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Old 08-05-2015, 02:37 PM   #17
SIKSUKR
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I will say that I have had a lot of mole activity also but mostly in spring.They always make shallow tunnels that can be seen above after the snow melts.They also have done lots of damage by looking for grubs but usually the raised lawn can just be stamped down as they rarely use those tunnels again.
Voles can certainly damage plants.Here is a brief article on them.

suspect #2, the voracious vole

Voles look like mice; some are commonly called meadow mice or pine mice. Voles may travel through mole tunnels, but also dig their own burrows. The only visible evidence of a vole burrow is the neat exit holes an inch or two across. Vole holes can be right out in the open, or cleverly hidden under foliage or debris in the garden. Deep mulch and areas of groundcover plantings offer excellent vole habitat. Voles eat plants, and are far more destructive in the landscape than moles. Voles can travel above ground but really prefer to stay hidden. They may make pathways just under mulch, matted leaves, boards or snow; just about anything laying on the surface of the soil will make a nice roof for a vole run.
Voles are rodents, with front teeth designed for gnawing. All parts of plants can be vole food. Since voles like to work under cover, it's the undergound parts pf plants that bear the brunt of the vole's foraging. Bulbs, fleshy roots like those on Hostas, and tree bark at the soil line all fall victim to voles' appetites. A favorite trick of the vole is to eat the roots of a plant without disturbing the top growth at all. Many vole-plagued gardeners have gently lifted the leaves of a "sick" plant, only to find the roots have been completely eaten away. A previously unseen tunnel leads right to the stricken plant.


FWIW I've seen chipmunks in very similar holes that you show.
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