Water voles: description, photo, methods of struggle

One of the key problems preventing high yields is the water rat (water vole). The uninvited guest ruthlessly damages seedlings, steals sweet roots and potatoes from the beds, destroys bulbous flowers and causes irreparable damage to the root system of fruit and berry plants.

Vole water: description

Polevkoi such a rat is called because of habitat in natural conditions.

The length of the trunk is up to 24 cm, the tail is about 10 cm, covered with fine dense hairs, the body weight is about 200 grams. Muzzle stupid, shortened. Ears are small, hidden in wool. The fur is very lush, gray-brown. Sometimes there are black individuals. The vole chooses swamps, brooks, small ponds, ameliorative ditches located in the immediate vicinity of the country sites. The water rat swims well, dives perfectly. In the natural environment, it feeds on soft and succulent parts of bog plants: young cane shoots, radical sedge, reed, and cattail; For full saturation such a poorly nutritious animal feed uses in very large quantities.

Lifestyle of voles

In natural conditions, a water vole, which is often ineffective, is an active shrew. It digs in small depths large in length and complex in design holes, and outlets on the surface settles in undisturbed places: dense grassy thickets, littered plots, located nearby dumps.

During the season, water voles produce 2-4 broods, each with 6-7 calves. At the age of one month the animals happily switch to succulent fodder, including rhizomes of garden flowers and young trees. Part of the younger generation begins to multiply in the same year.

For the winter, the water vole (photo presented in the article) is carefully stored; Gardeners often find her warehouses, in which several buckets of selective tubers, which migrated from the garden, were neatly folded. And for the animal is important even the type and size of vegetables: carefully selected tubers one to one - medium and even.

Signs of the appearance of a water voles on the plot:

• The appearance on the lawns of burrows with grass bitten around them;
• Diameter of burrow is 5-8 cm;
• The passages are dug under the very surface of the soil.

Water vole: methods of struggle

Natural vole enemies have no vole. Traps and mousetraps for this beast are ineffective and are aimed at destroying a small number of individuals. In the ground at a depth of about 20 cm near the exit from the burrow an arc trap is used, which is used when catching fur animals. Do not cover or fill the ground with holes with traps.

It is extremely difficult for a person to fight such a neighbor. One of the methods to combat an uninvited guest is bait. Diverse in composition, they are aimed at achieving one goal. It is recommended to lay baits in trimmed plastic bottles, trimming pipes, under boxes with holes made in them. Mix the product with a wooden stick or plastic object, because the water voles are sensitive to the smell of a person.

Bait recipes

• Recipe number 1 : 20-25 g of gypsum is diluted with 30-40 g of flour and a small amount of vegetable oil. The animal dies from gypsum, which upon entering the stomach begins to harden.
• Recipe No. 2 : One part of gypsum and roasted bran and two parts of fat. The resulting mixture needs to be divided into pellets and expanded in the locations of rats.
• Recipe number 3 : 20 g of rosin combined with 20 g of powdered sugar and 15 grams of borax.
• Recipe # 4 : Poisoned grain, baits from it are most effective in the autumn period.
• Recipe number 5 : In a container with quicklime, sugar and malt are mixed in equal proportions, next to the dishes with water. The rat, satisfied with hunger, immediately wants to drink. This action will be the final in her life.

Water voles do not tolerate the smell of garlic, milkweed, blackcurrant and hazel grouse. A large number of such plants planted on the site, will cause a massive flight of rodents. For the correctness of the method in burrows it is recommended to put nut leaves, fish heads, garlic cloves.

The tricks in the fight against the water voles

Many truck farmers try to expel water rats from their territory, inserting into the discovered underground passages a hose, the other end of which is connected to the exhaust pipe of the car. The engine running at idle fills the passages with fatal exhaust fumes. The method does not always work if the underground labyrinths are highly branched and tangled.

Some truck farmers frighten the voles with loud sounds. For this, plastic bottles with holes made in them are required to be buried in the soil under an incline. The wind falling inside will be transformed into a mournful whistle that rats can not stand.

Effective special ultrasonic scarer rodents, sold in stores. Operation of these devices requires a permanent power source or regular battery replacement. It is also recommended to change the range of sound, in order to avoid getting used to it animals.

Interesting materials for the expulsion of a voles of water, sensitive to unpleasant odors, are:

• Rabbit skin. It can be cut into several parts, hammered into it by entrances into the burrows and set on fire.
• Furnace soot. Divorced with water to a viscous consistency, it is recommended to pour it into the burrows.

If the above methods are ineffective, you will have to use chemical preparations that need to be placed in holes or near them. This action is recommended to be repeated after 5-7 days. Chemicals carry a direct danger to pets, so in the area of their use, pets should not be.

Preventative measures against voles

In addition to the use of various baits, you should always keep the area clean; Late autumn in order to protect against frost and pests to bind tree trunks with covering materials. After every big snowfall in the days of thaw, snow around the trees is required to be trampled down: compressed, after a cold snap, it becomes an insurmountable obstacle to rodents.

When cleaning from the dead animals, remember that they are carriers of tularemia - a dangerous infectious disease. Therefore, the voles should not be taken by hand.

Subsequently, in order to prevent water vole in a well-groomed territory, it is recommended to erect a fence on a firm, in-depth (minimum 40 cm) foundation. It is important not to allow the presence in the intake sections and the places of attachment of the slots through which the water voles could penetrate inside.