Mice & voles
Apodemus & Microtus spp.
Eat seeds, bulbs, and stored crops, and gnaw bark at the base of young trees in winter. Plant bulbs deep and firm, protect trunks with guards, and set traps under cover.
How to know it
Rarely seen; identified by the damage and the runs. Voles leave neat surface runways in long grass and gnaw bark at ground level with paired incisor marks; mice take seeds cleanly out of a row and hoard them, leaving the drill empty and undisturbed.
What you'll see
- A row of peas, beans or sweetcorn that never comes up, with the seed gone and the drill otherwise intact.
- Bark gnawed from the base of young trees under the snow line or under long grass in winter.
- Stored apples, potatoes and onions gnawed in the shed.
- Crocus corms and tulip bulbs hollowed out in the ground.
- Small neat runways in long grass and mulch, and droppings in the greenhouse or shed.
Where it comes from
Resident all year and breeding through the warmer months, with populations peaking in autumn. Pressure on the garden rises sharply in winter, when field food runs out and stored crops, bulbs and tree bark are all that is left.
Long grass, thick mulch, log piles and untidy sheds — cover is what makes a garden hospitable. Hard winters and deep snow drive bark gnawing; autumn sowings are the classic seed casualties.
Dealing with it
- Start peas and beans in guttering or modules under cover and plant out as seedlings, rather than sowing into the ground.
- Fit spiral or mesh guards around the base of young tree trunks before winter, pushed down into the soil.
- Set snap traps under a slate, a box or a length of pipe, so pets and birds cannot reach them.
- Store fruit and vegetables in mouse-proof crates in a clean, tidy, uncluttered shed.
- Clear long grass and mulch back from tree trunks and bulb beds.
Keeping it out
- Keep grass short around young trees and never mulch right up to the trunk.
- Plant bulbs deeply and firm the soil well.
- Tidy the shed and greenhouse, remove seed packets and cover stored crops.
- Encourage owls, kestrels and cats; a barn owl box near an orchard earns its keep.
- Avoid autumn sowings of peas and beans direct where mice are a known problem.
What it goes for
Pea, bean and sweetcorn seed; crocus, tulip and lily bulbs; the bark of young apples and other fruit trees; stored crops of all kinds.
Who hunts it for you
- Snakes & lizardsColubridae & Phrynosomatidae A garter snake works the beds for slugs and voles and a fence lizard clears grasshoppers off a sunny wall. Almost every snake a gardener meets is harmless and useful; give them a log pile, a warm flat stone and a bit of cover and they stay.
See also
The Cottage Garden Companion — the gardener's bestiary at cottagegardencompanion.com