Moles vs. Voles: What’s the Difference?
Moles and voles can both leave a yard looking worse for wear, but they're very different animals. Moles spend most of their time underground hunting insects and earthworms, while voles are rodents that feed largely on plants and create visible runways through grass.
If you're trying to work out whether you have moles or voles, the damage they leave behind is often easier to identify than the animal itself. Here's how to tell the difference.
How to Tell Moles and Voles Apart
The quickest clue is usually what they've done to the yard. Raised underground tunnels and mounds of excavated soil point toward moles. Narrow runways through grass, chewed plants and gnawing around the base of trees or shrubs are more typical of voles.
If you actually see the animal, the difference is clearer. Moles have long snouts, tiny eyes and broad front feet built for digging. Voles look much more like stocky, short-tailed mice.
Appearance
Ranging from roughly 4 to 7 inches long, moles are small mammals with even smaller eyes and ears. In fact, they do not even have external ears, just ear canals. Their tiny features are almost completely hidden by the short, brownish-gray fur that covers their bodies. Their fur has no grain, meaning it does not grow in a specific direction, which allows them to freely move forward and backward through tunnels. Moles’ tails are about 1 inch long. A mole’s two most distinguishing features are its elongated, hairless snout and its large, paddle-like front feet. Perfect for digging, these front feet are turned outwards and feature prominent claws.
Unlike moles, voles are rodents and are often mistaken for mice. Similar in size to moles, voles are compact rodents with stocky bodies, small rounded ears and relatively short tails. Depending on the species, their fur may range from brown or reddish-brown to grayish tones. Their short faces and visible front teeth give them a much more mouse-like appearance than moles. Their front feet are small and they feature skinny claws. Voles have shorter, more rounded faces than those of moles, and they have orange front teeth.
Diet
Moles are insectivores. Earthworms make up a large part of their diet, alongside grubs and other soil-dwelling invertebrates. Unlike voles, they aren't tunneling through the lawn because they want to eat your grass, bulbs or plant roots; most of the visible damage comes from their search for food underground.
Voles mainly eat bulbs, garden vegetables, grass, roots, seeds and tree bark. However, they will also eat small insects like gypsy moths and snails. They have even been known to nibble at the remains of dead animals.
Habitat and Behavior
Moles spend most of their time underground, digging tunnels in search of food. Since they eat so much, they are constantly looking for their next meal. Their tunnels are usually around 10 inches deep, but they will dig shallow tunnels as well. While digging, they push dirt to the side with their large, outward-turned front feet, making it look like they are doing the breaststroke through the dirt. Moles live in the tunnels they dig, and they tend to stick to habitats like grasslands, meadows, wetlands, and woodlands. Moles can be active throughout the year and don't hibernate. In New Jersey, however, homeowners are more likely to notice fresh tunneling during spring and fall, when moist soil keeps earthworms and other prey closer to the surface. Activity can also become more obvious after rain.
During hot, dry summer periods or when the ground freezes in winter, moles may spend more time in deeper tunnels where food and suitable soil conditions are easier to find.
Voles remain active year-round, including beneath snow during the winter. That can make spring particularly revealing: once snow melts, networks of surface runways and damaged grass may suddenly become visible.
Voles live in shallow burrows, and they will sometimes live in abandoned burrows built by other animals. They like their burrows to be in low-lying vegetation. In fact, most of their activity occurs under covered areas like shrubs. They prefer to travel above ground, so they do not dig tunnels quite as often as moles do. Instead of digging through the dirt, they make pathways through the grass or snow. Voles remain active year-round, including beneath snow during the winter. That can make spring particularly revealing: once snow melts, networks of surface runways and damaged grass may suddenly become visible.
Damage
Moles can create extensive tunnel systems surprisingly quickly. Their shallow feeding tunnels produce raised ridges across lawns, while excavated soil pushed to the surface creates the distinctive rounded mounds commonly associated with mole activity.
Areas with tunnels feel squishy to step on and may collapse. Moles push the dirt from the tunnels they dig up to the surface, creating volcano-shaped mounds. These mounds are known to kill grass. Finally, while they do eat harmful pests, moles eat beneficial insects as well. Needless to say, moles can wreak havoc on both the structural integrity and the appearance of your yard.
As mentioned before, voles prefer to travel above ground. They chew their way through grass to create pathways to and from their burrows and food sources. During the winter, they travel from place to place underneath the snow. They will dig underground tunnels as well, but when they do they tend to stay just below the surface. Moreover, voles will lay waste to gardens by eating bulbs and the roots of plants, fruit trees and shrubs. Plants that have been damaged by voles will start to yellow and wilt, and may fall over.
Prevention
Moles
- Professional trapping can be an effective way to control an established mole problem. Mole traps are designed to work within active tunnel systems, so identifying which tunnels are currently being used is important. Wildlife trapping and relocation rules vary by location, so homeowners should check applicable regulations rather than trapping and relocating animals elsewhere without guidance.
- Place Barriers around your plants. Dig a 2 or 3 foot deep hole that is wide enough to house all of the plants you want to protect. You can also dig multiple smaller holes if you have a large garden. Line your hole or holes with ½ inch wire mesh screen, and then fill them back up with dirt and plant away!
- Avoid overwatering the lawn. Regular irrigation can keep soil moist and encourage earthworms and other soil organisms that moles feed on. Don't deliberately dry out or damage healthy grass simply to discourage moles, but correcting unnecessary overwatering may make conditions less attractive.
- Do not use mothballs. First of all they do not work, but more importantly they are controlled by the EPA, which means using them outdoors is considered misuse of a pesticide and is therefore illegal. There are chemical repellents that are meant for moles, but they pose a risk to children, pets and wildlife. If you do choose to use chemical repellents, always read and follow the instructions carefully.
Voles
- Reduce heavy ground cover where practical. Keep grass maintained, control weeds and avoid allowing thick mulch or vegetation to build up around tree trunks and other vulnerable plants. These areas give voles cover while they feed and travel.
- Place barriers around your plants and trees. Use a wire screen with a mesh of ¼ inch or smaller to create a fence that reaches about 12 inches above ground and 6 to 10 inches below ground. You can also use the method listed in mole prevention, of lining holes with wire mesh. When it comes to trees, wrapping the lower trunk works as well as a wire barrier.
- Traps baited with apples or peanut butter are quite effective for vole control. Snap traps do work with voles, as do humane traps.
- Clean beneath bird feeders. Voles love to eat the seeds that fall on the ground, but they will stop coming around when they no longer find food.
- Cats, once again, are great for deterring small pests.
Dealing With Moles or Voles?
Raised tunnels appearing across the lawn? Plants disappearing from the garden or runways showing up through the grass? Identifying whether you're dealing with moles or voles is the first step toward choosing the right control method.
If you're seeing signs of wildlife activity around your property, learn more about Excel's wildlife removal and control services or contact us to arrange an inspection.
