling rose midge. I wonder who ever was crazy enough to think rose gardening was a relaxing hobby!

Sharon

Oh noooo. That's horrible :(. Those DAs aren't cheap either!!!

Our voles must be wimps, and we have plenty of them, too. They damage the grass with their tunnels, and have damaged some perennials, but never a rose. It's the larger gophers that can wreak havoc on rose roots the size you show. Since you mentioned d-con, I'll tell you that is what I use (we don't have dogs, only indoor cats). I use the d-con made for the larger rodents, and it works fast. It knocked out a gopher who was on a rampage in one of my flower beds this past spring, and it knocked lots of voles. For years, I was able to depend on the resident badgers to dispatch voles and gophers. But they are shy, and I think there are too many people and dogs around the neighborhood now. I agree that voles do much damage in winter. They seem to love tunneling under the snow, really destroying the grass, which they store in their d*mn tunnels. I have lots of horrid vole stories I could share (but I'll do you a favor and not mention them-ha). Diane

So sorry to see that. I hope you can find ways to prevent it from happening in the future. Helen

Arrrrrgh....and it would be one of the most expensive roses you could buy, lol. Voles have such good taste...it's a shame they don't taste good (even cats won't eat them)!

ebharvey1
Years ago when we wanted some fish bait we would catch a bunch night-crawlers. It was easy to do at night as all it took was a flashlight. During the day required a different approach. We drove two metal stakes in the ground a few feet apart, connected them up to a zip cord, plugged it into an outlet. After unplugging the cord we picked up the worms that came out. I’m wondering if the same would work for the Voles.

Maybe herd them by placing a series of stakes across the property such that you could channel them to one area. You may have to shock each area multiple times to get them moving but once you got their attention things should happen pretty fast. Worth a try….. be careful!

Interesting solution.... The problem isnt killing them - I know how to do that with traps and poison - the real problem is that I'm surrounded by acres and acres of fields, old farmland, thick brush, etc., so no matter how many I kill new ones just migrate right in. I think next up is going to be those solar-powered sonic deterrents.

I have some of those solar powered sonic spikes. I don't have voles here, only gophers. I live right next to a large private neighborhood park, which hosts an endless supply of gophers. I've been planting my most precious roses and perennials in gopher cages from Home Depot, but many were planted before I began this practice. Plus, it makes for a lot of extra digging to fit one those cages into my heavy clay soil. I realize moles are much smaller than gophers, so standard gopher cages would be useless.

Anyway back to the sonic thingy's. Two things I noticed right away. First of all the sound was driving me nuts the first week or so. It's not loud, but definitely an audible beeping. After a little while, I no longer notice it. My son has remarked, "I hate that sound! Doesn't that drive you crazy, Mom?" I had to think for a minute, "what sound?". Now that he's been here a while, he doesn't notice it anymore either.

The second thing I noticed right away is that activity actually INCREASED as soon as I installed them. I couldn't believe it. Within a night or two I had gopher mounds right up around both spikes, and they were not there when I installed them. Since I had ordered mine from Amazon, I went back and reread all the questions and answers section. This was actually discussed, and apparently to be expected. They first come to check out the sound, and then move away because they don't like it. They did indeed leave right after that.

I ordered these last summer(2016). Although my spikes are still buzzing away, the gophers have recently been returning. I'm not sure if it's because they become accustomed to the spikes, or something else. I do know that they returned when it was very hot, and I'm sure they could smell my faithful watering. For an entire year , I had zero gophers in my yard. That alone is worth what I paid, even if they were to stop being effective from here on out. Just thought I would share my experience with them. Lisa