Mice look for a way in once it cools off. Voles do their damage under the snow where nobody sees it happening.
Mice start looking for a way indoors as fall temperatures drop, and the gap they need is smaller than most homeowners assume — a mouse can work through an opening not much wider than a pencil. Finding and closing those gaps around the foundation, utility penetrations and the garage does more long-term good than trap placement alone, though both matter once mice are already inside.
Voles are a different animal in every sense. They live outdoors year-round and never try to get into the house — instead they tunnel under snow cover through winter, chewing grass roots and the bark of young trees. The damage is invisible until the snow melts and you are looking at dead trails through the lawn or girdled bark at the base of a tree. It is a landscaping problem, not an infestation, and the response is different from anything aimed at mice.
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