Solved Are these Mouse Holes and How do I get rid of them?

Moving to a new place in Surrey at the moment. The main lawn is full of little holes and cracks which are from a number of sources, including cows from the adjacent farm and a gas pipe line. I've levelled most of it, but keep finding little 2cm wide holes which I thought were from fence stakes or something, but each time I fill a load in, more pop up elsewhere.

I've done a bit of research, and it sounds like they could be from some kind of small rodents, does that sound right?

The only thing that makes me question this is that they normally rely on a food source, and given the house has been empty for a year and there' no other obvious source of food for them, I'm not sure where that would be...?

Anyway, here's a couple of photos, any tips on how to rectify this situation would be massively appreciated.

 

I was going to say Bubble Bee's which nest in the ground, but it looks like some tracks between the holes so i'm going to say Voles, we have bank Voles here which we leave alone and are very happy

 

The issue is I think a lot of their tunnels underground are causing long fault lines in the lawn which collapse in and leave pretty nasty deep ridges in the lawn, which I keep filling in.

Is there a humane way to keep them at bay? Ideally I want to get a robot mower next spring but can't do that with the current lumps and bumps.

 

I agree with Jiffy most likely voles. Encourage Barn Owls by putting nesting boxes up for them. If it were mine I would turn most of the lawn into a wild flower meadow leave the voles and enjoy watching the owls hunting in the twilight.

 

Any chance of a photo of where the lawn is collapsing.
I’ve only ever had that with rats and not the smaller rodents. Not all rate holes are large, they are crafty creatures but their tunnel systems when developed can give way. You would need to set a humane trap that catches the rodent and leave it and see what it catches. Can take a few weeks sometimes.

 

We have Mice here and Rats. The Rats tunnel but the holes are Rat sized. I've found small holes like yours in my grassy areas and did think they were Mouse made but not sure. I don't think we have Voles, I've never seen any. There's a Mouse living in my old caravan. I do my acrylic pouring in the caravan ( incredibly messy but van is due for demolition so it doesn't matter ). Mouse likes to critique my art as if I leave anything with wet paint the next more there will be mouse paw prints in it . I've started leaving him food at the other end of the caravan to try and keep him away from wet paint.