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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 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 ...
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 average eastern meadow vole lifespan is less than one month because of high nestling and juvenile mortality. [8] The average time adults are recapturable in a given habitat is about two months, suggesting the average extended lifespan (i.e. how much time adult eastern meadow voles have left) is about two months, not figuring in emigration. [8]
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. Feces are deposited in the runways and large latrines may form, often at intersections. [5]
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.
The short-tailed field vole is a small, dark brown rodent with a short tail, distinguishable from the closely related common vole (Microtus arvalis) by its darker, longer and shaggier hair and by its more densely haired ears. The head and body length varies between 8 and 13 centimetres (3.1 and 5.1 in) and the tail between 3 and 4 centimetres ...
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 ...