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Do Coffee Grounds Repel Voles? (Explained)

Coffee is consumed all over the world as one of the most popular beverages. This is due to the need for caffeine which can act as a pickup we need in the morning. Coffee jumpstarts our body and makes us feel warm from the inside.

People from all walks of life indulge in consuming coffee along with their everyday breakfast. However, after brewing the coffee we tend to throw away the by-product. Which are the coffee grounds.

Coffee grounds are not to be mistaken as waste, because they are one of the few useful by-products we can use for many beneficial aspects. Let us go over the uses of this and learn if they even can be used to repel certain animals.

Do coffee grounds repel voles?

This is rather a debatable subject. Moles and voles are similar in nature despite their differences biologically. Regardless of that fact it has been reported that coffee grounds on the lawn can be effective in repelling voles. In order to see results, spread some around their holes.

After brewing coffee, we do not expect to think that a by-product of a product of our favorite drink in the morning can be so useful. Coffee grounds can be used in a plethora of ways in our daily lives.

They can help fertilize the garden we might have in our backyard. We can also compost it for later use. Furthermore, they help in repelling insects and pests as well. If we have pets in our household and they have fleas, coffee grounds can well wander to remove them.

Coffee grounds are also one of the best natural ways to help protect our garden and lawns alike. They can deter rodents like voles, gophers, and mice. The coffee ground can be the best natural vole repellent.

This is because rodents do not like the smell of something strong. Coffee grounds will spread this overpowering smell that will act as a barrier in your lawn or garden wherever you spread them. It does that all the while boosting the growth of your plants as well.

Many people are clueless about what to do during a vole or mole infestation in their gardens or lawns. They almost all the time lose hope and stop caring since they do not want to harm the critters. 

In this case, coffee grounds can be helpful since they will not harm the creatures and only deter voles from coming back.

Do voles like coffee grounds? Do coffee grounds keep voles away?

Dregs remain after brewing coffee and the plural form of that word is known as grounds. Thus, the residue after coffee brewing is called coffee grounds. Coffee grounds have an overpowering smell.

Coffee ground is made up of approximately 1.45%nitrogen. They also contain calcium, magnesium, and potassium. These chemicals are all strong-smelling ones that can be used to deter some animals.

Therefore, voles and moles alike are not very fond of them. Therefore, the by-product helps in keeping the rodents away from our garden. Making a safe haven for our ornamental plants.

Because voles are notorious for ruining the ornamental plants in our garden, because of their favored diet being a vegetarian one. They gnaw at the stems of plants, ruining them in the process.

Three reasons coffee grounds repel voles

As a byproduct for brewing coffee, we get coffee grounds and these can be used for various reasons. For example, we can use them as fertilizer, repel insects, neutralize odors, and can also deter rodents as well. Below are some of the reasons why it repels them.

Excellent Barrier:

When you plant vegetables or ornamental flowers in your backyard or lawn, the voles tend to come and lay waste to them.

Since the coffee grounds are so small that they can be sprinkled in between our plants and vegetables. This will act as a barrier for the rodents that would come and destroy them otherwise.

Overpowering Smell:

Most kinds of rodents do not like the strong smell of certain flowers or plants. They can act as excellent compost.

Coffee grounds packs one awesome jab to the faces of the voles. They have a strong smell that can make them leave the area alone.

Acidic:

Coffee grounds are high in nitrogen so they can act as a booster for the plants in your garden. Also, if your soil is rich in nitrogen then the grounds will act as a catalyst for the fruits and flowers.

Coffee grounds are highly acidic. Therefore, they should be used on acidic plants too for an effective way to deter the rodents that might come and try to ruin them. As a result, because of their toxic nature, the rodents avoid them.

How do I permanently get rid of voles using coffee grounds?

Coffee grounds can boost the health of our garden, also help with deterring potential insects and pests that can lay harm to it.

However, this by-product of brewing coffee can also be used to deter rodents like moles and voles. It’s necessary to get rid of them as soon as possible after the first sighting.

Here is a list of steps you can take with the coffee grounds to make sure voles never come back to your lawn or garden again.

Sprinkling:

We start by sprinkling some fresh coffee grounds in between plants on your lawn or garden. Also, if we find out the potential holes of voles then we need to leave a tray of coffee grounds there to prevent them from entering the garden/lawn.

Make border:

We continue to toss coffee grounds each day after making our pot of morning coffee and make a certain border around the garden or lawn. This will tell the voles that this garden has nothing to offer them.

Repeat:

Repeat the process of spreading coffee grounds almost every day. Once we make sure that voles are no signs of them coming anymore to the garden, we can tone down on the spreading of coffee grounds.

Continue:

Continue to do this once every two weeks to keep the voles from returning. Coffee grounds are good fertilizer so spread them in your garden without any worries.

What repels voles? What is a natural way to get rid of voles?

People that are fed up with a vole infestation cannot find any solution to vole’s destruction without harming them. We have you covered there with our list below. This has ways you can take that will naturally deter the rodents without injuring or harming their lives.

Clean Garden/Lawn:

Remove extra vegetation. This is one of the easiest ways to control the voles ruining your garden. Because voles do not like to feed out in the open.

Thus, cleaning out the dense ground cover, mowing the lawn, and cleaning out the snow. Allow light to be on the shrubs and trees, this will keep the voles away.

Sound or Vibration:

Create sounds this will annoy the critters to the point of making them leave the area alone. Voles are sensitive to sound because of their well-developed hearing and sensory perception. 

By simply keeping a wind chime it might not be a sure-fire solution but still, it will keep them at bay.

Strong scent:

If we seed certain flower plants, voles will avoid our gardens. For example, if we plant the Castor bean, Crown imperial,orNarcissusthey can be effective against these critters.

There are other plants that the rodents avoid just like the ones above due to their strong herbal scent. The plants that can keep them out from our gardens/lawns are basil, thyme, garlic, and echinacea.

Final Thoughts

Coffee grounds are useful by-products that we can use for a multitude of things. We should not just throw them away and rather use them as fertilizers as well as natural repellents. Due to the strong smell that the coffee grounds radiate, rodents like the vole avoid places where it is spread.