The southern red-backed vole or Gapper's red-backed vole (''Myodes gapperi'') is a small slender

vole Voles are small rodents that are relatives of lemmings and hamsters, but with a stouter body; a longer, hairy tail; a slightly rounder head; smaller eyes and ears; and differently formed molars (high-crowned with angular cusps instead of lo ...

found in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the northern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It is closely related to the

western red-backed vole The western red-backed vole (''Myodes californicus'') is a species of vole in the family Cricetidae. It is found in California and Oregon in the United States and lives mainly in coniferous forest. The body color is chestnut brown, or brown mixed ...

(''Myodes californius''), which lives to the south and west of its range and which is less red with a less sharply bicolored tail.

Description

These voles have short slender bodies with a reddish band along the back and a short tail. The sides of the body and head are grey and the underparts are paler. There is a grey color morph in the northeast part of their range. They are long with a 4 cm tailSouthern Red-backed Vole
borealforest.org and weigh about 6–42 g; average 20.6 g (0.21–1.48 oz; average 0.72 oz).
Animal Diversity Web They are active year-round, mostly at night. They use burrows created by other small animals, such as squirrels and groundhogs.

Habitat

These animals are found in coniferous,

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

, and mixed forests, often near wetlands. They use runways through the surface growth in warm weather and tunnel through the snow in winter. They are omnivorous feeding on green plants, underground

fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...

, seeds, nuts, roots, also insects, snails, and berries. They store roots, bulbs, and nuts for later use.

Predators

Predators include hawks,

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

s, and

mustelid The Mustelidae (; from Latin ''mustela'', weasel) are a family of carnivorous mammals, including weasels, badgers, otters, ferrets, martens, minks and wolverines, among others. Mustelids () are a diverse group and form the largest family ...

Breeding

Female voles have two to four litters of two to eight young in a year.

References

External links

Nature Works TV.org: Southern Red-backed Vole
Southern red-backed vole Mammals of Canada Mammals of the United States Rodents of North America Fauna of the Eastern United States Fauna of the Plains-Midwest (United States) Mammals described in 1830 Least concern biota of North America Least concern biota of the United States {{Arvicolinae-stub