What do You Suppose is Making These Squiggly Lines All Over the Lawn?

Winter brings so many little mysteries.

I remember the first winter my wife and I had our dog. He was from Texas originally, so he seemed a bit wigged out about snow when it first became a thing. He frolicked in it, jumped around in it, ate it... you name it. He loved it. But most of all, he loved to dig around in it. And I always kind of wondered what he was sniffing around for.

It didn't matter how deep the snow was, he would sniff/dig in a straight line, and then make a sudden turn to the right or left, and so on. It wasn't until Spring came around that I thought I might have finally seen the reason why he was so sniffy. Other Mainers have also wondered. And then even went to Reddit about it. People knew the answer pretty darn quick...

Weird squigly lines in my thawing yard?
by u/snooper27 in Maine

Little do you know, your lawn is a super-highway.

Once the snow melts, a lot of people start noticing squiggly lines all over the place. And that was what my dog was following around when he was sniffing in the snow, was these little trails. It looked like a micro road map of a lost civilization. As though Atlantis was popping out of my grass.

Turns out, it's just voles. Voles are cute little rodents that look Unlike moles and shrews, voles almost look like a little mouse with a smooshed in face. Moles and shrews look like weird little miniature ant eaters, with their tiny pointy snouts.  But voles just burrow back and forth under the snow, being voles.

They just want to eat all the available vegetation your yard has lying around. Even under the snow. They're kind of a nuisance and most people try getting rid of them. The rest of us just stop caring and let them be. But if you've had these squiggly lines all over your yard and couldn't figure it out, now you know. And knowing is half the battle...

But are these Maine towns safe from voles?!