Damage

I knew I would get your attention with that title. Well it's true, the voles attacked again underneath the snow this winter. This family resides next to the second green in and around the bunker. You can see their tunnels of soil, sand and decaying organic matter.

Their activity not only disrupts the surface, but the most damage is one underneath the turf. You may notice in this picture how there is a slight depression in the turf between the trap and the green. The voles moved most of the soil to build their home and have created a sink hole.

To correct this problem, the turf must be removed, new soil placed in the depression and then the turf set back into place.

Voles

Voles are rodents that look very similar to mice that wreak havoc to turfgrass in the wintertime. Every four to five years there is a spike in their population and they can create areas like this. 2009 is one of those highly populated years. These vegetarians can eat through turfgrass and perennial plants quickly and leave you with much less plant material in the spring than you had in the fall.

Over the past few years we have noticed most of these areas come back in time, but over seeding and getting proper nutrients to the damaged areas are a must. A few other observations we have noticed, first they fear fungicides and any areas that were applied with fungicides in the fall, keep away from through the winter. Also they stay away from the Nordic track and any other compacted areas. It is impossible for them to burrow through the ice layers.