How Does a Vole Find Food?
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Underground Tunnels
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Voles dig burrows and tunnels, often covering acres of land, to use as transportation paths, nurseries and homes. They spend most of their time in these tunnels and burrows. They find their food by using their sense of smell, but they also literally run into their food, because one of the things they eat are the stems and roots that dangle down into their tunnels from the plants above. This eating behavior can damage the vegetation showing above the ground. Such degeneration of plants with no obvious signs of disease can be indicative of voles.
Food in the Winter
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Voles do not hibernate, but like squirrels, they do store food in underground rooms to be eaten later in the winter. This food is usually seeds or tubers. If voles run out of food in the winter, they will emerge above ground and, using their sense of smell to find it, eat the bark off of small trees or shrubs. In these cases, they will also rub their skin along the tree, leaving their scent so that they can use it to return to the same site for more food.
Some voles, such as Meadow Voles, do not store food in the winter. These species of voles eat almost constantly, and in the fall will move to areas that will provide them with lots of bulbs, seeds and grains during the winter months.
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Scavengers
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Although most voles eat only flowers, grasses, seeds and other green vegetation, some species of voles are scavengers. These voles will eat almost anything they think is edible, including orange rinds or other compost materials. With their strong sense of smell, they can even smell food inside of homes and have been known to dig into basements due to the smell of food, taking up residence in the basement after eating what they find. Although most species of voles are vegetarian, some will also eat insects, as well.
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Resources
- Photo Credit people.westminstercollege.edu
