Top 5 Best Vole Traps

Best Vole Traps

There exist 23 vole species in the United States.

G Often called meadow mice and field mice, voles can cause widespread damage to orchards, landscaping, and trees due to their tunneling, also known as girdling, around both seedlings and mature trees. Girdling damage most often happens in autumn and winter.

Harvests can be entirely destroyed by voles. Voles devour crops in addition to damaging them when these rodents burrow with their extensive tunnel systems. These tunnel systems can interfere with crop irrigation. Voles also can also cause destruction in places such as lawns and golf courses.

Girdling around trees and gnaw marks are not necessarily indicative of the presence of voles, as other animals, such as moles and gophers, may cause similar impairment. Vole girdling can be identified from by the non-uniform gnawing marks. Vole gnaw marks show up at various angles, in irregular patches and are only about 1/8th inch wide.

BEST OVERALL

Amagabeli Professional Humane Live Animal Trap

Amagabeli Humane Live Animal Trap 31"X10.5"X11.5" Catch Release Cage for Nuisance Rodents Control...

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Last update on 2023-03-30 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

The Amagabeli Professional Humane Live Animal Trap is an excellent option for those who want to eliminate voles most humanely. The mesh openings are tiny to prevent animal escapes and bait being stolen from the outside of the trap. Just set your trap with enticing bait, catch, and then release the vole somewhere far from your home and other residences.

This trap can be used in or near garages, on patios, near forested lawn areas, in flowerbeds, or even near your front door. Be sure to use gloves and all safety precautions when carrying, removing the vole, and cleaning trap, as any wild animal could carry rabies or fleas. Check the trap often.

BEST SINGLE DOOR

Havahart 1089 Collapsible One-Door Live Animal Cage Trap

Havahart 1089 Collapsible One-Door Live Animal Cage Trap for Raccoon, Stray Cat, Groundhog, Opossum,...

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Last update on 2023-03-30 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

The Havahart Collapsible One-Door Animal Trap features a space-saving collapsible design for trouble-free storage when not in use. To set this vole trap, just lift handle and trap pops into place. This humane live trap is constructed of rust-resistant wire with steel reinforcements and is treated to prevent rust and corrosion.

This trap also features small cage openings to prevent escapes and stolen lure by sneaky paws. The smoothed inside edges help protect the animal once inside and prevent injuries if they thrash around. These live animal traps are used by professional animal control officers. Be sure to use gloves and all safety precautions when carrying, removing the vole, and cleaning trap, as any wild animal could carry rabies or fleas. Check the trap often.

BEST TWO DOOR

Havahart 1045 Live Animal Two-Door Cage Trap

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Havahart 1045SR Large 2-Door Humane Catch and Release Live Animal Trap for Armadillos, Beavers,...

$83.42

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Last update on 2023-03-30 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

The Havahart Live Animal Two-Door Cage Trap is explicitly designed for the safety of trapped animals. This humane live-catch trap allows for safe, quick, and easy catches. This trap is ideal for trapping raccoons, opossums, and moles, but can catch smaller rodents such as voles and squirrels, as well. It’s constructed of durable wire mesh with along with steel reinforcements and is galvanized for resistance to rust. Like the previous two traps, this one also features small wire openings to prevent animals stealing bait from outside the trap.

Two spring-loaded doors with sensitive triggers (for even smaller animals) allow voles to enter from either direction. The stable door and handle guard help protect you during transportation. Be sure to use thick gloves and all safety precautions when carrying, removing the animal, and cleaning trap, as any wild animal could carry rabies or fleas. Check the trap often.

BEST CHAIN TRAP

Duke DP Coon Trap

The Duke DP Coon Trap features a dog-proof design for pet owners with robust springs, a pull-type trigger, and a spade ground-staking system. Rating highly efficient by customers and also safe for you to set. (Note: the trigger design excludes the trapping of most non-target animals. So, pay close attention to what this trap is designed to catch.)

It’s recommended to bait the trigger with a something like small pieces of bread, cheese, a marshmallow, or peanut butter as a lure. Be sure to use gloves and extreme safety precautions with this particular chain trap as voles (or any animal caught) will not be caged and can thrash in distress. Any wild animal could carry rabies or fleas. Check this trap very often as a trapped animal will be held by its arm and not just captured in a cage.

BEST SPRING TRAP

Duke 110BT Single Spring Body Grip Trap

The Duke Single Spring Body Grip Trap utilize rotating jaw snaps to catch and eliminate wild animals quickly. These types of traps are widely accepted by both state and federal wildlife agencies as one of the most effective, humane traps for the population control of certain species of animals (i.e., it instantly kills).

Highly rated and very budget-friendly, these are worth looking into if you don’t want a live trap or don’t have a place to drive a vole to release them away from populated areas. Be sure to use gloves and all safety precautions when removing animal and cleaning trap, as any wild animal could have still-living fleas.

Types of Voles and Their Habitats

Voles reside in a wide assortment of habitats. They prefer spots with a dense ground cover of grass, grasslike plants, or even litter and yard debris. Typical habitats for seven of the more common voles in the United States vary a bit. These are the prairie vole, meadow vole, long-tailed vole, pine vole, montane vole, Oregon vole, and California vole.

The prairie vole is the most common vole found in the Great Plains grasslands. This animal resides in a variety of habitats within the Great Plains, such as fields, marshlands, and open grass prairies. The meadow vole is found throughout the northern United States and in Canada. This breed prefers wet meadows as well as grassland areas

The long-tailed lives in a few different environments, for example, grasslands, forests, mountain valleys, along and stream banks. They are found in the western United States and in Canada.

The pine vole can be found in the eastern portion of the United States. This breed populates an assortment of habitats such as forests, sprawling fields, and orchards. Heavy ground cover is a prefered characteristic of this vole’s habitats.

The montane vole lives mostly in mountainous regions of the western half of the United States. This breed is found within alpine meadows, dryer grasslands, and sagebrush grasslands. This vole avoids forests and woodlands.

The Oregon vole is sometimes known as the creeping vole. It is most common in forested regions of northern California, Oregon, and Washington. This breed seeks here is an undergrowth of flowering plants and grasses like those in burned or clear-cut areas of land.

The California vole dwells the Chaparral woodland and shrub areas of California. This vole is found in both wet and dry, well-drained areas.

Tips for Trapping Voles

Although trapping voles will not rid them on a large scale, capturing these animals is the safest way to remove them in small orchards or on your property before their numbers grow too high to handle. Autumn and late winter are the periods when voles are the easiest to trap.

Set and bait traps near burrow openings or in vole runways near shrubbery, flower beds, in gardens, or along rock walls where they scurry. Bait the traps with an appealing lure such as a peanut butter-oatmeal mixture, small pieces of bread with nut butter on them, or slices of fruit such as apples, peaches, or pears.

Cover a cage trap with a cardboard box or pan avoid allowing the animal to bake in heat if in direct sunlight. You can also disguise the trap with a little bit of lawn debris or a few small branches as long as it does not interfere with the trigger. Allow space for the vole trap to operate freely under whatever cover you select. Check the traps at least twice daily (check more often for non-cage chain traps), in the morning and evening. Continue to reset your traps until no more voles are captured.