It's a sure sign of the apocalypse. Forget about locust and famine.
A reader sent me this link to a report on public radio: http://www.theworld.org/?q=taxonomy_by_date/1/20070817
Scroll down to the report titled: Spain's troubles with voles
The correspondent describes "a plague of biblical proportions . . . hundreds of millions of voles" invading north central Spain's agricultural region. The vermin are wiping out corn crops and threatening vineyards in the wine country. 
Invading towns. Children playing alongside the rodents.
Geez, I thought I had it bad in my hostas.
Apparently the deep winter freeze that would normally kill off many of the voles didn't happen. This spring the rodent population exploded.
There's a parallel to the increased vole damage affecting Delaware Valley gardeners this season.
According to Rutgers Fact Sheet FS399 http://njaes.rutgers.edu/pubs/, voles don't hibernate. That makes them susceptible to sub-freezing temperatures.
Of course, that didn't happen around here last winter. The average temp in South Jersey last December to March was nearly 50 degrees! Those voles were plenty cozy under your mulch making woopie all winter.
A single female vole can have up to 5 litters a year, bringing as many as 30 baby voles into the world. BTW, female voles mature to reproductive stage in just about a month!
I'm an English major, but even I can do that math!
I'm hoping for a cold winter!
P.S. - I snagged 15 voles so far with peanut butter-baited mouse traps
