Hi Robert how do shrews control voles? The shrews we have in my part of the world are only tiny little things.
John,
I liked your question so I did some investigation into the subject.
My first information about shrews controlling voles came to me many years ago as old time wisdom. Some of the old farmers in our area shared this information with me as a young man. I had no reason to not believe them.
After more investigation into the subject, this is some of what I discovered.
Shrews are very precocious and some species give off a terrible odor. So maybe voles are repelled by the smell of shrews and if the shrews are breeding quickly the voles may be less willing to hang around. Seems possible.
Although tiny, shrews are known to be pugnacious and fiercely territorial. They are insectivores, eating mostly insects, worms and slugs, however some are known to attack and eat other shrews. In addition some species in North America have a poisonous bite and are known to eat mice, so my guess is that the same species will eat voles too.
It seems that there
could be some truth to this old time wisdom, at least here in North America. It might be something worth looking into.
