Vole Patrol

Vole Patrol By Hannah Stiff

The frustrating backyard saga of human vs. vermin

Last summer, my fi ancé and I bought a house. Like many other 30-somethings in Bozeman, we had been saving for years, paying off pesky student loans, driving old cars and praying our credit scores could help us nab a low interest rate.

After looking at some appallingly horrid homes for astronomical (to us) prices, we found a unicorn. A home that backed to a strip of wetland in a seemingly quiet neighborhood near several parks. Better yet, the previous owners were meticulous. In the short time they owned the house, they made several upgrades, including a beautifully landscaped backyard. We’re talking blueberry and raspberry bushes planted beside the house, corrugated tin planters with sweet peas and tomatoes, multiple seating areas with actual patio furniture (You mean adults don’t just haul out a cooler and camp chairs for outdoor seating?) and a drip irrigation system to make watering a breeze. We were elated. house was to keep the garden alive. “Do no harm” became my gardening mantra. With some additional July watering and constant weeding, our yard fared well in June and most of July. Then one day, as I was moving my daughter’s infl atable pool, I noticed a little grass structure, almost like a bird’s nest, hiding in the shade of the pool. I moved the empty grass nest, defl ated the pool and went on with my life.

A few days later, while watering my sweet peas, I noticed little paths leading under the tin planters. Something was burrowing beneath the tins. With the help of my fi ancé and a moving dolly, we moved the tin planters and found more dry grassy homes, right about the time we saw several little brown voles scurrying out from under our planters.

As my fi ancé started to shovel the grass nests into the nearby wetland, he saw that he was actually scooping grass fi lled with tiny baby voles, so new their eyes weren’t yet open. It was, in his words, horrifying. Unfortunately, at the precise moment we realized the extent of our vole infestation, my daughter Scarlet was happily playing So, while we tried hard not to wretch at the sight of this unwanted vole community, we had to stay silent. For if we cried out (read, swore loudly), we would have alerted my daughter to the vole habitat. She would surely have insisted we keep the tiny babies, preferably under a heat lamp in her room.

And perhaps that’s my fault. From the time she was three years old, I’ve been telling Scarlet stories about a lovable pair of brown sister mice (Mini and Mighty, clever, I know. Cut a tired mom some slack). To a kid raised on mice stories, ridding our yard of voles would seem very, very disturbing. But for the adults who had just invested in a ridiculously priced single-family home, the voles had to either pay rent or go.

So, we started researching. We fi rst bought those noise emitting vole poles, as I call them. We put them near the biggest vole tunnels, in hopes that the sound would deter them from burrowing in our yard. According to many Amazon reviews, this was our solution. Alas, it turns out our set of four vole poles barely put a dent in the problem. The clever little schmucks simply found a new side of our yard to burrow from.

Next, we tried mouse traps (and many Scarlet diversion tactics to ensure she didn’t fi nd Mini’s cousin in a trap) with peanut butter bait. Alas, those precious little creatures found a way to snag the peanut butter while leaving the trap intact.

With waning patience, we decided to head for Murdoch’s. The kind team there pointed us to an array of products to help. We were advised to use a meal bait product that looks like green oatmeal cereal. Thankfully we don’t have any pets to worry about and our yard is fenced. So, we were fairly certain we could distribute the meal bait without harming any other creatures.

We were also instructed to rake our yard and clear away all the dead grass and vole houses. Without hiding spots, the voles would move along or get nabbed by a predatory bird. We raked what we could and shoveled patches of spring snow out of the way. We were making progress. With vole houses and snow nearly gone, I felt the fi rst pangs of hope. Hope that our new yard might not be completely ruined. Hope that we could enjoy the lawn this summer without openly weeping at the state of our yard. We went to bed tired that night, our soft offi ce hands calloused from the manual labor.

When we awoke the next morning, we peeked outside, eager to declare our victory over the voles. And wouldn’t you know it! We didn’t see those wretched voles scurrying around. Instead, we saw a fresh four inches of snow, covering all our hard work, sheltering those dang rodents. Mother nature laughed. We cried. The voles started rebuilding.

Your home is a launchpad for adventure. Our lenders will guide you through the process when you’re expanding your horizons.

TANNER AASHEIM

NMLS# 892056 406.548.6958 tanner.aasheim@ourbank.com

ROSSI BENNER

NMLS# 1231612 406.556.3816 rossi.benner@ourbank.com

JACKIE FOOTE

NMLS# 1819189 406.548.6874 jacqueline.foote@ourbank.com

KARI FRANCISCO

NMLS# 1123666 406.556.3876 kari.francisco@ourbank.com

HILLARY HANSON

NMLS# 1433095 406.388.3719 hillary.hanson@ourbank.com

PATTY KICKER

NMLS# 658401 406.556.3241 patty.kicker@ourbank.com

ELEX MCALEAR

NMLS# 830117 406.556.3214 elex.mcalear@ourbank.com

SCOTT MCEWAN

NMLS# 658402 406.556.3854 scott.mcewan@ourbank.com

SHARLARAE STUBER

NMLS# 658403 406.556.3837 sharlarae.stuber@ourbank.com

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