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Meadow vole runways hidden under matted grass

November to March

Meadow voles clip a network of inch-wide trails through grass and low vegetation and use the same paths over and over between food, cover and their burrows. Kneel at a field edge or an unmown lawn margin, part the matted dead grass down to the soil, and the crisscross of tiny hallways is right there.

Why this time of year

Meadow voles do not hibernate and use these runways year-round, so the network is already built and in use under whatever cover is standing. Where thick matted vegetation has gone over at a field edge or an unmown lawn margin, parting it exposes the trails. The same network shows most plainly in early spring as snow recedes, so a search before then is a head start on the season when everyone notices them.

How to notice it

  1. Pick an unmown spot: a meadow edge, an overgrown lawn margin, or tall grass beside a field or garden bed.
  2. Kneel and gently part the matted dead grass with your hands rather than pulling it up.
  3. Look for a track of flattened, closely clipped grass about one to one and a half inches wide running along the soil surface, often linking small round burrow openings.
  4. Trace one a short way. The runways branch and loop, and fresh grass clippings or brown droppings shaped like rice grains along the route mean it is still in use.

Try this with kids: Can you find a hallway that an animal the size of your thumb clipped through the grass, hidden right under your feet?

runway: a narrow path a vole clips low through grass and walks over and over, like a tiny hallway

Safety

  • Check for ticks after kneeling in or walking through tall or matted grass.

Sources

  • pubs.ext.vt.eduVirginia Cooperative Extension: 'Meadow voles characteristically create multi-branched trails or runways'; 1-inch wide surface trails beneath 'thick, matted vegetation, accumulated plant debris'; marked by 'fresh grass clippings and small fecal droppings'; 'Voles remain active throughout the winter.' No snow is required for the runways to exist or to be found.
  • extension.psu.eduPenn State Extension: surface runway system about 1.5 inches wide with vegetation clipped close to the ground; droppings brown or green and shaped like rice grains; voles do not hibernate and are active year-round.
  • naturalresources.extension.iastate.eduIowa State University Extension: runways are 'most obvious in the early spring as snow cover disappears. However, close inspection of grassy areas during the growing season may also reveal less obvious runways.' This is the source for the runways being findable WITHOUT snow.
  • umass.eduUMass Extension (Massachusetts-specific, and about meadow voles rather than moles): meadow voles construct elaborate and frequently-used runway systems within the turf canopy, chewing plants down to the crown; the runway network is most apparent upon snow melt in March or April.

Checked against these sources on September 18, 2026.

In the guide for November, December, January, February, March

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