How do you treat water voles?
How can I help water voles?
- Leave at least 2 metres of bankside vegetation or grass to provide food and cover for feeding water voles.
- Open up sections of the bank to the sun by coppicing bankside trees in densely shaded areas.
How do you trap water voles?
We use Aluminium box traps, Elliot traps, which we bait with potato, carrot and grass for nesting. The trap is then placed near latrines and checked within 24 hours. Thankfully voles love their carrot, and during a 4-day trapping session, it is estimated that we catch around 94% of water voles.
Are water voles protected?
Water voles are fully protected under section 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981(as amended). Schedule 5 of this Act makes it an offence to intentionally damage or obstruct access to water vole burrows.
When can you displace water voles?
You must have a licence to displace water voles for development. Licence CL31 allows you to intentionally damage or destroy burrows or displace water voles from their burrows for development projects.
Do I need to report water voles?
It’s important to report any sightings of water voles, so we know where they remain and their presence can be recorded locally. Find out who you should record your sighting with.
Are voles protected?
Water voles are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. It is an offence to intentionally: kill, injure or take them.
How big is a water vole hole?
5-8cm wide
Vole burrows are generally oval shaped, usually 5-8cm wide, often seen along the water’s edge but with some under the waterline used as bolt holes. There is sometimes an obvious fan of mud around the burrow which may have feeding signs or a latrine on.
How do I control voles in my garden?
Cut back brush, mow, weed, and create a clean space. Remove woodpiles and hiding places for voles from near your garden, shrubs, and trees. Keep your lawn mowed and bushes trimmed up from the ground. Avoid putting dense mulch too close to trees and shrubs.
Do water voles come out at night?
Water voles tend to be active more during the day than at night. Male voles live along about 130 metres of water bank, while females have ranges about 70 metres long. They deposit distinctive black, shiny faeces in latrines.
Can water voles climb trees?
Water voles are very tidy and have a latrine chamber for their droppings, a sleeping chamber, as well as a larder. On milder days, they sometimes venture out to gnaw the bark of trees (such as willow or sallow) and have been seen and filmed climbing trees to do so. Water vole climbing in willow trees.
How do you prevent voles?
Preventing and managing vole damage
- Remove woodpiles and other debris from the ground that may be hiding places for voles.
- Keep grass trimmed short and bushes trimmed up from the ground.
- Bird feeders are another attraction for voles. Remove them or keep the ground very clean.
Do vole repellents work?
Voles are terrestrial animals, so the most effective vole repellents target voles at and below the earth’s surface. Castor oil-based repellents penetrate the ground and give ground vegetation an odor and taste that disagree with voles, driving them to find food elsewhere.
What is a natural way to get rid of voles?
Non-toxic ways to ward off voles include castor oil, derived from the seeds of the castor plant, and capsaicin, an oil found in hot peppers. Spraying either substance on your greenery provide a smell and taste voles are sure to find unpleasant.
How do you repel voles?
What is the most effective way to get rid of voles?
Voles can be removed humanely from a yard by using live traps, or they can be exterminated with mouse traps or bait traps (which use poisons). They can also be deterred by fencing and driven away with vole repellents.
How do you make a vole repellent?
Garlic. Similar to castor oil, garlic can help keep away voles with its pungent smell. You can either mix several minced garlic cloves into water to create a spray solution, or drop crushed cloves near your vegetation and vole runways.
What smells keep voles away?
Things like peppermint and cedar have been known to repel voles. One of the easiest ways to use these scents is by making a spray using essential oils. Add 10-15 drops of the oil for every one cup of water. Place in a spray bottle and use on areas where you’ve noticed vole damage.
How can water voles be mitigated for development?
Mitigation measures could include encouraging water voles to move to an alternative connected habitat by removing vegetation, known as displacement. For works affecting less than 50m of bank, the developer could employ an ecologist who is registered to use class licence CL31 to displace water voles for development.
What are the mitigation measures for dust in construction?
Contractor should consider the following mitigation measures: 1.Provide misting water sprays sufficient to reduce airborne dusting from demolition work; 2.Apply additional water dust suppression applied during dry weather; and 3.Avoid dust-generating work must be avoided on high wind days. Control Level 2:
What is the best way to reduce dust in soil?
The most common method for dust mitigation is watering. Through application of water soil becomes heavier and more cohesive and thus soil particles are less prone to being airborne.
Do you need planning permission to build a water vole farm?
The developer may need to apply for a wildlife licence to carry out their activity. The proposal must include evidence that the works would benefit water vole conservation. You may have also added mitigation or compensation strategies as a condition of planning permission. Before you can grant planning permission, you must: