We explored whether canine assistance would significantly improve efficiency and effectiveness of snap-trapping for non-chemical management of voles. We expected dogs’ abilities to indicate real-time vole proximity could improve efficiency enough to render snap-trapping a feasible management tool at limited scales and where use of rodenticides is inappropriate. Timing was a critical component of our approach. Trapping commenced early January and thence every 14 days through mid-March, intended to directly reduce reproductive capacity by removing potential breeders before onset of breeding season and reducing early-season damage. We compared dog-assisted trapper efficiency and effectiveness to an “unassisted” human trapper working to scout and trap plots of the same size within the same field. We compared trap success (# voles killed per # traps set), efficiency (# voles killed per minutes spent searching and marking holes), and total search time invested. A late (March) pilot round of trapping in 2022 on 5 Willamette Valley farms (1 hazelnut, 2 dairy pastures, 2 vegetable) provided limited but promising results and allowed us to refine our approach. Canine-assisted (3 trained amateur teams) and unassisted − but expert − humans tied in trap success (0.41 voles/trap and 0.40 voles/trap, respectively), but average efficiency and total search time spent by canine-assisted (0.48 voles killed/search minute, 97 total search minutes) out-performed that of an unassisted human (0.29 voles killed/search minute, 232 total search minutes). The regional vole population crashed prior to our 2023 season, which added further challenge to our work on 6 pastures. When voles were sparse, canine-assisted teams spent less time searching, but unassisted humans caught more voles per trap set. Canine-assisted teams (2 experienced amateur, 1 professional team) caught 0.029 voles/traps set and 0.11 voles/search min over 593 total minutes compared to unassisted human capture rate of 0.047 voles/traps set and 0.049 voles/search min over a total of 1207 search minutes.
