Return to the Perennials Forum
| Post a Follow-Up
Milorganite and voles?
| | |
Posted by
nhbabs z4b-5a NH (
My Page) on
Sun, Sep 14, 14 at 10:33
| Milorganite was mentioned as a way to discourage deer, and it made me wonder if anyone with vole problems has tried using it to deter voles. I know about castor oil, and it helps, but If anyone has tried this or has tried blood meal, I would love to hear about it. This week I noticed a small dogwood had wilted, and when I touched it, it came right out of the ground, only tiny root nibs left. So I am once again on the vole warpath . . . |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Milorganite and voles?
| | |
| I would be curious to know the answer to that question as well. In the fall I have to wrap all the fruit tree trunks (and extend the wrap down into the mulch) if I don't want them to suffer a similar fate as your dogwood, Babs. I delegate vole control though, to my super efficient assistant, Inga. |
RE: Milorganite and voles?
| | |
| Early this summer I found an extremely effective vole deterrent - Shake Away Rodent Repellent Granules. I got it at my local Ace Hardware store. If you can't find it locally, you can order it online. I sprinkled some in every vole hole I could find. Within 24 hours, they had completely vacated the premises. Just to make sure they didn't come back, I kept doing it a couple times a week for a few weeks. Haven't seen them since. If you have a heavy infestation, it might take longer than it did for me. They definitely DO NOT like the smell of it!! Come to think of it, this fall I think I'll do some more sprinkling to make sure they don't decide to come back for a cozy winter hideaway. Deanna |
Here is a link that might be useful: Shake Away
RE: Milorganite and voles?
| | |
| Karin - Inga is a beauty! :-) Deanna |
RE: Milorganite and voles?
| | |
| We had voles this year, called an exterminator. He used a product called Kaput. We ordered some online, and got rid of the voles. The exterminator was supposed to come back in a few weeks, but we treated it ourselves. So far, no sign of voles. |
RE: Milorganite and voles?
| | |
Did a bit of research on the other recommended products.
Kaput is a warfarin based bait, so needs care in use.
Shake Away is scented with fox urine. Still wondering if anyone has used Milorganite who had vole issues. |
This post was edited by nhbabs on Sun, Sep 14, 14 at 20:46
RE: Milorganite and voles?
| | |
| This particular Shake Away isn't scented with fox urine. It's scented with mint, rosemary, and cedar oils. The Shake Away for rabbits has fox urine. And it does work for rabbits FYI. Deanna |
RE: Milorganite and voles?
| | |
| Do you mean moles? I thought voles tunneled just below the surface (raised bumps) whereas moles dig holes? |
RE: Milorganite and voles?
| | |
| Moles never, ever eat plant material--they're insectivores and eat soil dwellers. Voles tunnel but will happily make use of mole tunnels. |
RE: Milorganite and voles?
| | |
| What is in Milorganite that would deter an animal? |
RE: Milorganite and voles?
| | |
| The only thing that has ever worked for us, as we live in the country with voles everywhere, is to fence our plants in with 1/4 inch hardware cloth. Exclusion is the only way to go, though we do put warfarin bait under our porch as well. |
RE: Milorganite and voles?
| | |
| ILMTs, wow that 1/4 inch hardware cloth is expensive too. So they can't chew through it? How did you fence it in and did you have to bury part of it in the ground? Do you have a photo of the fence? |
RE: Milorganite and voles?
| | |
| I am currently planting perennials in hardware cloth rings buried 5" or with about 2" above ground. It's expensive, incinvenient, and not highly attractive. I find in the winter that the voles often tend to burrow through plant material right at the surface, but in the summer they tunnel a bit deeper, and if they already have summer tunnels they will continue using them in the winter. |
RE: Milorganite and voles?
| | |
| Too bad Marlene Dietrich isn't available - she took care of her own vole problem handily. |
RE: Milorganite and voles?
| | |
| Karin, your kitty picture is beautiful. I have a vole hunter too, but she doesn't hunt in the front garden, where the voles were running rampant a few years ago. I lost tons of bulbs and perennials and was desperate. Castor oil was a miracle, it didn't just help, it completely cured the problem. I use it every fall since, as a preventative measure over the winter. I've only used milorganite for fertilizing the lawn, haven't yet tried it for repelling critters. Not sure that it would work for rodents. |
terrene
| | |
I just watched a video by the owner of NH Hostas- on Castor Oil saturation doing the trick for his 1000's of hostas.
I told Margaret Roach about it and she was interested but wanted to know if it might harm ANYthing- worms, etc. Couldn't answer that for her. Sounds fantastic to me. Try it, babs? |
RE: Milorganite and voles?
| | |
| Yup I've used castor oil for a couple of years, and while it cuts back on them, it doesn't totally discourage them. |
RE: Milorganite and voles?
| | |
| We have used Milorganite extensively on our garden beds this year to try and deter the deer and rabbits. This week we put out mouse traps to see what we could catch....voles have been in the traps.
So sorry to say it doesnt chase away the voles. Be aware that Kaput is a very dangerous product if you have pets. The voles and mice are very tricky to catch setting off the traps without being caught. May try the Tootsie Roll on the trap, there is a video on You Tube for this. We may also try the bucket method, also on You Tube. After loosing so many plants to voles over the past two years we are on a vole mission! |
RE: Milorganite and voles?
| | |
| Thanks for adding your experience with Milorganite and voles, Trudy. At least I know now that it isn't worth trying. I'll invest in some additional castor oil and ShakeAway instead of Milorganite, and probably add some traps in the worst areas. Thanks also to everyone who made suggestions on what has worked for them. |
Post a Follow-Up
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in.
If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Perennials Forum
Information about Posting
- You must be logged in to post a message. Once you are logged in, a posting window will appear at the bottom of the messages. If you are not a member, please register for an account.
- Please review our Rules of Play
before posting.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you
will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review your
post, make changes and upload photos.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in
order to see it.
- Before posting copyrighted material, please read about Copyright and Fair Use.
- We have a strict no-advertising
policy!
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit
our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we
will be happy to help.
Learn more about in-text links on this page here
