Question
We have lived on our 8 acres in Indiana since 1975 - this year for the first time we have voles everywhere.  Hundreds of nests - I have trapped 33 and got dozens out of nests - there are runs to every garden - our place is grown up with grasses and and thickets since we have made it a wildlife habitat. I am putting garlic water around my plants I most want to save - this Spring it was hopeless - they bit off all the zinnias, cosmos, garden plants etc.  I removed mulch - nests were under them.  I assume since our place is "wild" I can't fight them?  Also, every time I pull out a nest I get bit all over, like fleas?  Thanks, Pam Wright  

P.S.  We love our rabbits and we have lots - so I fence for them - but is there something natural I can use, a smell they don't like?  

Answer
Garlic is a waste of time. In fact don't waste your time with repellents with voles. Repellents rarely work with wildlife the way people want them to anyway. Fencing is an excellent choice for controlling rabbit damage. Again don't waste your time on repellents unless you are dying to spend money and enjoy spraying things that don't work. (I do believe that there is a placebo effect for repellents in that they help landowners feel better because they develop the opinion that they are doing something.)
Sorry to be so blunt, but Americans have a belief that chemicals solve everything.

Vole populations can spike very quickly. I would suggest you visit http://www.icwdm.org/wildlife/voles.asp#University_Publications

If that link has problems visit http://icwdm.org/wildlife/voles.asp  scroll to the bottom. Ignore the broken image links. THat will be fixed tomorrow.  But at the bottom will be a list of publications on vole control. Read the one I wrote, University of nebraska. Then read the others. It will go into detail on what will work.

Would love some high res images of the damage and sign. [email protected]