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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 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 other small animals, making their presence evident. Voles readily girdle small trees and ground cover much like a porcupine. This girdling can easily kill ...
Yellow jackets, one of the most common wasps in Washington state, are looking for water during the current dry summer and may be attracted to freshly watered lawns and gardens.
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.
The southern red-backed vole or Gapper's red-backed vole (Clethrionomys gapperi) is a small slender vole found in Canada and the northern United States. It is closely related to the western red-backed vole ( Clethrionomys californius ), which lives to the south and west of its range and which is less red with a less sharply bicolored tail.
The tundra vole (Alexandromys oeconomus) or root vole is a medium-sized vole found in Northern and Central Europe, Asia, and northwestern North America, including Alaska and northwestern Canada. [2] In the western part of the Netherlands , the tundra vole is a relict from the ice age and has developed into the subspecies Alexandromys oeconomus ...