How to Trap Voles

If you are looking at using live cage traps to trap voles with the intentions of relocating them elsewhere, we would highly recommend that you consider a different option. When you get into the habit of trapping animals and releasing them back into the wild again, you're training them how to deal with traps. This is how you get left with trap-shy animals, and rodents, such as rats and mice, are the worst culprits. Just ask any homeowner with a rodent infestation and they'll tell you all about that one rodent that was notoriously difficult to capture. That’s because the rodent has already fallen prey to a trap and lived to tell the tale. Releasing trapped animals is not a good idea for this very reason.

Trapping voles is usually not the best way to deal with the problem at all, whether you're looking at cage traps or snap traps. The latter can prove effective if you want to cull the problem, as well as capture it, but also leaves you with the problem of vole carcasses to clean up. You will also need a number of traps to deal with the issue, and this can pose a problem for other lifeforms. You might find yourself accidentally trapping an animal that you hadn't intended trapping.

If you would rather look at a more effective vole removal measure, try letting your cat have a good roam around in the garden. We would never recommend that you allow your domesticated pets to come into close contact with voles, but the scent of a cat is usually enough to drive the voles away.

Repellents are another option you could look to, but these generally work with younger groups, and ones that aren’t yet established with high numbers. Using repellents can work, especially if you use a few of them in conjunction with each other, but may not have the best success if you have a large group of the animals. This is another reason why trapping is a bad idea.

We would recommend incorporating vole prevention methods alongside repellents and fences or barriers. If you have a well established group already living under your lawn, give the professionals a call. This isn’t going to be an easy job, especially if you're a novice.