Moles, Voles, and Winter Pest Control

As leading pest controllers in Berkshire, Control Services focuses a lot of attention on rats, mice, and other rodents at this time of year. Many rodents that would otherwise be content to remain out in the garden/field make their way into homes and businesses to get out of the winter weather. They do not include moles and voles.

The interesting thing about moles and voles is that they tend to stay out of sight during the winter. But they are not hibernating. In fact, they remain quite active beneath the surface where they can freely feed and stay warm. They have no need to come to the surface, so they don't.

Winter Mole Control

Perhaps you have worked with Control Services during the summer and autumn to implement a successful mole control programme. It is easy to assume this time of year that the pests are gone for good. Not so fast. Moles are extremely difficult to get rid of. The fact that you do not see their tell-tale mounds of soil doesn't necessarily mean they are gone.

So what does this say for winter mole control? It says a couple of things. First, continue practising whatever mole control procedures you practiced during the summer and autumn - where applicable, of course. Second, prepare yourself to see new problems in the spring.

It may be that our control efforts have indeed contained the trouble on your property. But there's always a chance that moles currently burrowed deep in the soil will make a return come spring. The point here is that you shouldn't assume your problem is solved simply because you're not seeing signs of it right now.

Identifying Moles and Voles

We haven't talked much about controlling voles because they are usually not much of a problem in our corner of the world. Despite that, do you know how to identify the two species? It's easy to confuse them if you don't know what to look for.

Voles look more like mice. They are usually brown or grey with a long tail, round face, and smallish eyes. You can clearly see both ears and eyes without issue. On the other hand, moles look entirely different.

Moles appear to have no eyes or ears. They have an elongated head and snout with a long nose at the end. Their front feet are comparatively large as well. They don't look at all like most of the other rodents we are familiar with.

In terms of property damage, both voles and moles are burrowers. Voles are herbivores; they eat plants, leaves, stems, and roots of all kinds. The holes they leave in your garden a very small. Moles are insectivores; they eat insects, grubs, and worms. And they don't leave holes behind. They leave big mounds of soil as they burrow further upwards.

If you have any questions about moles or voles, don't hesitate to contact us. We are mole control specialists offering service in Berkshire, Hampshire, Reading, and beyond.

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