Rodents in the garden.

JohnB47

I could have sworn I posted a question about my finding little holes dug in the garden last year - about 4 inches in diameter and about 6 inches deep, many going diagonally down to plant roots - sometimes in plants I'd put in only a few days before.

Anyway, yesterday I discovered one or two little friends. They are bigger than mice but smaller than rats. They've been coming out during broad daylight - around 3pm on both days. I see them usually when they see me first and scuttle into a large bramble patch.

I see no poop and there's no smell. Just little things about the same size as a Guinea pig but the same shape as a mouse. I have no compost heap and apart from the bramble patch, nowhere for them to hide.

I have a motion detector thingy and it's not showing any activity during the dark (9pm to 6am).

I hope I don't have to kill anything - I'm quite willing to put up with mice in my shed but I'm worried about them actually being rats. I have seen rats in the wild and they are massive compared to the ones in my garden.

Any thoughts?

ellie99

Possibly voles?

Mice and voles / RHS Gardening

twopenny

I was going to say the same thing 
Voles are fine and a real treasure - except to your plants.
https://gardening.which.co.uk/hc/en-gb/articles/213981425-Voles-in-the-garden
If it's a problem wrap sheeps wool, horse hair, coat brushings from a dog...somethin that makes it easier to go elsewhere.
Just thought, there is cheapish plastic grid to go under the soil to deter cats. That should work as well. I saw it on Amazon but I've not seen it elsewhere yet

JohnB47

Thanks guys. It does look like the photo on that Which? site but it's tail seems longer than as described for a Vole. I must keep my camera handy to try to get a picture of it.

Edit: Voles are also described as " shy nocturnal animals". The ones in my garden come out in bright sunlight!

YoungBlueEyes

Are voles like hedgehogs? If you see them in daylight it means they're poorly?

twopenny

John, I've seen rats in broad daylight and voles or shrews in woodland in daylight.

Hedgehogs also come out at dusk and dawn.

Why I've no idea.

But one thought I've seen spoken of is that when food is short they change their habits

This is another version

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/mammals/common-shrew

"They are active in the day but are seldom seen and less active in the winter. Short-tailed voles are 9.5-13.5cm long and breed all summer."

JohnB47

twopenny said:

John, I've seen rats in broad daylight and voles or shrews in woodland in daylight.

Hedgehogs also come out at dusk and dawn.

Why I've no idea.

But one thought I've seen spoken of is that when food is short they change their habits

This is another version

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/mammals/common-shrew

"They are active in the day but are seldom seen and less active in the winter. Short-tailed voles are 9.5-13.5cm long and breed all summer."

Cheers. No, definitely not a shrew. My little rodent doesn't have such a pointy snout.

binao

Non-lethal humane trap; take piccy; post and release.