Voles on the rise in eastern Idaho

Farmers in eastern Idaho have seen significant damage to their crops. The culprit? Little rodents called voles.

They’re often mistaken for mice, but their tails are shorter.

The vole population is bigger this year thanks to the warm and mild winter the region had. They not only eat the roots of plants, but the stems and leaves as well. Wheat and barley crops in the area have been the most affected.

The rodent also damages and kills trees. On trees they’ll chew around the bark, girdling them. Lawns are also susceptible to voles.

“They will do a lot more damage to people’s lawns that are on the edge of more wild-type areas, more sagebrush, grassland type areas,” said Reed Findlay, University of Idaho Extension agent for Bannock and Bingham counties.

There are a number of red flags that only voles will show.

“The voles will leave a lot of little small runs across the surface of the grass and little grass-type tunnels,” Findlay said. “They will also have an open hole that the vole can go in and out of.”

Local stores like C-A-L Ranch carry a number of rodenticides to help get rid of the rodents. Those are mainly baits, but there are also things like a smoke bomb that can help get rid of them.

Findlay said there’s a specific method for the bait.

“You’ll have to make sure that the bait is not just spread out across the surface, but it actually goes into the hole and is placed underground,” he said.

Predators, like hawks, coyotes and even your dog, could help keep the population down.

Vole populations rapidly expand once every five years. UI Extension calls the current problem a minor population explosion.