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Vole, mouse and rat control in Illinois
Voles tunnel your lawn under the snow and leave a maze of runways in April. Mice and rats work the foundation looking for a gap. Both problems get handled outside, before anything reaches the inside of the house.
Short answer
EKKO Lawns handles rodents on the exterior only. That covers vole runways and burrows in the lawn, exterior bait stations along the structure, treatment of active burrows and identification of the gaps rodents use to get in. Interior trapping and removal fall outside our scope and we will refer that out.
Vole damage shows up when the snow melts
Voles stay active all winter under snow cover, chewing grass at the crown and running surface trails nobody sees until spring. The lawn comes out of winter with narrow tracks about two inches wide winding across the yard, often with small holes at the ends. Mulch beds and the base of shrubs take the worst of it.
- Surface runways about two inches wide across the lawn
- Golf ball sized burrow openings with no soil mound
- Chewed bark at the base of shrubs and young trees
- Damage that appears all at once after the snow melts
- Mouse and rat activity along foundations, sheds and woodpiles
Rodent and vole control is a specialty service. It is priced separately from Home Pest Protection and is not included in the recurring program. See Home Pest Protection
How exterior rodent work runs
Find the activity, treat the outside, close the openings and check back.
Inspect the property
We map runways, burrows, droppings and rub marks. Activity tells us what is living there and where it travels.
Place exterior stations
Tamper resistant bait stations go along the structure, at burrow entrances and on travel routes, secured and out of reach of kids and pets.
Treat active burrows
Vole burrows and rodent holes get direct treatment rather than waiting for the animals to find a station.
Flag the entry points
Gaps around utility lines, foundation cracks, garage thresholds and vents get documented so you can close them.
Cut the harborage
Woodpiles against the house, dense ground cover, tall grass at the foundation and open feed all keep rodents on the property.
Service the stations
We return to check and refill on a schedule. A station nobody maintains stops working within a few weeks.
Repairing a lawn after voles
Vole runways look worse than they usually are. Where the grass got chewed but the crown survived, the lawn fills those tracks back in over a few weeks of spring growth with a feeding behind it.
Where the crown is gone the tracks stay bare and need seed. Rake the runways to lift the matted grass, seed the open lines and keep them damp. We can handle that as part of a spring visit.
- Tamper resistant stations placed and maintained
- Active burrows treated directly
- Entry points documented for you to seal
- Exterior scope, with interior work referred out
Pairs well with
Perimeter pest control
The insect side of the same foundation line, on a quarterly schedule.
See perimeter pest controlLawn restoration
Heavy vole damage across a lawn sometimes needs more than spot seeding.
See lawn restorationLawn overseeding
Seeding the bare runways closes them before weeds find the open soil.
See overseedingRodent questions we get
No. We work the exterior only, which covers bait stations, burrow treatment and identifying entry points. Interior trapping needs a company that handles inside work.
Voles are rodents that eat plants and leave surface runways. Moles are insect eaters that push up raised tunnels and soil mounds. The damage looks completely different and so does the treatment.
Usually. Where the crown survived, the tracks fill in over a few weeks of spring growth. Bare runways need raking and seed.
The stations are tamper resistant, locked and anchored, and we place them where children and pets do not go.
Move woodpiles away from the house, cut back ground cover at the foundation, keep grass short at the edges and secure pet food and bird seed.
It depends on the property size and how much activity is present. Call (815) 521-6356 and we will inspect it.
Handle the rodents outside the house
Call and we will inspect the property and place the stations.
