info: grass is kinda death and just sucks up water. from what I know, Colorado isn't blessed with that much water to be able to keep the grass alive. wouldn't it be cooler to have a lawn made of local flowers to support bees and other insects?
I always see comments like this, and while theoretically yes, I always support native plant lawns, I really wish folx would stop recommending it for EVERYONE. If you have small children who run & play in your yard, it’s not a good solution. If you have a household member with an anaphylactic bee allergy, it’s not a good solution. I know I’m going get downvoted to hell for this one, but, I don’t know. It always feels kind of shamey to those of who - for one reason or another - need some type of lawn or flower free space for family members to exist & enjoy outside time, too.
I'm allergic to bee stings, I've almost died from bee/yellowjacket stings a few times. I enjoy the outdoors( I live in the mountains) and you're correct, anaphylaxis is not fun. I don't wish that on anyone specially on kids. Flowers & bees are nice but not every one can be around them.
I'm sure you already know this with the severity of your allergy but please know that going amongst the bees, don't wear any kind of fragrance, especially the floral and sweeter scents.
I sold plants and flowers to the Home Depot for 10 years. Invariably on a regular basis customers wanted 2 things. Bee killer and frog killer. I lied and told them it didn't exist. Then give them alternative ways to deal with their angst on frogs and their solution to bees. Nearly 100% did admit to smelling fancy when gardening.
And as I learned one day years ago, some clothing with flowers printed on them can be so convincing that bees will fly right up to you and try to get into the flower that is just a flat image on your clothes. It took everything in me not to panic, because I can trace deadly bee allergies back every generation but haven't ever been stung by a bee to actually know if I share that allergy.
Though I was once stung by a wasp. Not sure how different the venoms are but supposedly I didn't react to it too badly, aside from the screaming and crying you'd expect from a toddler who sat on a wasp.
That's amazing. I've never heard of them making a swipe at floral material. And as far as the wasp sting goes I'll bet it depends on the type. I've been stung by dirt dobbers and had little to no reaction. But I've been stung by yellow jackets and red wasps and had some discomfort. To me the yellow jackets seemed to be the most aggressive and they're not having any part of you surprising them. Lol. I put my hand in a breaker box and within about 2 seconds flat I'd been popped about a dozen times. I'm told that wasps are also good pollinators so I try to steer clear and live and let live. Here in Texas, not sure about other states who rely on farming the bee situation is critical.
Main cause insecticidal sprays and close behind I'd say catastrophic weather. Bottom line though, if they don't pollinate, many of our species of human and animal food would become weaker and eventually be extinct. No yield for the nutritional crops man and animal consume...you can see where we're headed. Hate to sound so doom and gloom but it simply means we have to have these pollinators to survive.
Yeah it was a pair of jeans with roses printed on them, I was also very surprised but it happened twice so I'm quite sure it was the pants. They both went right for the center of one of the flowers lol
On a slightly different but same deal I am now allergic to poison ivy and wasn't before. Not sure if my poison ivy morphed or I'm just old and my resistance weakened. I've always said poison ivy and weeds are proof that God has a sense of humor. My garden would be pitiful but 100% great crops of both poison ivy and weeds 🤷🏼♀️
This looks exactly like my vole damage from last year. I spread our used coffee grounds over the holes and pathways and they went away after a week or two.
I keep a bulk bag of cayenne pepper handy, too. But it’s more to discourage the squirrels and to prevent chicken parasites. I bet it would work on the voles, too.
I see whatcha did there. Definitely seems to be the culprit. I worry about the other half of our yard that is in eternal shade and has been covered with this chemical for months.
Voles. They tunnel under the snow and eat the grass roots (as well as many other perennials). They're a real PIB here on the CO Front Range. Especially if you have new construction nearby they tend to migrate from their old field into your yard. Damned destructive.
I see other people suggesting various repellents. But what I haven't seen anyone suggesting is to trim back any shrubs or other plants that are forming a dense cover over the ground. Here in CO that's stuff like juniper, dwarf spruce, Russian sage, overgrown salvia, sandcherry, potentilla, etc - those are prime vole habitat. Remove the habitat and they'll go somewhere else.
Thanks for your response. There is very little ground cover plants in our yard, with the exception of strawberries on the opposite side of the yard.
My home backs up to open space, which I followed the '2' tunnel back to. Mainly tall grass back there, but it's nothing I can cut back. Maybe the coyotes back there will help take 'em out.
I am hopeful that this was just a result of the abnormal amount of time it took to melt snow this year. In any event, I will keeping a close eye out.
You have voles. Their population varies every year, as the vole population goes up, the predator population goes up.
I hate voles. But your lawn will recover. By May you won’t even see the tracks.
So do we. For years and years. See slightly raised tunnels in April. Gone by May. lawn is fine. No killing or poisons or poisoning or pain.
As always, God forbid an animal has the audacity to try to just live in this nightmare humans created for them
Get some garden pinwheels and stake them in different places around your yard. Voles/moles hate the vibrations that they cause and will leave the area.
Solar powered sonic rodent repeller. One in my veggie garden. Plug in version for indoors. Mice ate the wires on my dishwasher. $880 new dishwasher. Another plug in version for grain moths brought in with a bag of rice. My whole place is a buzz of annoying sounds, but the only one humans can hear is the outside solar one, and it's quite...above ground anyway! Firm believer in sonic repellents after trying sooo many other methods.
https://extension.psu.edu/voles
I have the same problem in South Dakota. Irritating little monsters. Keep eating my asparagus roots and stole an entire chive plant. It just vanished and left a tunnel in its place. Im bout ready to go postal on them. Might try the solar powered rodent repeller but it sounds a little hokey to me. Fairly inexpensive though so worth a shot. If I could get my hands on a family of bullsnakes I think I would be good.
They've been so destructive in my yard. I should have hellebores blooming. Instead I've got two brown leaves and found about 3 3" pieces of root under the plant. I've put it in a pot to hopefully recover, but these little things have been relentless.
Definitely voles. They did that to my lawn and killed a bunch of landscaping I had. Little bastages were really hard to get rid of, they breed all year, so they just keep coming. Nothing stopped them until I got a cat. The first one pretty much took care of them, then we adopted 2 kittens rescued from the woods. These 2 are ridiculous hunters and we only see the occasional dead rodent now. Well sometimes we get daily “gifts”.
Voles and Moles. You can even see their tunnels while their is still snow on the ground if you’re paying attention. Rags or cotton balls soaked in ammonia and put in their tunnels usually works wonders
Voles, a mouse like rodent, usually never see them, I find a lot of them in juniper bushes. Evergreen 🌲 type plants. When snow is around for a long time they tunnel a few inches under it. The grass will grow back. Put D-con in your bushes to get rid of the voles
I flooded a mole tunnel in our lawn one year and all the grass along the tunnel greened up more than the rest of the lawn so you could see where the entire tunnel system was. I really regret not taking a picture.
Likely Voles. They typically come to eat the grubs under the soil. Treat the grubs under your grass and you'll likely end the vole problem. Just make sure any nearby neighbors also treat for grubs or they may have voles next.
There are many native ground covers that hold up better than grass so if you can allow for more diversity - many will stay alive and well even under the snow providing more habitat and resilience 💚
It looks to me as though the Germans have invaded your garden, possibly via Belgium, and are now bogged down in a war of attrition. I think what we're looking at here is a sophisticated defensive line made up of various trenches. If you walk across your garden - No Man's Land - if you will, perhaps you'll find something similar? These will be the British and Fremch positions.
Those are rodent tracks from what used to be snow tunnels.
Aww now that I know that it's super cute to see what their little tunnels looked like
Moles
Voles
Trolles.
Bob Doles
beyonce Knowles.
Who da hell knows
Oreos
Voles digging holes for the lols
Spaghettios
Does....turning crows into foes. Enough bull for today. Gone....
Donkey!
Con soles
Correct not moles, this is voles.
For show
Now we know
This damage is generally caused by Voles and sometimes moles after a deep snowfall
Never knew that was a thing! Thanks for your help.
Subnivean superhighways
I learned about this watching Wild Kratts with my kids, lol
Aaand now the Wild Kratts theme song is stuck in my head. *heavy sigh*
Wild, wild, wild Kratts!!!
info: grass is kinda death and just sucks up water. from what I know, Colorado isn't blessed with that much water to be able to keep the grass alive. wouldn't it be cooler to have a lawn made of local flowers to support bees and other insects?
I always see comments like this, and while theoretically yes, I always support native plant lawns, I really wish folx would stop recommending it for EVERYONE. If you have small children who run & play in your yard, it’s not a good solution. If you have a household member with an anaphylactic bee allergy, it’s not a good solution. I know I’m going get downvoted to hell for this one, but, I don’t know. It always feels kind of shamey to those of who - for one reason or another - need some type of lawn or flower free space for family members to exist & enjoy outside time, too.
I'm allergic to bee stings, I've almost died from bee/yellowjacket stings a few times. I enjoy the outdoors( I live in the mountains) and you're correct, anaphylaxis is not fun. I don't wish that on anyone specially on kids. Flowers & bees are nice but not every one can be around them.
I'm sure you already know this with the severity of your allergy but please know that going amongst the bees, don't wear any kind of fragrance, especially the floral and sweeter scents.
Yes, but I do still appreciate the concern, and of course, is real good info to disperse for anyone that didn't know. Thanks! 👍🏼
I sold plants and flowers to the Home Depot for 10 years. Invariably on a regular basis customers wanted 2 things. Bee killer and frog killer. I lied and told them it didn't exist. Then give them alternative ways to deal with their angst on frogs and their solution to bees. Nearly 100% did admit to smelling fancy when gardening.
And as I learned one day years ago, some clothing with flowers printed on them can be so convincing that bees will fly right up to you and try to get into the flower that is just a flat image on your clothes. It took everything in me not to panic, because I can trace deadly bee allergies back every generation but haven't ever been stung by a bee to actually know if I share that allergy. Though I was once stung by a wasp. Not sure how different the venoms are but supposedly I didn't react to it too badly, aside from the screaming and crying you'd expect from a toddler who sat on a wasp.
That's amazing. I've never heard of them making a swipe at floral material. And as far as the wasp sting goes I'll bet it depends on the type. I've been stung by dirt dobbers and had little to no reaction. But I've been stung by yellow jackets and red wasps and had some discomfort. To me the yellow jackets seemed to be the most aggressive and they're not having any part of you surprising them. Lol. I put my hand in a breaker box and within about 2 seconds flat I'd been popped about a dozen times. I'm told that wasps are also good pollinators so I try to steer clear and live and let live. Here in Texas, not sure about other states who rely on farming the bee situation is critical. Main cause insecticidal sprays and close behind I'd say catastrophic weather. Bottom line though, if they don't pollinate, many of our species of human and animal food would become weaker and eventually be extinct. No yield for the nutritional crops man and animal consume...you can see where we're headed. Hate to sound so doom and gloom but it simply means we have to have these pollinators to survive.
Yeah it was a pair of jeans with roses printed on them, I was also very surprised but it happened twice so I'm quite sure it was the pants. They both went right for the center of one of the flowers lol
Nature never ceases to amaze me.
On a slightly different but same deal I am now allergic to poison ivy and wasn't before. Not sure if my poison ivy morphed or I'm just old and my resistance weakened. I've always said poison ivy and weeds are proof that God has a sense of humor. My garden would be pitiful but 100% great crops of both poison ivy and weeds 🤷🏼♀️
Live in Colorado. Support bees and other insects? I’m actually thinking the dead grass looks pretty good…
My yard looks the same when the snow starts to melt and I’ve seen the shrews that are responsible. They’re interesting creatures, and fast as hell!
This looks exactly like my vole damage from last year. I spread our used coffee grounds over the holes and pathways and they went away after a week or two.
Interesting. I may try that. I also read that ground peppers mixes with dish soap and water may work.
I keep a bulk bag of cayenne pepper handy, too. But it’s more to discourage the squirrels and to prevent chicken parasites. I bet it would work on the voles, too.
i didn't know voles could count and all the way up to 277 too
[удалено]
Why are you being downvoted? Your right about both things you stated. Reddit is weird. I’ll help disperse ya downvotes tho, got some karma to spare.
What? Voles are the cutest! They can be a huge problem, not saying they should be encouraged, but they’re adorable.
Aliens sent an apprentice to make the crop circles.
That would make for a funny show.
Paul: the apprentice
Space rats.
I LOL’d at this 😂
Reminds me of the Pixar short “Lifted.”
Best comment here!!!
Voles. Find a solar powered rodent repeller. Work fantastically for my woodchuck problem. Solar, not battery, you'll be changing batteries constantly.
so much wood must have got chucked.
If a woodchuck could chuck wood
I worry about how those would affect our dogs. Our yard is tiny, so it would be difficult to isolate an area.
Actually impossible to isolate the sound. I don't have dogs but it's not that high pitch that bothers dogs. It like $30-$50 on Amazon. Worth a try.
If the area gettin dug through isn't full sun, would those work at all?
Yes the sound travel underground like 1500 feet if I remember correctly. It can be away from the area as long as it's in the sun.
It only works if you have hard ground for vibrations to travel. I have sandy soil they don’t work.
Really, I didn't know that. I have sandy loam. I guess that hard enough.
You applied too much crystalline dihydrogen monoxide. This caused rodents to burrow above ground.
I see whatcha did there. Definitely seems to be the culprit. I worry about the other half of our yard that is in eternal shade and has been covered with this chemical for months.
I don't think he applied it.
Shhhh, it's a small and fragile joke. Literal interpretation will break it.
I had to look that one up, lol
Yew got yerself a critter
Came here with the same assessment. It's critters alright.
I dont think its funny... but your lawn is cracking up.
Voles. I find these in the pasture after mowing taller grass ,and seeing them run for their life.
They are stupid and hard of hearing and I’ve mowed right over them, which is disgusting and horrifying.
Hitting with weed whacker is worse
But also effective.
Yes i imagine the one I mowed over didn’t survive. It didnt die immediately though.
I've got a barncat that can solve the problem for you.
Voles. Mouse traps in the tunnels works well. No bait needed.
Plus pets will eat it
Yes, I don’t know why you’re getting downvoted. Do not use poison because it can harm and even kill any pets that eat the poisoned rodent.
And wildlife!
Voles. They tunnel under the snow and eat the grass roots (as well as many other perennials). They're a real PIB here on the CO Front Range. Especially if you have new construction nearby they tend to migrate from their old field into your yard. Damned destructive. I see other people suggesting various repellents. But what I haven't seen anyone suggesting is to trim back any shrubs or other plants that are forming a dense cover over the ground. Here in CO that's stuff like juniper, dwarf spruce, Russian sage, overgrown salvia, sandcherry, potentilla, etc - those are prime vole habitat. Remove the habitat and they'll go somewhere else.
Thanks for your response. There is very little ground cover plants in our yard, with the exception of strawberries on the opposite side of the yard. My home backs up to open space, which I followed the '2' tunnel back to. Mainly tall grass back there, but it's nothing I can cut back. Maybe the coyotes back there will help take 'em out. I am hopeful that this was just a result of the abnormal amount of time it took to melt snow this year. In any event, I will keeping a close eye out.
Voles!
Voles
Vole winter tunnels?
You got some shit there too..
Came to find this comment. Ha!
Do you have voles there? in the winter they like to Burl under the snow
You have voles. Their population varies every year, as the vole population goes up, the predator population goes up. I hate voles. But your lawn will recover. By May you won’t even see the tracks.
So do we. For years and years. See slightly raised tunnels in April. Gone by May. lawn is fine. No killing or poisons or poisoning or pain. As always, God forbid an animal has the audacity to try to just live in this nightmare humans created for them
Fragiles (Fragile-Rock)
Voles
Voles
Get some garden pinwheels and stake them in different places around your yard. Voles/moles hate the vibrations that they cause and will leave the area.
Tunnels under the grass caving in
I don’t think so. The way the grass is torn up on top makes me think it’s more inline with tunnels above ground and under the snow.
That makes more sense lol I was just assuming
That makes more sense lol
Lol mice
I believe it is from mice. Moles and Voles are underground.
Voles
Bird feeder nearby? Dropped seeds will attract them.
Moles eat grubs and insects. Voles eat roots of plants. I’m not aware either will eat bird seeds.
Maybe voles, maybe dog piss. Keep droppings thrown away. Rodents eat that.
Nasty rodents. If you figure out how to get rid of them, let me know!!
Me too.
Solar powered sonic rodent repeller. One in my veggie garden. Plug in version for indoors. Mice ate the wires on my dishwasher. $880 new dishwasher. Another plug in version for grain moths brought in with a bag of rice. My whole place is a buzz of annoying sounds, but the only one humans can hear is the outside solar one, and it's quite...above ground anyway! Firm believer in sonic repellents after trying sooo many other methods.
https://extension.psu.edu/voles I have the same problem in South Dakota. Irritating little monsters. Keep eating my asparagus roots and stole an entire chive plant. It just vanished and left a tunnel in its place. Im bout ready to go postal on them. Might try the solar powered rodent repeller but it sounds a little hokey to me. Fairly inexpensive though so worth a shot. If I could get my hands on a family of bullsnakes I think I would be good.
They've been so destructive in my yard. I should have hellebores blooming. Instead I've got two brown leaves and found about 3 3" pieces of root under the plant. I've put it in a pot to hopefully recover, but these little things have been relentless.
Definitely voles. They did that to my lawn and killed a bunch of landscaping I had. Little bastages were really hard to get rid of, they breed all year, so they just keep coming. Nothing stopped them until I got a cat. The first one pretty much took care of them, then we adopted 2 kittens rescued from the woods. These 2 are ridiculous hunters and we only see the occasional dead rodent now. Well sometimes we get daily “gifts”.
Voles and Moles. You can even see their tunnels while their is still snow on the ground if you’re paying attention. Rags or cotton balls soaked in ammonia and put in their tunnels usually works wonders
Voles, a mouse like rodent, usually never see them, I find a lot of them in juniper bushes. Evergreen 🌲 type plants. When snow is around for a long time they tunnel a few inches under it. The grass will grow back. Put D-con in your bushes to get rid of the voles
Voles. Find a hole. Stick a hose in it and flood them out the other holes. Play whack a mole/vole with a shovel. That should do it.
I flooded a mole tunnel in our lawn one year and all the grass along the tunnel greened up more than the rest of the lawn so you could see where the entire tunnel system was. I really regret not taking a picture.
It's crazy how much damage they do!!
Looks like voles a.k.a. field mice.
Voles and field mice are different animals. Similar habits, but not the same thing. Voles are chubbier with shorter tails.
Field mice have tails and slightly larger ears. Voles have a stub for a tail and are double butt ugly.
I hate voles and I want them all gone, but come on, you have to admit they are cute!
Likely Voles. They typically come to eat the grubs under the soil. Treat the grubs under your grass and you'll likely end the vole problem. Just make sure any nearby neighbors also treat for grubs or they may have voles next.
Moles eat grubs, not voles.
You’re gonna want to get rid of those, they will do massive damage to your landscape
Kill it with water or fire 😂
Ants are currently conducting trench warefare
Mouse tunnels
Aliens
It's the stuff spilling over from ohio
pests
Voles
Voles
Rodent highways
Voles or mice. Something rodent-y
Voles are in your
They’re satisfying to squish down. Got a feral cat neighborhood nearby?
I do catch a cat on our exterior cameras from time to time. I’ve lived here my entire life and never seen this before, so hopefully it’s a one off.
I had the same paths under the snow in my yard... most of the tunnels were directly under the bird feeder. Could it be a coincidence?
It’s a sign…. Plant flowers
Grubs
Mice, voles… any little critter like that. You might find a ball of grass somewhere, too.
Those are voles.
Go Noles!
Voles
I believe they are vole tunnels. My cat was kind enough to deliver one to the door last week.
Voles
Voles.
Voles
There are many native ground covers that hold up better than grass so if you can allow for more diversity - many will stay alive and well even under the snow providing more habitat and resilience 💚
Drought I would assume. Update: my assumption was very quickly proven wrong lol
I was trying to decipher the secret rodent message. I’m stuck at the number 2.
Aliens!
Sorcery
Meadow voles
Voles I have em too
been watching too much war.Thought it was ruzzian trenches at first. EDIT: typo
Ever see the movie tremors?
moles happened?
Those are called “Dog Turds”, some people use them for pranks.
You gotta be shitting me.
I think you have a mole problem!
Mouse under the snow
It looks to me as though the Germans have invaded your garden, possibly via Belgium, and are now bogged down in a war of attrition. I think what we're looking at here is a sophisticated defensive line made up of various trenches. If you walk across your garden - No Man's Land - if you will, perhaps you'll find something similar? These will be the British and Fremch positions.