That looks more like a shrew to me......they have a pointy little nose that voles do not (they have more of a rounded head and mouse-like ears). In my area, shrews are quite a bit smaller than voles also. It would be unusual to find one any bigger than about 3 inches.

agree with gg-shrew..I caught one too..was working outside and grabbed a handful of debris (with a shrew)..something GROWLED at me!..dropped my handful of debris and saw a dark flash of a small critter..set a trap with a piece of apple..covered it with a bucket..caught a shrew..reset the trap but never caught anything else..the good news - they don't harm hostas..

If it is a shrew, should I stop trapping or continue?

==>>> i would not stop vermin hunting ... imo.. proof of one.. most likely means a family ... whats to lose???

ken

Pic from this website

Pine vole

zkathy..I see that now is not the time to use traps but have you tried them?..catch any voles?..we've caught 1 shrew and 3 mice in 13 years..borrowed a mole trap (my neighbor offered it)..both of us have moles..she said she never caught one..we set it up several times in different spots..never caught a mole either..

Anne, someone posted a while back that voles can access drystack raised beds through spaces between the rocks. I think that is what happens in my yard. I do find vole holes occasionally but I think they can get in my beds through the rock walls. I’ve been rewarding my good hunter cat when she brings a vole, because they must taste bad. The cats won’t eat them.

I will try traps this year. I watered the beds with castor oil in the fall. I sprinkled more castor oil granules (Mole-Go) a couple of weeks ago. I do put bags of warfarin based poison in any hole I find and cover it with a rock. There were a few bags that hadn’t been eaten in the castor oil sprayed beds which might indicate reduced vole activity there this winter.

Here’s a pic of a spin out bag with a vole hole chewed in it.

I put a steel mesh bag (Vole King) around it before I replanted it. I can only hope the chemicals on the bag killed the vole. They look better dead.

Thank you everyone for your comments and id of my critter as a shrew. Apparently shrews eat slugs and even voles and mice!!! In that case, I owe my RIP shrew a big apology!!! Maybe I should think of shrews as my little garden friends....although I hope never to pick one up as you did Nicholsworth. I'd injure my vocal cords what with all the screaming that would ensue!!! I'm so sorry zkathy that you have to battle voles in your beautiful garden.

Kathy..I didn't realize how many different things you're already doing to fight voles..amazing how they can chew a hole in that tough bag..hosta roots don't stand a chance if they get to them do they?..you must have killed some..and your cat did..hope you get them all..

mae..it was shocking to feel and hear that wild animal in my hand..thank goodness I was wearing gloves!..wasn't it funny to read about their appetite?..from what I read they eat nonstop..

Mae, I think that’s a vole. I’ve looked at a bunch of pictures of shrews. Their snout is much pointier. A dead vole can look like it’s snout is real pointy because the jaw retracts. I’ve seen a lot of dead ones because the cats will put a mouse away in five minutes but they leave the voles. That looks like a dead vole to me. So keep trapping. The voles are probably joking “How do you eat a Humpback Whale? One bite at a time.”

Do you have other pics of it? From this angle, it isn't a perfect profile pic, but I think size and maybe color might tell you ID. I could be wrong, but think that shrews are quite small, and that they can be gray like your pic whereas voles may only be brown(?). I'm leaning towards shrew for your ID.

On another note, has anyone with voles tried putting 2 or so inches of gravel on top of their soil to possibly discourage digging? If I were done with planting/moving, I might even consider broken glass pieces all around the plants to teach these rodents to go dig somewhere else. Although I don't think we have voles (yet?), we've had moles for several years, which didn't use to bother me as much when the yard wasn't as full of plants, but now they can hardly dig anywhere without disturbing something. On top of that, as of last year the "neighbor's" chipmunks have moved over to our yard and made themselves quite comfortable. They've dug up quite a few things just from burrowing, but only seem to eat red foliage and/or blooms, especially newly emerged leaves and buds. I'm thinking about sprinkling crushed red pepper all over the place, but haven't bought enough yet to do it.

ken and zkathy: I've followed your advice to keep trapping and in just a few days have caught 3 of the rodents!!! This past summer I tried baiting traps with peanut butter with no success. Now I'm using a mix of molasses, steel cut oats, and peanut butter in equal parts. I add a bit of walnut as a garnish. The voles must think this is fine dining.

extroverted introvert That vole was frozen solid so not quite poseable. Super GROSS. I used some twigs as chopsticks to put it out on the ground for the photo shoot. If I catch another I'll see if I can get a clearer shot.

I'm freaking out because I know what I'll have to do to know ID with certainty. I will have to look at its teeth!!!!! Voles have the usual rodent sort of teeth while shrews--which are not rodents---have a mouthful of sharp little teeth. Will I be able to perform this dental check-up?

Here is a link that might be helpful:

https://www.jcehrlich.com/other-wildlife/moles/differences-between-moles-voles-shrews/

glad you caught more rodents!..I don't definitely know what you have but glad they're disappearing..

The voles that are eating my garden are charcoal colored with short tails.

DH is in charge of waste management in our house, I’ll tell him to count toes the next time he has to pick up a dead one.

Thanks for the info joci17. I (and by that I mean my DH) would rather count vole toes than look at vole teeth.

zkathy: Looks like I'm going to have work on my approach....for some reason my husband is not very enthusiastic.

That's funny, zkathy, my backyard-roaming cat eats them (voles) and leaves only the head and a couple organs. He also eats katydids, so go figure : )

And the verdict is....it's a shrew. I caught shrew #4 and it has five toes in front. I looked at the teeth and the incisors were sharp and needle-like. I'm sorry that my camera couldn't capture a clear close-up shot.

Thank you everyone for all the information and advice. I'm feeling better now. If the pip count is good in the spring I'll be feeling terrific!

Cat brought in another one. Four toes, a vole. No pic. Congratulations, mae! May your pips increase!

Does anyone know what type of rodent this is? It was in bed with my husband, a gift from our cat 🙂

start your own post; .. and make sure there is a pic attached ... use the photo/camera icon below the box you type in... and wait until the pic focuses ...

i have recently found that being signed in first really helps ...

ken