The Meadow Mouse (Vole)
The Little Pathmaker
The Meadow Mouse, or Vole, is a small, round rodent that looks a lot like a chunky mouse with a shorter tail. They are the busiest animals in the field, always digging tunnels and nibbling on grass. Even though they are small, they are very important because they provide food for many other animals in the wild.
RANGE
Meadow Voles live all across North America. You can find them from the top of Alaska and Canada all the way down to the middle of the United States. They love places that have lots of grass to hide in.
HABITAT
As their name suggests, these animals love meadows! They also live in marshes, fields, and grassy areas near woods. They build secret "runways" or paths through the tall grass. These paths are like little tunnels that keep them hidden from predators as they move around.
DIET
These little animals are herbivores. They spend most of their time eating plants that grow right near their homes.
Favorite Foods: They love to eat green grass, clover, and seeds.
Winter Snacks: In the winter, when the grass is gone, they will nibble on the bark of small trees and shrubs.
LIFE CYCLE
Meadow Voles are famous for having many babies!
A mother can have several litters of babies every year.
Each litter usually has 4 to 6 babies.
The babies grow up very fast and can start their own families when they are only a few weeks old. This is how there stay so many voles in the meadow!
SIZE & WEIGHT
Meadow Voles are small and sturdy. They are usually about 5 to 7 inches long, including their tail. They weigh very little, usually about the same as a few slices of bread. Their bodies are shaped like a little bean, which helps them squeeze through their grass tunnels.
PREDATORS
Because they are small and there are so many of them, almost every meat-eater in the forest looks for Meadow Voles. Hawks, owls, foxes, weasels, and even snakes are their predators. Their best way to stay safe is to stay inside their secret grass paths where they can't be seen from the sky.
ADAPTATIONS
The Meadow Vole has some neat tricks to stay safe and healthy.
Tunneling: They are expert diggers. They make tunnels under the snow in the winter to stay warm and hide from hungry owls.
Quick Ears: Their ears are very small and tucked into their fur, but they can hear the tiny "whoosh" of an owl's wings from far away.
Strong Teeth: Just like squirrels, their front teeth never stop growing, which is perfect for all the grass they have to chew.
FUN FACTS
Busy Eaters: A Meadow Vole can eat its own weight in grass and seeds in just one day!
Snow Travelers: During the winter, they live in a "subnivean" world, which is a space between the frozen ground and the snow. It stays much warmer there than it does outside.
Short Tails: You can tell a Vole apart from a regular house mouse because the Vole has a much shorter tail and smaller ears.
ANIMAL TALK
Meadow voles are very busy little creatures that use high-pitched sounds and scent to stay in touch with their colony.
The High Squeak: They use tiny, sharp squeaks to talk to their family members or warn others to stay away from their grass tunnels.
Ultrasonic Whispers: Voles can make sounds so high-pitched that human ears cannot even hear them! This helps them talk to each other without alerting predators like hawks or owls.
Scent Trails: They leave special scent marks along their "runways" in the grass to tell other voles who lives there and where the best food is found.
RESPECTING WILDLIFE
Meadow voles are a very important part of the food web in our backyards and local fields.
Supporting Local Wildlife: Many of our favorite forest neighbors, like foxes, hawks, and owls, rely on voles for food. By having a healthy population of voles in a nearby field, these larger animals have plenty to eat.
Managing the Garden: Because voles love to munch on the roots of plants and the bark of young trees, gardeners can protect their favorite saplings by placing a "tree guard" around the base of the trunk. This is usually a piece of plastic or wire mesh that keeps the voles from nibbling on the tree during the winter.
Underground Aerators: As voles dig their shallow tunnels, they help mix the soil and allow air and water to reach the roots of wildflowers and grasses. This makes the meadow a much healthier place for plants to grow.
Natural Lawn Care: If you see little "runways" or paths in your grass after the snow melts in the spring, it means you have had vole neighbors! You can gently rake these areas and plant a little extra grass seed to help the lawn bounce back while appreciating the hard work these tiny neighbors did all winter.
Meadow Vole Photos
