The Eastern Gray Mole (AKA Eastern Mole) is the mole responsible for causing mole damage in Middle Tennessee. An adult Eastern mole will typically be 5-8 inches long and weigh less than one half pound and has fur that is primarily gray with variations in darkness. Like other moles, the Eastern mole is an insectivore and eats a variety of soil dwelling critters including worms, grubs, ants, snails, pill bugs, and even small lizards to name a few. Moles cause damage by creating raised surface tunnels or ridges of soil and mole hills (raised mounds of soil) as they tunnel in search of food. Moles spend their entire lives underground. They don’t eat plant material and any damage caused to plants is from physical damage resulting from tunneling, not from consumption. Trapping is the surest option for controlling moles in lawns as every mole removed from a trap will never disrupt a lawn again.

There are two vole species typically found in Middle Tennessee, the Pine Vole, and the Meadow Vole. Depending on the species, they range in size from 3 to nearly 8 inches long and weigh in at 2 ounces or so. Their fur ranges from a light gray to a dark brown with variations in-between. Voles are rodents and have the ability like mice to gnaw and chew things. They are vegetarians and do damage plants by feeding on roots, bulbs, rhizomes, and even gnawing bark from the trunks of small trees and shrubs. They create burrows in the ground that are frequently connected by surface runs (not below ground tunnels) in tall grass and other vegetation that will provide them cover from predators such as hawks and owls. Voles can be successfully trapped, but keeping populations low in large areas must also include management practices such as reducing tall vegetation and thick mulch layers adjacent to plants that can be used as cover.