Get Rid of Meadow Voles

Meadow Voles may only be tiny, two-inch long critters, but they cause extensive damage. Above ground, they chew bark and kill trees, damage and kill plants, and create unsightly above-ground “runs” all over your yard.
Underground, voles breed, producing six babies every 30 days! Quick action is necessary to prevent a meadow vole infestation from reproducing and causing expensive damages to your property.
For property owners dealing with vole issues in the areas of San Francisco Bay and Monterey Bay, Smith’s Pest Management offers effective meadow vole control and we’re ready to help!
Our Meadow Vole Control Process
While we trap moles and gophers when they’re underground, we like to use above ground traps specially designed for the runways meadow voles build on top of the ground. Here’s our simple process for eliminating meadow voles:
1
Meadow Vole Inspection
The first step in eliminating gophers from your property involves exposing a small portion of the gopher’s underground tunnel. Our pest control technicians will locate the tunnel, exposing a portion of it, and place a USA-made, professional-grade, stainless steel gopher trap inside the tunnel.
2
Develop A Management Plan
Based on the consultation or inspection, Smith’s will develop a plan of action based on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques that involve habit modification and trapping. We’ll recommend specific treatment options based on the severity of your meadow vole infestation.
3
Treatment
With a solid management plan in place, our next step is treatment. We implement the recommended treatment options, using humane and eco-friendly methods to control the meadow vole population. Our approach is tailored to your property’s needs, ensuring the safety of your family, pets, and plants.
Smith's Meadow Vole Control Methods
Meadow Vole Trapping
Smith’s pest control technician will place specially designed, ground-tamper-resistant traps over vole runways. We cover the traps with a shroud and mark them with flags. One of our licensed technicians will return to your property every few days to remove dead meadow voles, monitor for new meadow voles, and re-bait the traps as needed.
Meadow Vole Baiting
Smith’s pest control technicians can bait holes or place bait stations around your property to reduce the vole population. We use AB2552-compliant baiting. We’ll return regularly to check the bait stations and re-bait as needed.
Meadow Vole Carbon Monoxide Fumigation
Smith’s uses an injection of carbon monoxide into meadow vole holes to eliminate the critters humanely.
Where We Service

- Fremont
- Hayward
- Oakland
- Pleasanton
- Alameda
- Berkeley
- Livermore
- Dublin
- Piedmont
- Concord
- Danville
- Walnut Creek
- Clayton
- San Ramon
- Lafayette
- Orinda
- Novato
- Mill Valley
- San Rafael
- Stinson Beach
- Greenbrae
- San Anselmo
- Fairfax
- Ross
- Tiburon
- Belvedere
- Larkspur
- Monterey
- Carmel
- Seaside
- Salinas
- San Francisco
- Santa Cruz
- Soquel
- Capitola
- Aptos
- Watsonville
- Bonny Doon
- Corralitos
- Belmont
- Woodside
- San Mateo
- Daly City
- Menlo Park
- Millbrae
- Redwood City
- Foster City
- Half Moon Bay
- Portola Valley
- Hillsborough
- San Carlos
- Atherton
- San Jose
- Gilroy
- Los Altos
- Los Gatos
- Morgan Hill
- Palo Alto
- Mountain View
- Saratoga
- Sunnyvale
- Cupertino
- Sebastopol
- Santa Rosa
- Rohnert Park
- Penngrove
- Petaluma
- Sonoma
- Kenwood
- Glen Ellen
Ongoing Meadow Vole Control Program
Smith’s recommends an ongoing meadow vole control program for properties facing extensive vole problems. The ongoing control program includes both trapping and baiting. A pest control technician will visit your property twice each month to re-bait the traps and monitor conditions. Ongoing vole control ensures your meadow vole population does not multiply and create costly damages.
FAQ
Voles can wreak havoc on your trees, shrubs, lawn, garden, and landscaping. They love to chew on the bark of trees and woody plants, causing dieback and even killing them.
They also love to chew their way into the heart of bunch grasses and herbaceous perennials like New Zealand flax. Killing it from the inside out. Additionally they will tunnel under the root crown of things like roses and chew off the roots similar to a gopher. Some species of vole burrow more than others.
Their surface runways in the lawn—little grooves about the width of a golf ball—are a telltale sign of a vole infestation. These little runways will always link up to a small hole at each end. They dart from one hole to the other.
They also damage turf and perennials underneath the snow! This becomes particularly noticeable when the snow melts in spring. They do not hibernate. They continue to chew on the base of woody plants underneath the snow all winter long.
The cost of vole control varies depending on how widespread the infestation is. To get an accurate idea of what it would take to rid your yard of voles, give us a call for a free, no-obligation quote!
Voles are drawn to yards with plenty of food, moisture, and shelter like thick ground cover or tall grasses. If your yard has meadows, dense shrubb beds, or other thick vegetation, it’s an open invitation for voles.
Brush piles, yard debris, and dense ground cover provide perfect hiding spots and nesting areas. Sometimes, factors like nearby construction or changes in weather can push voles to find refuge in your lawn and garden.
Voles are active all year long, breeding at an astonishing rate—up to 10 litters per year! They don’t hibernate in winter but instead use underground burrows for shelter and tunnel beneath snow.
Greg J. - Scotts Valley, CA
“They came out to one of our properties at Scotts Valley. It’s a large property of 110 houses and they have managed it for almost three years. It takes gopher control off my plate, and my clients don’t have to worry about it.”
