After first having problems with voles in my vegetable garden this year and now that a mole seems to have moved in (yes, I can tell the difference... frustratingly, that’s more or less the only result search engines turn up for my initial question), I’ve been wondering whether voles and moles tolerate each other, or whether the mole’s presence prevents the voles from attacking my vegetables again? I couldn’t find an answer right away, what do you think?
I love moles, but I also love voles.. how can I find out which one is best?
Do moles drive voles out of their...holes? Hmm. Ill punch myself in the face now.
At least some mole/vole species combinations coexist. I was actually down a very similar rabbit hole recently and my most interesting find was that mole tunnels seem to predict vole population booms.
https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2006.01134.x#%3A%7E%3Atext=%23%23+Summary+-%2Cchemical+pest+control.
They don't as they can't get motorist licences with their poor eyesight.
Seriously, though, probably not. Moles and voles have very different diets which means they're looking in different places for different things.
That is, your yard mole is digging underground looking for chewy worms while the vole family is at the surface looking for plants and roots.
If they do bump into each other, voles would have a numerical advantage that would overwhelm the mole.
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