Vole Traps

Trapping voles is a good way to control vole populations, especially in smaller areas. With the right techniques and traps, you can get rid of voles with vole traps.

Types of Vole Traps

Voles are often called meadow mice, since they are roughly the same size and appearance as mice. This means you can use simple mouse-sized snap traps to trap voles in your yard or property, which are especially effective against voles.

You can also live-trap voles and release them away from your property. A mouse, vole, or chipmunk-sized trap will work.

How To Trap Voles

Trapping voles is not the same as trapping other rodents, due to their behavior and habitat. Here is how to use snap traps to catch voles:

1. Find vole runways in your yard. Active runways will have closely clipped grass and will be free of debris. Voles do not often stray from their runway paths, so this is where you should place the traps, especially runways along walls, flowerbeds, and gardens. Vole species also use or create underground burrows, and if you see any burrow openings, traps should also go near these.
2. Snap traps should be placed perpendicularly to the runways, so that the trigger is in the runway and the voles will set them off them as they travel along the runways.
3. You may not have to use any bait on the traps, but if you do, try apple pieces or a peanut butter oat mixture. Replace baits often to keep them fresh.
4. If necessary, cover traps loosely with aluminum pans or overturned cardboard boxes to help protect pets or unwanted pests from triggering the traps.
5. Use enough traps. In a small space, you may only need about 10, but the larger the space, the more traps you will need, even up to fifty.
6. Check traps at least once a day and dispose of any trapped voles carefully, using gloves and respiratory protection. Put voles in plastic bags before you put them in a garbage can.
7. Continue to reset/rebait traps until you are no longer catching any voles. Move traps to a new area and repeat.
8. If you want to use live traps, place in runways or very near runways and any burrow openings. Bait with apples or peanut butter oat mixture. Check the traps two times a day and release at least half a mile away in grassy fields/grassy areas away from any other homes.