Help! Varmits Decimating My Hops Over Winter

This is my first year growing hops and a few days ago I went to do some weeding to prep my plants for the spring. To my horror at least 60 % of the plants had been dug up by mice or voles. I think the potting soil I used to start the rizomes combined with the natural wind break of the weeds made my bines the ideal winter homes for these critters.

There are some pieces of the hops left in the dirt. Is there any way to salvage whats left or should I just start with fresh rhizomes? Also does anyone have any strategies for preventing damage in the future? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm in northwestern nj if that helps.

If you want to be 100% confident of having hops, put in your order for rhizomes.

The reality is they wouldn't ship until March or April by which time anything that is still alive will already be sprouting. I would just wait to see what comes up. They are a very hardy plant that should have some good sized crowns going at this point. Honestly, those critters would have had to do a lot of damage for it to matter.

pictures of the mounds? How big? The only real option to keep them under control is by vigilant trapping (the kind that kill).

.22LR and a good dog and cat team. Never had an issue with mine.

How much snow and/or mulch do you have around your hops?

All the vole damage I have ever seen had been when they were well sheltered from the outside world, and several years the voles were fairly epic in their numbers.

They need the shelter to stay safe. Depending on the winter temperatures, chances are that most of what you have done to protect your hops, mainly served to make life better for the voles.

Catch any of the critters? Voles are cute, look like smaller hamsters, with short tails and small ears. Dumb as stumps,and run down pre-made runways in the grass. Mice, long tails, bigger ears, less cute, more hanta virus, eh.

TeeJo