PHOTO A: The brown depressions on the turf are a result of vole damage. The vole is a small rodent that lives mainly in the North and causes turf damage in two ways. First, damage is caused by the runways that they make through the grass and under the snow cover. They use these hidden runways over and over as a way to get from their burrows to their favorite feeding grounds. Second, damage occurs from their feeding, as the voles eat several different things, including turf cut over 1/2 inch. On this golf course in Minnesota last winter, the vole damage was severe due to early snow cover with very little frost. The second photo shows a greens cover that was gnawed through by the voles.

Photo courtesy of Dan Hanson, a 26-year GCSAA member and the Class A superintendent at St. Cloud (Minn.) Country Club.