Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Eastern meadow voles are active year-round [8] [9] and day or night, with no clear 24-hour rhythm in many areas. [10] Most changes in activity are imposed by season, habitat, cover, temperature, and other factors. Eastern meadow voles have to eat frequently, and their active periods (every two to three hours) are associated with food digestion.
Slightly larger than moles, voles are 5 to 8 inches long and resemble field mice with short tails, compact heavy bodies, small eyes, and partially hidden ears, says Smith.
Voles are seldom seen outside these runways, which enable a faster and safer locomotion and easier orientation. The climbing ability of the common vole is very poor. Underground nests are dug 30–40 cm (12–16 in) deep into the ground and are used for food storage, offspring raising, and as a place for rest and sleep.
Voles outwardly resemble several other small animals. Moles, gophers, mice, rats and even shrews have similar characteristics and behavioral tendencies. Voles thrive on small plants yet, like shrews, they will eat dead animals and, like mice and rats, they can live on almost any nut or fruit. In addition, voles target plants more than most ...
For premium support please call: 800-290-4726 more ways to reach us
Townsend's vole lives in a burrow system and creates runways among the vegetation in its habitat. The runways are used all year round by successive generations of voles and may be 2.5 to 5 cm (1 to 2 in) deep. [5] In the summer the voles may take advantage of the denser cover available and also move about elsewhere.
Foxes, coyotes, domestic dogs, and other canids are the definitive hosts for the adult stage of the parasite. Cats may also be involved. [3] The head of the tapeworm attaches to the intestinal mucosa by hooks and suckers. It then produces hundreds of microscopic eggs, which are dispersed through the feces. [4] Voles are the intermediate host. [1]
Unlike other voles, prairie voles are generally monogamous. The prairie vole is a notable animal model for studying monogamous behavior and social bonding because male and female partners form lifelong pair bonds , huddle and groom each other, share nesting and pup-raising responsibilities, and generally show a high level of affiliate behavior.