The other evening we took the pups out for their last pee of the night and Honey, our little hunter of the four, spied a fat little vole running along the rock wall. She pounced and grabbed the little fellow, he wriggled and she dropped him. By then Jake and Henri were nosing around so I had three to hold back while I shielded the little creature. I had a good look at him with the flashlight and could see no blood or damage from Honey’s teeth but I did notice he was as plump as a rotund plumb, fattened up for the coming winter. I was thinking, I wonder if Hope For Wildlife would have taken a vole to nurse back to health….or if hubby would have been happy to drive us to Dartmouth? I was prepared to go all the way for the little guy but he seemed perfectly okay!
Hubby put the pups in the house and I was left with the vole. A vole has smaller ears, beady eyes and a shorter tail than its cousin the mouse and is sometimes refereed to as a Meadow Mouse.
The little Vole started running around in circles, slowly moving away from me with each completed ring. He seemed to be heading towards a lawn chair. Not sure what that action was about, I would have been scurrying away as fast as my little legs could carry me. I could have reached down and picked the little guy up at any moment so it wasn’t trying to escape. Maybe the action was to confuse a predator, swishing its scent in all directions to keep from being detected. This happened once before and a vole kept running in circles between and around Honey’s legs and she couldn’t find it so who knows? I watched this little guy spinning like a top until he moved to the grass area next to the house, once under the cover of leaves he stopped the circling and burrowed into the dense grass. Excitement now over, I went inside.
The next morning the pups were out for their morning pee and didn’t they run to the grass by the corner of the house as if a neon sign was pointing to where the vole was hiding in the lawn! I figured he’d be long gone but no, he was hanging out only a few feet away from where I left him the night before, surely the little guy had a death wish? I shooed the pups away and took them to the top of the driveway for their pee and then hustled them inside, hoping the vole was using this opportunity head out of town.
I had my shower and readied for work. As I was heading down the driveway I thought of the vole and something told me to stop and check out the road. I didn’t want to see a pancaked rodent on the trip back home. Luckily I took the time to look because it was in the road, waddling about without a care in the world right where my tire would have driven. I beeped for help and hubby came out and stood beside the little guy. It immediately started going in circles again, around and around until he reached the other side of the road and went over the bank into the grass. Hubby stood there making sure he didn’t scoot back up on the road while I drove down the driveway.
So when I came home at 5:00 I didn’t see anything on the road and parked. then I took the pups out for a pee and play ball. They dashed out of the house and ran directly to the vole on the other side of the property. What a sense of smell these guys have. So I had to shoo them away once again.
We went inside and hubby and I are discussed the vole dilemma and I said we needed to do an intervention and move him to the rock wall behind the house so I could be sure I wouldn’t be driving over the little guy. And at some point his luck would run out if the dogs eventually got it, he'd already used up a few of his lives, how many can a vole have?
So we went out and looked around the area he was last seen but the grass was high and the birch trees had shed their leaves all over the ground providing great camouflage. I felt icky about stepping anywhere so I called in our best tracker. Walking on the little guy wasn’t the rescue mission we hoped for and hearing a little squeak would have echoed in my head for days to come.
So I released a hound and sure enough, Honey flew out the door and straight for hubby, immediately veered to the left and went straight to where the mouse was burrowed under the grass. Amazing….a beeline, straight as a ruler right to the vole!
Hubby had a plastic container lined with grass and it was relatively easy to get him in it and then we relocated him. Honey was almost losing her mind from the potent scent of the vole; she wanted the fat little fellow for a snack. So we had a little chat. I told her I appreciated her hunting skills and she was a very big help locating the little guy, but she didn’t have to kill her own dinner; it would come neatly wrapped in cellophane on a Styrofoam tray from the store. I explained Mr. Vole probably had a little family to go home too and Honey can relate, she knows how lonely it is when her daddy is away for long periods. But just to be safe, we put her inside so she wouldn't see where we placed him. So the little vole is safe once again, happy to live another day frolicking along the rock wall behind our house. Except for the hawks, owls, snakes and coyotes, he should be fine.
Hubby put the pups in the house and I was left with the vole. A vole has smaller ears, beady eyes and a shorter tail than its cousin the mouse and is sometimes refereed to as a Meadow Mouse.
The little Vole started running around in circles, slowly moving away from me with each completed ring. He seemed to be heading towards a lawn chair. Not sure what that action was about, I would have been scurrying away as fast as my little legs could carry me. I could have reached down and picked the little guy up at any moment so it wasn’t trying to escape. Maybe the action was to confuse a predator, swishing its scent in all directions to keep from being detected. This happened once before and a vole kept running in circles between and around Honey’s legs and she couldn’t find it so who knows? I watched this little guy spinning like a top until he moved to the grass area next to the house, once under the cover of leaves he stopped the circling and burrowed into the dense grass. Excitement now over, I went inside.
The next morning the pups were out for their morning pee and didn’t they run to the grass by the corner of the house as if a neon sign was pointing to where the vole was hiding in the lawn! I figured he’d be long gone but no, he was hanging out only a few feet away from where I left him the night before, surely the little guy had a death wish? I shooed the pups away and took them to the top of the driveway for their pee and then hustled them inside, hoping the vole was using this opportunity head out of town.
I had my shower and readied for work. As I was heading down the driveway I thought of the vole and something told me to stop and check out the road. I didn’t want to see a pancaked rodent on the trip back home. Luckily I took the time to look because it was in the road, waddling about without a care in the world right where my tire would have driven. I beeped for help and hubby came out and stood beside the little guy. It immediately started going in circles again, around and around until he reached the other side of the road and went over the bank into the grass. Hubby stood there making sure he didn’t scoot back up on the road while I drove down the driveway.
So when I came home at 5:00 I didn’t see anything on the road and parked. then I took the pups out for a pee and play ball. They dashed out of the house and ran directly to the vole on the other side of the property. What a sense of smell these guys have. So I had to shoo them away once again.
We went inside and hubby and I are discussed the vole dilemma and I said we needed to do an intervention and move him to the rock wall behind the house so I could be sure I wouldn’t be driving over the little guy. And at some point his luck would run out if the dogs eventually got it, he'd already used up a few of his lives, how many can a vole have?
So we went out and looked around the area he was last seen but the grass was high and the birch trees had shed their leaves all over the ground providing great camouflage. I felt icky about stepping anywhere so I called in our best tracker. Walking on the little guy wasn’t the rescue mission we hoped for and hearing a little squeak would have echoed in my head for days to come.
So I released a hound and sure enough, Honey flew out the door and straight for hubby, immediately veered to the left and went straight to where the mouse was burrowed under the grass. Amazing….a beeline, straight as a ruler right to the vole!
Hubby had a plastic container lined with grass and it was relatively easy to get him in it and then we relocated him. Honey was almost losing her mind from the potent scent of the vole; she wanted the fat little fellow for a snack. So we had a little chat. I told her I appreciated her hunting skills and she was a very big help locating the little guy, but she didn’t have to kill her own dinner; it would come neatly wrapped in cellophane on a Styrofoam tray from the store. I explained Mr. Vole probably had a little family to go home too and Honey can relate, she knows how lonely it is when her daddy is away for long periods. But just to be safe, we put her inside so she wouldn't see where we placed him. So the little vole is safe once again, happy to live another day frolicking along the rock wall behind our house. Except for the hawks, owls, snakes and coyotes, he should be fine.
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