Water vole
Vole rats: How to identify and get rid of them!
The European water vole is a creature you may not have heard of, but it can cause incredible damage to gardens and crops. This burrowing mammal lives a life similar to other subterranean pests, and you need to pay attention before it transforms your beautiful yard into a minefield of holes.
The main issue with animals like the water vole is that they live underground. As a result, very few people actually know what their lives are like, what their tunnel systems look like, or how to get rid of them. That’s precisely why we created this guide.
An effective solution for mole control.
By the end of this page, you’ll be an expert on the European water vole and know exactly how to handle an infestation. We’ll show you case studies from desperate customers who reached out to us, and you’ll witness firsthand just how destructive this small animal can be.
How to Easily Identify the European Water Vole
This destructive pest is known by many names, including:
Water vole
Water rat
Terrestrial vole
Arvicola terrestris
Great vole
Swimming vole
Despite all these different names, its description is always the same.
Physical Description
The European water vole is a burrowing rodent that digs tunnels to live and find food. Also known as Arvicola amphibius, it measures between 15 and 25 cm long, with its tail making up 6 to 7 cm of that length. It has a round body, which is less elongated than that of a city rat, and weighs between 100 and 300 grams. With its beige, brown, or maroon fur, it can devastate large areas of land very quickly.
Habitat, Behavior, and Diet
The water vole is a herbivore—and that’s its biggest problem. A mole, on the other hand, is a carnivore that eats earthworms, so it rarely bothers plants. The water vole, however, feeds on vegetation. If you grow crops or have a vegetable garden, or if your land is filled with trees and flowers, this animal could quickly become your worst enemy.
It mainly feeds on roots, bulbs, tubers, and any other part of a plant found underground. It can even gnaw on the roots of trees. Water voles eat everything, and they do it so discreetly that they can wipe out your entire vegetable garden without you even knowing. You’ll only find out when you pull up a beetroot and realize there’s nothing left but the outer layer.
Here’s an example from one of our desperate clients:
The animal spends almost all its time in its underground tunnels, so you’ll rarely see it. A female can have up to six litters per year, with two to eight pups per litter. These animals reproduce and expand their territory very quickly.
When a water vole digs its tunnels, it pushes the soil out in mounds that look like molehills. However, there are several key differences:
The mounds are more scattered, making it harder to trace the tunnel system underground.
The soil in the mounds is finer.
The entire tunnel network is completely disorganized.
What Is the Difference Between a Water Vole and a Mole?
Don’t confuse a water vole with a mole; they are two completely different animals. You can already spot structural differences by examining the mounds in your garden.
If you can see clear paths or lines of mounds following one another, you probably have a mole. If the mounds are scattered and seem to go in every direction, it’s a water vole.
A mole is a carnivore that doesn’t eat plants. If you see damage to your plants, it’s water voles, not moles. If your vegetables have no roots, if your trees are dying, or if your plants are toppling over, you have a water vole problem.
That photo you just saw shows holes leading to the water vole’s underground network—something you will almost never see with moles. Moles never leave their tunnels open like that. Even without seeing them, you can tell the difference between a mole and a water vole with a little knowledge.
What Kind of Damage Can the Water Vole Cause?
The water vole is an extremely destructive rodent; there can be as many as 1,000 per hectare. Given how quickly they reproduce, you can imagine the damage they can cause once they settle in. It’s crucial to act fast to fight an invasion so you don’t get overwhelmed.
A water vole consumes its own body weight in food every single day! When a plot is infested with these terrestrial voles, its yield quickly drops to zero.
Damage to Crops
We’ve already shown you a few photos of crop damage, but here are more. All these pictures come from clients whose fields, farms, and gardens were destroyed by these rodents.
This photo shows a parsley crop that has been completely ruined. The plants die for no apparent reason, but we know it’s because water voles ate their roots. Look at the difference between the plants; the dying parsley has no roots left.
See how yellow the parsley is? It’s dead because its roots were eaten by a water vole.
If you were to lift the plants out of the ground, what would be left of the roots? Absolutely nothing.
Problem: Sinking Ground
Another issue with water voles is that as they dig tunnels everywhere, the ground will start to sink, and you risk falling into holes, twisting your ankle, or even suffering a more serious injury.
Some online forums report people breaking their ankles because underground tunnels collapsed under their feet. So, besides destroying your property, they also pose a real danger to you, your pets, and your children.
Methods for Eliminating the Water Vole
When it comes to fighting water voles, you’ll hear about a lot of methods, but they aren’t all equally effective. For instance, plants that supposedly repel water voles are completely useless, and you’ll never get results from planting these kinds of flowers:
Mugwort
Tansy
Common rue
Find the perfect kit to solve your mole problem for good.
Spurges
Incarvillea
Castor bean
Instead, you should turn to traditional solutions, like the good old Putange trap.
Introducing the Putange Trap
The Putange trap dates all the way back to Louis XIV. His gardener used it at the Palace of Versailles to get rid of moles. It was also used to combat water voles, which share a similar lifestyle and tunnel systems.
The main advantage of this trap is that it’s very durable and doesn’t wear out. Its slim design allows it to easily slide into tunnels, letting you quickly catch water voles. When used correctly, it kills them instantly, without any suffering.
The Putange is a traditional, copper trap made in France. It is 100% mechanical and requires no batteries, solar panels, firecrackers, or chemical products of any kind.
We could suggest other traps like the détaupeur or other types of vole traps, but they’ll never give you the same results as a classic Putange. So, get your hands on some Putange traps and start trapping!
How to Use the Putange
As soon as you get your Putange traps, bury them in the dirt to get rid of the new metal smell. Otherwise, the water vole will smell it and move to a different tunnel. Since water vole tunnel systems are disorganized and lack main pathways, we recommend getting several traps—at least ten to start.
If you don’t want to wait three weeks for your traps to age in the soil, we offer pre-aged traps on our website. You’ll save time and guarantee better results. You also need to be aware of Chinese counterfeits that are sold online and are impossible to spot in a photo. The good news is, on Quicktaupe, you won’t have that problem.
Once the traps are aged, you need to set them by placing the trigger a finger’s width from the end. That way, when the vole moves through its tunnel, its head will hit the trigger, and it will be caught with a quick snap, dying instantly and without suffering. If you don’t set the trigger this way, it might get caught in the stomach and suffer greatly before it dies.
Set several traps and place them in any visible tunnels you can find. If you don’t see any, dig around a dirt mound, and you’ll find them. Then, push the trap to the end of the tunnel and come back the next day to check on them.
Keep in mind that water voles live in pairs. If you catch one, be sure to reset the traps the next day to catch its mate. It’s also very likely that you have more than two water voles in your garden, so keep setting traps until you no longer see any damage to your yard or crops. Continue setting traps as many times as needed to catch these underground rodents.
Calling Professionals
Another option for dealing with water voles is to hire professionals. There are many out there, and you can find them in directories for this field… But you’re also on the QuickTaupe website right now.
We can help you get rid of water voles by either coming to your property or by supplying you with the equipment and training you remotely. The second option gives you the skills to solve the vole problem yourself and manage it if it ever happens again. This way, you’re completely independent. You’ll have the equipment and the know-how, and if you have any questions, need advice, or even an emergency intervention, we will always be here to help you.
We understand how much a water vole invasion can ruin your plans, which is why we respond to all your requests extremely quickly. Feel free to contact us for a quote based on your situation.
Legislation and Ethics in Water Vole Control
Regulations on Trapping Water Voles
Water voles are considered pests, and rightly so, which means you are allowed to trap them. However, the use of chemical or polluting products is regulated, so you should only use them if you have the necessary certifications. We will always recommend using Putange traps over polluting products.
In France, for example, water vole management is governed by the Environmental Code and the Rural Code. These laws regulate the use of traps, poisoned bait, and biological control methods. Some local prefectures can also classify water voles as pests, allowing farmers to implement collective control plans. The use of mechanical traps is often permitted, provided they are used in a way that respects animal welfare and local regulations.
Ethical Considerations for Trapping Water Voles
The trapping and capture of water voles must be done with ethical principles of animal welfare in mind. Even though they are considered pests, the methods used to trap or eliminate them must minimize animal suffering.
Humane Trapping: Using traps designed to kill the animal instantly is the preferred method to avoid prolonged suffering.
Avoiding Chemicals: Poisons or toxic products should be limited or banned, as they can cause a slow, painful death and contaminate other species in the ecosystem.
The fight against water voles must also take into account its impact on local ecosystems. The advantage of the Putange trap is that it only catches the species you’re targeting, and it doesn’t harm nature.
Preserving Biodiversity: You should avoid using non-selective techniques, such as traps or poisons that can affect other animals.
Encouraging Eco-Friendly Solutions: More and more regulations and associations are promoting ecological control methods (biological control, natural repellents) that have a minimal impact on the environment.
Conclusion
If your garden, vegetable patch, plants, or fields are infested with water voles, act fast before it’s too late. You now know the damage water voles can cause and that they never live alone. So, get your traps ready and don’t wait. If you have any questions or need help fighting against voles, also called water rats or water voles, contact us or send us an email, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
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