permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>]

On 11/4/2010 4:19 PM, Dieter Brand wrote:
> > The most effective deterrent that I have seen is sound.  The
> > battery powered spikes that poke in the ground and emit high
> > frequency sounds seem to work well.
>
> That's the one I used.  There is also a type that uses a small solar
> panel instead of batteries.  It's expensive and it won't work in my
> garden which has a lot of shade.  The cheapest method is to half
> burry empty bottles at a slight angle in the ground.  The wind
> entering the open bottle will make a sound that is to deter the
> voles.  It’s the sound you make when you blow into an open bottle at
> an angle.  I tried this without much success.  But we are in a valley
> and don’t get much wind.
>
> Dieter Brand Portugal

Always wondered what a vole looked like. I assumed they were similar to 
moles...not so. According to my Google search they are cute little brown 
furred field mice with long hind feet. I call them kangaroo mice. I seem 
to have plenty on my farm and they are my cat's main wild food. I have 
never been able to find any damage to crops from them, not so with 
gophers/groundhogs - its become an ongoing battle with them. I have the 
deer under control, successfully fenced out as I described in an earlier 
post.