Water rat and methods of its production. Vole (rat) water

14.06.2019

Vole family (Microtidae).

In Belarus, the water vole is an ordinary, widespread species, found throughout the territory, reaching its highest abundance in the southern regions. The main habitat of the water vole is the western Polissya, less common in the floodplains of the Dnieper, Drut, Berezina, Sozh, Neman, and even less often in the Zapadnaya Dvina basin, due to varying degrees of waterlogging of the floodplains of rivers and lakes. The studied animals belong to the typical subspecies A. t. terrestris. For the south of Belarus, another subspecies is indicated, perhaps even a species - A. t. schermani. Previously, it was not indicated for Polissya. The zone of contact of these subspecies passes through Belarus, which requires additional research.

Body length 13.5-21.5 cm, tail 6.3-12.8 cm, hind foot 2.3-3.3 cm, ear 1.3-1.9 cm. Body weight 80-180 g. Externally resembles a rat. The body is massive, clumsy, the limbs are relatively short. The third toe on the fore and hind limbs is longer than the fourth. The soles of the paws are hairless, with the exception of a comb-like fringe of coarse thick hair along the edges. The tail is covered with sparse, stiff and short hair. The head is large, the auricles barely protrude from the fur. Internal outgrowths upper lips rather large, covered with hair, but not fused with each other and not completely isolating the incisors from the oral cavity.

Teeth 16. Cheek teeth have no roots and grow throughout life.

The hairline is rather high, silky, thick and soft, with a sharp division into outer and downy hairs. There are specific skin glands. The coloration of the back is reddish-brown, dark brown, sometimes dark chocolate or black, on the sides it is lighter with a gray-rusty tint. The coloration of the chest and belly is gray-lead, with a weak or well-defined rusty admixture. Indicated for the south of Belarus A. t. schermani is the smallest, dark-colored form with underdeveloped reddish tones in the color of the top and sides, a distinctly two-colored tail, and a bare calcaneal tubercle.

It differs from rats by short, slightly protruding ears from the fur, from the muskrat by a round tail in cross section, from gray voles by larger sizes.

Lives in colonies on meadow and marshy floodplains, lake shores, swamps, alder forests, thickets of rivers and their tributaries. In typical habitats, the water vole arranges highly branched burrows with several exits, sometimes opening under water, as well as short feeding burrows. When digging holes, it throws out heaps of earth similar to molehills, but they are flatter and contain the remains of plants.

In late August - September, when there is less food and shelter in wetlands, water voles partially migrate to adjacent fields, gardens and orchards. Here they arrange complex wintering burrows with supplies for the winter and live until spring. During the years of mass reproduction, the evicted water rats cause considerable damage. In gardens, they build winter nests in the root system of fruit trees, usually apple trees, gnaw at the succulent bark from the roots, and most often gnaw the entire root system at the very trunk. In the spring, such a tree falls from its own weight. In the fields, rats dig holes in potato crops, eat tubers, spoil beets, corn and other agricultural crops.

Residential burrows about 3 m long have a nesting chamber located at a depth of up to 1 m. In heavily swampy places where it is impossible to dig holes, animals arrange housing in high bumps, rotten stumps and hollows fallen trees. Sometimes in thickets of sedge and reeds they arrange spherical nests and huts. Where voles live, many paths are trodden among the thickets.

The vole is active (intermittently) around the clock. The animals swim and dive well. They can climb sloping trees and bushes, where they often escape during the flood period.

Of all the mouse-like rodents found in Belarus, the water vole is distinguished by the highest migratory activity. For this species, 5 types of migrations are distinguished, differing in nature and causing them: forage migrations, dispersal migrations, concentration migrations, displacement migrations by competitors, displacement migrations by floods. Feeding migrations can have the character of seasonal migrations, when animals leave their habitats for 1, 2, 3 seasons, until the beginning of the breeding season, arrange temporary shelters and shelters in places of eviction, or be short-term (daily), when animals leave their habitats for feeding and regularly return to burrows and huts in the main biotopes. The distance of daily feeding migrations reaches 1.5-2 km, seasonal - more than 5 km.

AT summer period the water vole feeds mainly on green food, consisting of coastal and floating plants (reed, cattail, arrowhead, reeds, sedges, horsetails, pondweeds, egg capsules). They prefer root parts of stems, leaves, rhizomes, flowers, and also loves seeds, buds and bark of young trees and shrubs. Feed is eaten in certain places, where trampled areas are formed, the so-called "feeding tables" with the remains of gnawed plants. Occasionally, animals get mollusks, insects (beetles, dragonflies) and other animal food. In autumn, after the herbaceous vegetation dies off, voles switch to feeding on tubers, rhizomes and other underground parts of plants. For the winter they make significant reserves. In winter, voles make long passages under the snow and gnaw the bark of trees, sometimes causing great harm orchards.

The water vole is highly prolific. In the conditions of Belarus, the animals breed throughout the warm period of the year, bringing 2-4 litters with 2-10 cubs (6-7 on average) in each. The first pregnant females appear in May, the last - in August. Pregnancy lasts about 3 weeks. Peak breeding usually occurs in June. Young voles develop very quickly and part of the young first broods, starting from 1.5-2 months of age, starts breeding in the same year. As a result of mass reproduction in some years, sharp “outbursts” of numbers are observed, and then hordes of animals rush to the fields in the fall, causing significant damage to potato, root crops, grain crops, eating fruits and seeds, and also damaging seedlings of fruit trees.

A feature of the biology of the water vole is very high fluctuations in numbers over time with large intervals between them, which are in the nature of deep depressions. The last, very large outbreak in Belarus, which had the character of mass reproduction, was noted in 1956-1959. It should be noted that the areas of mass reproduction of the water vole are relatively limited in area, local in nature, while the depression recent years affected almost the entire territory of Belarus. High fecundity determines the rapid recovery of the number of water voles after depressions, high population density, especially in the southern regions. The causes and mechanisms of the formation of depressions are not well understood.

The water vole has commercial value. Its skins are fur secondary raw materials. Vole fishing is allowed year-round. They eat predatory mammals and birds.

Water voles are carriers of pathogens dangerous to animals and humans. infectious diseases- tularemia, leptospirosis, etc.

How wonderful it is when there is a reservoir near the house or country house. On hot summer days, this is a definite advantage. But even such a harmless good can cause certain problems. For example, a water rat may appear in the garden, let's figure out how to deal with it.

Description and photo of the pest

Water rat- the largest representative of voles, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with her photo and consider her description. Belongs to the hamster family.

The rodent has a small muzzle and a massive body, its length reaches 25 cm, and the tail - 15 cm. The body is covered with thick hair, and the tail is bristled. Color - gray, red or almost black.

Features of the life cycle and habitat

The rat destroys the bark of trees, feeds, destroys the fertile layer with its underground passages. The rodent comes to the surface only in secluded, cluttered places.

Important! Water rats breed very quickly, during the summer they can produce offspring (4-7 pieces) several times.

What is the harm?

The worst thing about the appearance of these rodents is that they are incredibly omnivorous. They destroy both the harvested crop and the rhizomes and tubers that grow on.

In the autumn period, they get closer to people and for the purpose of easy food prey. The rodent breaks through the shallow underground passages, damaging and that meet on its way.

Voles are often confused with, but moles do not eat, such as, and, and a voracious water rat can destroy the entire crop.

At the same time, well-thought-out animals do not eat everything at once, but make preparations from small ones for the winter, but those that cannot be dragged through their underground passages are destroyed on the spot.
They are able to harm plants not only by eating them, but also by plowing the soil and disrupting the growth of the root system, and.

It is not so easy to find a place from which a water rat comes out to hunt for a crop, since most often the animal makes exits in secluded places, these can be heaps of garbage, areas where heaps of branches or stones are located.

How to fight?

A rat that has settled on your site can cause great harm, and we will try to figure out how to deal with it. The main thing is not to delay, otherwise you can lose the crop.

Did you know? The water rat has many enemies, such as stoats, large predator birds and even pike.

Humane Methods

One of these methods is considered to be scaring away rats with special devices emitting ultrasound. bad sound irritates the hearing organs of the pest, he leaves his home.
It is believed that rats are able to get used to this sound and return to their homes, so when choosing similar device you should pay attention to repellers that automatically change the range and frequency of the sound.

There are also folk methods control of these dangerous rodents. Due to the fact that the animal has a very well developed sense of smell, exposure to rats with the help of odors is considered quite effective.

In order to use this option, you need a rabbit (or other) skin, it must be rolled up, placed in a hole and set on fire. Because of the strong stench, the rats will either suffocate or leave their homes forever.

You can prepare a mixture of water and pour it into the underground passages. On the one hand, this will block the movement of the pest, and on the other bad smell will also play a role.

Radical ways

The water vole is a rather cunning animal, so the methods of dealing with it must be carefully thought out. Radical methods include all kinds of poisons.

Chemicals are best applied in autumn or spring, during the rodent breeding season. It is not enough just to spread the poisonous substance over the garden, but it is necessary to carefully disguise it.

In autumn, it is best to add poison to the grain and spread it in front of the entrances to the holes. In the spring, baits are best made from grated, and. Also suitable for masking oatmeal and.

Important! Poison baits are very toxic, don't use this method if you have pets that roam freely around the property.

You can make baits with your own hands, for this you need to take alibaster or gypsum, sunflower oil and flour, mix with a wooden stick until a thick mass is formed and place a container with it at the exit of the hole.

Then the integrity of the poison is monitored, if traces of a rodent are visible, you can fill up the passages with soil, while the bait should be left for some more time to make sure that all rodents are exterminated.

Arvicola terrestris Linnaeus, 1758
Order Rodents - Rodentia
Family Hamsters - Cricetidae

Status. Category 3 - Vulnerable on the territory of Moscow species with a reduced population.

Spreading. In the Moscow region - widespread, common in most districts. she's kind. Within the boundaries of Moscow in 1985-2000. the water vole was registered in 28 natural and natural-anthropogenic territories, including the middle part of the city - the Sokolniki camp, GBS and LOD (1). In 2001-2010 its habitat is established in Losiny Ostrov, Izmailovsky forest, on Kosinsky Black (1) and Holy (2) lakes, in Maryinskaya (3) and Brateevskaya floodplains (1), the valley of the Yazvenka river (1, 3), near Saburovsky Bay. , south of Znamensky-Sadkov (1), in the Setun river valley in 2003 (4), Mnevnikovskaya (1, 3) and Krylatskaya floodplains, Serebryany Bor, ++ +Tushinskaya Chasha (1), Skhodnya river valley in Kurkino (5.6), in the Filinsky swamp, Dolgoprudnensky V-BK, in the floodplains of the Altufevskaya river and the Chermyanka river (1). In all these territories, as a rule, it lives in local areas.

Number. In general, the abundance of the species in the city is quite significant, but in some areas it is not numerous, and in some areas only single individuals were noted. Relatively large groups exist only on the Kosinsky Black and Holy lakes, in the valley of the Yazvenka river, the Mnevnikovskaya floodplain and the valley of the Skhodnya river.

habitation features. In Moscow lives mainly on natural areas, where there are swampy and shrubby river floodplains, oxbow lakes and other reservoirs with well-developed coastal vegetation, including old drainage ditches. In the warm season, it lives near the water, where it makes holes on dry banks, and on low and swampy ones it builds ground spherical nests from grass or settles in the cavities of rotten trunks of fallen trees; solitary individuals or broods are usually found.

Does not withstand pollution of water bodies by storm drains and bank protection. As in natural conditions feeds on various near-aquatic plants - succulent bases of leaves and stems of forest reeds, cattail, reeds, etc. It can tolerate active recreational use of coastal zones if swampy areas with near-water vegetation remain within them.

In the autumn-winter period, in small groups, up to 8-10 ind., lives in swampy areas of river floodplains, where under the snow it feeds on green seedlings and rhizomes of reeds, eats tender bark and branches of willow and aspen. In autumn and spring, it can make significant migrations and even crosses built-up areas along watercourses with natural banks. It is an indicator of slightly polluted rivers and reservoirs with well-developed near-water vegetation.

negative factors. Pollution of small rivers by storm drains. Park improvement of river floodplains, accompanied by the strengthening of the banks and the destruction of near-water vegetation. Unordered recreational use of coastal zones and the resulting degradation of near-water vegetation. Deficiency in the natural areas of Moscow of swampy areas suitable for wintering water voles with the necessary reserves of plant food.

Conservation Measures Taken. The main habitats of the species are located in protected areas - in the NP "Losiny Ostrov", P-IP "Izmailovo", "Kosinsky", "Tsaritsyno" (PPR "Valley of the Yazvenka River"), "Moskvoretsky", "Tushinsky" (PPR "Tushinskaya Bowl"), PP "Valley of the River Skhodni in Kurkino", PPr " Serebryany Bor". It is planned to form the Federal Law “Brateevskaya floodplain” and “Long ponds”, the forestry zone “Valley of the Chermyanka river”, the establishment of the PPR “Filinskoye swamp” and “Kosinsky lakes”,

ZU "Saburovsky Bay" and several ZU in the habitats of the species in the Mnevnikovskaya and Krylatskaya floodplains. Change the state of a view. After 1985, the distribution and abundance of the water vole, both in individual natural areas and in the city as a whole, decreased significantly. In 2001-2010 this trend has continued. At least 4 times earlier famous places habitats, the water vole has reliably disappeared. The species is listed in the Red Book of Moscow with KR 3.

Necessary measures for the conservation of the species. Priority creation of the Federal Law “Maryinskaya Poyma”, “Brateevskaya Poyma” and “Long Ponds”, PPR “Filinskoye Bolot” and “Kosinsky Lakes”, establishment of planned zoning facilities in known habitats of the species. Development and implementation of effective measures to reduce the level of pollution of small rivers and floodplain water bodies flowing through protected areas. Preservation during the improvement of river valleys of oxbow lakes, near-water vegetation and the allocation of landfills in places suitable for wintering and summer habitation of water voles. ordering recreational use coastal zones in places of stationary habitat of the species.

Sources of information. 1. Data from B.L. Samoilov. 2. V.I.Bulavintsev, b.s. 3. Data by G.V. Morozova. 4. Inventory of natural objects.., 2003. 5. Data of O.O. Tolstenkov. 6. Reconnaissance survey.., 2004. Authors: B.L. Samoilov, G.V. Morozova.

In the article I will make a description of the water rat. It is often called the water vole. I'll tell you where this animal lives, what it looks like and where it came from. I will describe the lifestyle of the water rodent and the conditions of reproduction. I will note what harm it brings to a person and whether it is necessary to fight it.

The water rat is a rodent from the hamster family. This animal is the largest of the voles: weight 130-350 g, size 120-250 mm. The tail is long, round in section and is half the length of the body or even 2/3 of its length.

Outwardly, this rodent looks like gray rat. The muzzle is shortened, the ears are small, the incisors are reddish brown. The eyes are smaller than those of a rat. The coat is thick with abundant undercoat; dark brown color. The tail is covered with short hair, which gathers into a small tassel at the tip.

Habitat

Asia Minor and Western Asia;
Northwestern regions of China;
Northern Eurasia (from the Atlantic coast to Yakutia);
Northern coast of the Mediterranean;
Territory of the Russian Federation (except for chernozem);
Belarus;
Western Ukraine;

Life expectancy is 2-3 years.

Origin

The water vole has existed in vast areas for hundreds of years and spreads by migration and transport (with cargo).

Lifestyle

This species prefers to settle along the shores of lakes, on river floodplains, near irrigation canals, and in wetlands. The aquatic individual also inhabits meadows, swampy low forests, is found in fields, vegetable gardens, bushes, sometimes in buildings.

In winter, the animal migrates from reservoirs to meadows and bushes. The water vole lives in nests that it builds on or above the ground. Moves into a burrow for the winter. In autumn and winter, she is met under haystacks, in barns and gardens. Sometimes rats settle in colonies.

Water rats are good swimmers. Therefore, they like to settle near water bodies.

The rodent swims well. It is most active at dusk and at night, but it can also be found during the day (in warm time of the year).

One animal is able to make a hole with a length of 100 m.

Food

The diet consists of plant foods and animal protein:

Surface and underwater parts of plants (during the warm season);
Underground parts of plants, bark, shoots (in winter);
Insect larvae, mollusks, crayfish, small fish;
Vegetables and root crops;

Animals living in the north and east make abundant stocks, the weight of which can be up to 30 kg.

reproduction

The breeding cycle begins in late February (if the winter is warm enough) or at warmer temperatures. The female is ready for reproduction already with a body weight of 60 grams. Pregnancy lasts about 20 days.

The degree of fertility of the water rat is high - in 7 months the female brings up to 6 litters. Total population offspring from one pair of animals - up to 70 cubs.

In one brood there are from 6 to 15 babies. The cub opens its eyes and starts feeding after 10 days. The independent life of the animal begins at 1 month, when it leaves the hole.

The water vole becomes the prey of most land and feathered predators (including snakes).

Harm and benefit to humans

This species of voles damages the bark and root system of trees and shrubs. In areas close to water bodies, animals damage cultivated plant species. The rat severely damages plant seedlings, threatening the well-being of gardens and nurseries.
Significant damage is done cereal plants, especially during their preparation for winter.
The process of building burrows by rats destroys the slopes of dams and canals, irrigation ditches.
Damages stocks of vegetables and grains;
The species is a carrier of diseases:
Tularemia;
Plague;
Leptospirosis;
Tick-borne encephalitis;
Other zoonoses

The benefit to humans is the use of water rat skins for the manufacture of fur products.

Fighting a water rat in the area

The animal has many food sources in the garden and vegetable garden and many shelters. In this case, reproduction occurs intensively. To get rid of the settlement of the site by rats, they try various ways humane or not.

You can not delay the beginning of the struggle, otherwise the animals will multiply and the amount of work will double.

Repeller

A device that creates vibrations or ultrasonic waves that rodents cannot tolerate and try to leave the area of discomfort. Hardware stores offer such devices in a wide range.

Ultrasound is the most acceptable option against these rodents

Poison

For baiting, drugs based on zinc phosphide or arsenic are chosen. In this case, you need to carefully study the instructions and all possible risks.

They work with poisons in protective devices and warn loved ones in advance.

The poison is placed inside the vegetable, after cutting the tuber in half and taking out the middle. The halves are folded back and the vegetable is placed in the hole.

Another way is to soak pieces of the underwater part of the sedge in a solution of poison (5 g of poison per 100 g of sedge).

folk method

As a repeller, a metal rod is used, which is installed in the ground, leaving a part above the ground. A tin can is hung on the pin, which will create vibrations.

Another common way is to purchase rat-catchers. You need to take a kitten from rat-catcher parents and in every possible way encourage the manifestation of the hunting instinct.

The water rat, like other rodents, has been living next to humans for hundreds of years. Its benefits are small, but the damage is significant. However, like other animals, it has the right to exist. On the part of man, the damage to nature is also significant, but this is treated with loyalty and justified in various ways.

If you have a garden plot, you have probably had to deal with pests on it. And the first of them - different kind rodents. Mice, moles, gophers... Who doesn't ruin our gardens! One of the most common pests is the water vole, also known as the water rat. What are these animals and what are the dangers?

Water voles: appearance and distribution

Water voles are sometimes called water rats or mice, but, strictly speaking, they have a very indirect relation to these rodents, despite their outward resemblance to them. These animals actually belong to the hamster family, although they don’t look like domestic hamsters that we are used to. Water voles look about the same as ordinary voles, but they are noticeably larger. An adult can reach 15–25 cm, and most its length is the tail.

Water voles prefer to live in wetlands

This animal has thick, fluffy dark gray fur from the beginning of a short muzzle to the base of the tail, covered with hair and having a small tassel at the end.

You can meet the vole almost throughout the entire territory of Eurasia - up to Siberia and North Caucasus. Most of all, she likes swampy areas and the banks of reservoirs, but fields, meadows and even vegetable gardens are also great for their life. These animals are very tenacious and prolific, so nothing threatens their spread.

The water vole can breed up to eight times in one year.

However, the latter hardly belongs to the number of good news - people associated with agriculture, know firsthand the voles and not in vain seek to exterminate them. These rodents spoil crops of cereals and gnaw trees, which cause a fair amount of damage. Voles do not attack people and, if they meet, they will most likely try to hide. However, if you catch an animal with bare hands, it might bite you. And it is better to avoid such an experience: rodents spread leptospirosis, tularemia, Omsk hemorrhagic fever and other dangerous diseases.

Damage caused by voles

If your country cottage area located in the countryside, especially near rivers, lakes and swamps, be prepared for the appearance uninvited guests. Water voles, despite their name, live well in drier areas, including farms, vegetable warehouses, granaries, home gardens and orchards.

Small depressions (burrows) will appear on your site if water voles start up there

With the onset of cold weather, these rodents in without fail migrate from frozen waters. Your site is perfect for vole burrows, and your plantings are perfect for feeding them. The pest will happily eat your crop and ask for more. At the same time, he will gnaw the stems with roots in your flower garden. Moreover, fruit trees will also be in danger: voles grow teeth very quickly, and in order to grind them down in a timely manner, they are forced to constantly gnaw something hard. tree bark seems to them the most suitable dental material. Naturally, trees devoid of bark subsequently die. It is this fate that can befall your apple and cherry trees.

Video: rodent nutritional features

Ways to deal with water vole

Few villagers or summer residents are willing to share their harvest with rodents. Therefore, people try to get rid of them as soon as possible. It's good if a trained mouser cat or a ferret lives in your house. These predators are able to catch those pests that managed to run into the site, as well as make others bypass your garden.

Mouser cats (especially tricolors) are considered the best vole hunters.

But what if the pet is not interested in hunting or you do not have one at all?

Chemistry against voles

One of the most popular and affordable options is to use pesticides against voles, and poison others along with these rodents. Usually manufacturers produce universal rodenticides. Applying them is very simple: just buy in the store and act strictly in accordance with the instructions. As a rule, laying out such rat poison is offered next to rodent burrows. It is not difficult to find them: the places where the animals come to the surface look like heaps of earth rising in the middle of grass or beds. The poison is usually mixed into the bait. The vole eats it and then dies of poisoning.

There is another option for using chemicals. In the spring, cotton wool or dry grass treated with poison can be laid out near the holes. The voles drag it into their dwellings for arranging the “interior”, while the poisoned dust gets on the hair of the pests, after which it is licked off by them.

Photo gallery: popular rodenticides

Mouse poison - a poisonous remedy for rodents that guarantees 100% mortality of water voles
Rat collapse - original rodenticide with high efficiency
Help Boyscout - product for indoor use, but also suitable for backyard use Efa - poisonous bait for rodents

There are two strong arguments against the use of rodenticides in the garden. First, this method is unacceptable if you or your neighbors keep pets. Your pet can either fall for the poisonous bait itself or get poisoned by catching and eating a vole that has tasted chemistry. Secondly, poisoning animals is still very cruel. Think about it, won't you feel sorry for the little furry animal writhing in terrible agony? However, if your answer is no, then it is certainly worth a try.

Folk ways to get rid of the problem

Folk remedies against voles can be divided into two large groups according to the principle of action. The first is the poisoning of animals with household chemicals. The bait is made by the gardener with his own hands from products such as bread, vegetable puree, cheese. Then they are mixed with a poisonous component, for example, zinc phosphide or arsenic calcium and sodium. In the "pure" form, wood ash is most often used, in mixtures - flour with gypsum or sugar with quicklime. It is also suggested to mix finely chopped wine cork With vegetable oil and bread crumbs. All this leads to poisoning or indigestion in the rodent, and then to its death.

Second group folk remedies aimed at scaring away animals. And here you can use the following options:

The smell of chemicals. Many people advise soaking pieces of rags or cotton wool with strong-smelling household liquids and plugging the passages of voles with them. Usually, gasoline, kerosene, turpentine and Vishnevsky ointment are used for impregnation. Strong smell repels rodents.

Burnt wool. It is believed that garden pests, including voles, do not tolerate this smell. Some gardeners burn the corpses of captured rodents and place the charred remains in the burrows of those who are still alive. But it is enough just to singe pieces of some unnecessary, old fur and put them on - the effect will be the same.

Fresh manure. Another option for the piggy bank unpleasant odors. The tool is recommended to be laid in the holes of rodents, closing them all the exits that can be found on the site.

Unpleasant sounds. In the area of vole burrows, 1.5–2-meter hollow reed stems or common reeds are dug deep into the ground. glass bottles. In windy weather, these makeshift "pipes" begin to vibrate and make sounds that frighten the animals.

Bottles are dug into the ground with the neck up so that the wind can easily penetrate inside.

plant barrier

A great way to scare away water voles and prevent the emergence of new ones is the correct seating of garden crops and planting special plants against rodents. For this different kinds legumes (beans, beans, peas), sweet peppers, onions and garlic should be planted around vegetable beds that you want to protect from pests.

Some vegetable crops are real enemies of water voles.

Under the trees, around the bushes and in the flower garden, it is worth planting fragrant herbs. Best of all, wormwood, mint, celandine, elderberry and (it is even popularly called a rat-catcher) will cope with the task of scaring away voles. Suitable and coriander, chamomile, wild rosemary and lovage.

Photo gallery: herbs against voles

Chamomile is a classic pest control agent The roots of black elderberry secrete hydrocyanic acid that repels mammals, so water voles will not settle near the plant Wormwood is a universal plant that repels both insects and some animals Celandine is able to fight numerous pests of the garden and garden
To scare away water voles, it is recommended to plant black root, one of folk names whose "mouse-eater"

Prevention of the appearance

Now you know a lot of means of dealing with voles, but it would be best if they did not appear in your garden at all, right? There are a number of specific preventive measures that should be taken for this:

Harvest. It is worth conducting it in a timely manner and carefully: there should not be any remnants of vegetables and root crops, spoiled fruits and tops on the beds. All this must either be thrown away or buried in compost.
Plant processing. So that the trunks of garden trees do not suffer, coat them with a solution of lime and copper sulfate. You can also build a protective "belt" for them from roofing material, plastic or branches of thorny plants.
Digging. In the fall, when you close the summer season, be sure to dig the beds deep. This will help the earth to rest, and destroy the holes of rodents, and destroy some insect pests.
Cleanliness and tidiness. Take care of your personal plot. Make sure that weeds, fallen leaves, carrion and others do not accumulate on the beds and under the trees. organic waste. Put it all in compost, for which be sure to take a fenced area somewhere in the far corner. In addition, the remains of grass and tops should not be stale in the boundaries, water should not be allowed to stagnate.
Cats. Even if your cat is a lazy fat cat who doesn't care about mice, its smell can scare away voles. Let your pet run around the garden. If you don't have a cat, you can simulate its presence by spreading cat litter around the area. This tool is impregnated with an elusive smell, which rodents will also perceive as an alarm signal.