Spain's Duero Region in Trouble

In what is being called a "plague of Biblical proportions", north-central Spain is being attacked by millions of voles. They are on a rampage, destroying everything in their path. Normally, the typical winter deep freeze would kill them off. But this year it never came and spring warmth saw the population explode. In numbers this dense, the voles are not just content with the countryside. They are now invading the towns. One man in Valencia found a drowned vole in a pot of coffee in his house! But this is only the tip of the iceberg. Scads of living voles mean scads of dead voles, which in turn feeds the spread of black flies, and a disease known as rabbit fever. In response to the onslaught, farmers are burning their fields to kill the voles directly or, at the very least, deprive them of their food. So far nothing is working. The next target? The voles seem to be setting their sites on Spain's major wine producing region along the Duero river. The damage that the voracious voles produce is long term. If they ate just the leaves then it is only the present crop that would be affected. But the voles prefer the tender roots. This results in a set back of four to five years. The time it takes for new vines to produce grapes. To hear the entire NPR story, click here.