Mid-Atlantic Gardening: Too Many Ravenous Rabbits This Year!!!, 1 by stormyla

stormyla wrote:
Thanks Critter & Sally. I suppose I'll just keep putting them down and filling the holes. The nursery couldn't believe it today when I called to order 4 more bags! Every one of my shrubs in the front of the house shows vole damage. I check the lower branches of all of them. I lost 1 azalea, 1 rhododendrum and 1 laurel there this year. Everyone told me that they were too dry or had fungus. Fungicides did not save them, nor did copious amounts of water. Those three shrubs are the favorite food of voles.

I kept posting in the tree forum showing photos of my conifers with large sections of brown branches. Everyone kept saying it was from dogs peeing on them. I came across a university site showing photos with the exact same types of damage under evidence of vole infestation. They chew the lower branches. The more shrubs that I've been planting, the better their meals!!!! They were here in the front bed when I moved in even though there were hardly any shrubs. The beds around the house had been piled about a foot deep with grass cuttings, a perfects, home enviornment for the critters! Shortly after I moved in a hugh 30 year old conifer died. I couldn't imagine what happened to it. There were so few shrubs here, I suspect they attacked it en masse. When I removed the grass mulch there were roots of lots of dead shrubs. I'm so happy that they don't come inside of houses!!!!

Sally, They did offer me $5 per bug, but I declined it. If I can catch some & send them to them, It will be my contribution to Education!!!