Fig. 1.  Pine vole damage and gnaw marks on taproots of young pecan trees.  The trunks were painted white.  Much of the taproot has been consumed.  White areas indicate recent feeding; darker areas indicate old feeding sites.  Vole gnaw marks are characteristically nonuniform.  Nonuniformity of gnaw marks occurs because voles are discriminating feeders.   On tree A, the gnaw mark is a neat oblique cut and more of the tap root was consumed than in the other trees, indicating that the root was highly preferred.  On trees B, C, D, and E, most of the feeding occurred some time ago.  As indicated by the white areas, these trees were revisited.  However, the small size of the white areas, suggest aborted feeding and, presumably, a second rejection of the root as a preferred food source. Tree B appears to be the least preferred.  A long sliver was uneaten and a higher percentage of the taproot was left intact than in the other trees.