neighbors cat left this present. might explain the digging of my plants. a lot of damage to the roots of my hydrangeas in 1 gal containers. how do i stop this....in desperation i threw out a bunch of moth balls. will this do anything other than keep moths from bothering the voles, lol? thanks in advance - jon
Looks like a Shrew. It would eat worms, grubs and even Mice. If you find a sprung mouse trap with just a head left a Shrew ate the rest.
It's hard to say, since it's upside down. Voles have a very round stubby head, like a VW bus (kind of). How big is it exactly? It might be a mouse or a shrew, which are mostly smaller
It is what I call a vole - pointed head with no neck. Our male dog digs them out of our yard.
Looks like what we call a vole here.
The tail seems a bit too long and the front 'claw-paws' don't seem as large > as those of a mole ..
But he sure looks quite similar to this MOLE, here > http://davesgarden.com/terms/showimage.php?did=4176&tid=582 .. and .. http://davesgarden.com/terms/showimage.php?did=4177&tid=582
Relatively certain that your furry fella isn't a mouse either.
I think both a shrew and a vole .. are a wee smaller than a mole.
- Magpye
Vole:
http://www.fcps.edu/StratfordLandingES/Ecology/mpages/meadow_vole.htm
Shrew:
http://www.dlia.org/atbi/species/animals/vertebrates/mammals/soricidae/Blarina_brevicauda.shtml
Mole:
http://www.ksr.ku.edu/libres/Mammals_of_Kansas/mole.html
This message was edited Oct 9, 2006 8:34 PM
the shrew's nose looks sort of long, snoutlike?
I'm pretty sure Stelco hit the id. That looks like a Short-Tailed Shrew (Blarina brevicauda) to me. I just rescued one from a window well.
An easy way to begin determining what you have is that mole snouts are hairless while mice, voles, and shrews have hair on their snouts. From there count the toes on a front foot as mice generally only have four toes on their front feet. Moles and Shrews have five toes on their front feet. Shrew feet are dainty like a mouse while mole feet are broader and webbed. There are other differences but these are the most visible.
For what it's worth, shrews don't do all the damage they are accused of doing and they are rarely if ever classified as a pest. Short-Tailed Shrews mostly live in above ground tunnels they create under decaying logs, piles of leaves, grass, and other vegetation. They will take over underground burrows located close to ground level that were abandoned by other species so I guess I'd call them opportunistic from that standpoint. Shrews have a tremendous appetite and can eat about twice their weight daily. Shrews are particularly fond of slugs and snails but will also eat insects and worms so I view them as friend not foe. They will also eat mice and other shrews if the opportunity presents itself although they are classified as insectivores. Shrews are a dietary staple of many raptors.
Here's a close up photo of the front feet of Blarina brevicauda that I took before I released it outside. Not the greatest photo and he's alive so he's nice and hydrated sporting his velvety coat but you can count the toes and see that his snout is more elongated and hairy-
Hmmm...something's eating underground - I'll have to inspect my cat's kills more closely to see what they are. It just polished off the roots of one of my tomatoes, nailed my Angel Face rose that I was so excited about blooming for the first time, and must be what caused last year's lilies not to show up at all.... Acres and acres of woods, why my garden>
Yours could very well be gophers--they seem to be more common in CA than the other sorts of root-munching pests. Seems it's a bumper year for them too for some reason, the guy who took care of mine for me said there have been a lot more of them around than usual this year.
Could be - but the tunnels seem small. The dogs (11 at the moment) have done a pretty good job of nailing them on the rest of the property. So far (dare I write this?) they haven't bothered much else and what it did eat were in 36" deep bottomless planter boxes.
Could be something else too, I just thought maybe it was gophers since they're such a problem in other parts of the state. We've been having some good discussions about controlling them over on the California forum, everyone from SoCal up through southern Oregon seems to be having trouble with them this year.
I'll have to look over there...you're probably right. The only place they are safe is in my dog free zone, but that's where I care. :-)
