meadow vole

LC - Least Concern

N5 - Secure

SNR - Unranked

not listed

Meadow vole is the largest vole found in Minnesota and the most widely distributed mole in North America.

It weighs between 1 and 2½ ounces. The length of the head and body together is 3½″ to 5″. The total length, including the tail, is 5″ to 7¾″. The body is 2 to 3 times as long as the tail.

The ears are small, inconspicuous, and hidden by the fur.

The coat (pelage) is long and soft. It is dark brown on the back, a little lighter on the sides, and silvery on the belly. It is darker on young individuals, lighter on older individuals.

The tail is 15 ⁄16″ to 2½″ long and bicolored. It is 2 to 3 times longer than the hind foot.

Total Length: 5″ to 7¾″

Head and body: 3½″ to 5″

Tail: 15 ⁄16″ to 2½″

Prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) pelage has a grizzled appearance. The belly is yellowish. The tail is shorter, 1″ to 1¾″long. Where the ranges overlap prairie vole will be in drier areas.

Meadows, fields, grassy marshes, grassy woodlands. Moist places.

Adults are active all times of day.

Less than one year

Breeding takes place between April and December. Two to four litters are produced each year. There are usually 4 to 6 offspring per litter though there may be as few as 1 or as many as 11. Gestation lasts 20 to 23 days. Due to high nestling and juvenile mortality, an average of only 2.6 offspring are successfully weaned. The offspring reach sexual maturity at 5 to 6 weeks. Adults usually live less than one year but may live up to two years.

Diet consists mostly of grasses, sedges, and herbs, but also includes seeds, grains, and when available, tubers, bulbs, and fruits. In the winter they sometimes eat the bark and roots of woody shrubs and trees.

Sources

4, 7, 29, 30, 76.

Drummond vole (M. p. drummondii) is found only in the northeast corner of the state.

Pennsylvania meadow mouse (Microtus pennsylvanicus pennsylvanicus) occurs throughout all of the state.

Very common

The genus Microtus was formerly included with Arvicola in the broadly defined tribe Arvicolini based on morphological similarity. Recent molecular genetic analysis showed that the two genera are not “sister taxa.” In 2006, Microtus was moved to the new tribe Microtini that now contains seven other genera, all with rootless, ever growing molars and crown cement.

In 2019, Drummond vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus drummondii), which also occurs in Minnesota, was elevated to species status and is now western meadow vole (Microtus drummondii). Several other former Microtus pennsylvanicus subspecies were subsumed within Microtus drummondii.

Location: St. Louis County, Minnesota

So many trapped in my garage, it feels like an infestation.