| Water Voles can swim and dive, and are always found near water, often near fast-running glacial or spring-fed streams. Captive young Voles swam voluntarily when they were only 17 days old, before they were even weaned. Water Voles live in alpine and sub-alpine meadows, usually at elevations between about 900 and 3,200 m. They are not known to cross valleys or expanses of forest to move from one habitat to another. They use underground nests year-round, but nests are also found on the surface after snowmelt. These may have been used during the winter, or may have been built when melting snow flooded tunnels. Water Voles do not store food, but consume dry portions of herbaceous vegetation, root buds, rhizomes, and corms (starchy underground stems) in winter, and eat seeds and bulbs in summer.
Also known as:
Richardson's Water Vole, Richardson Vole, Richardson's Meadow Vole, Richardson Meadow Mouse, Water Rat, Big-footed Mouse, Giant Water Vole
Sexual Dimorphism:
Males are larger than females.
Length:
Average:
252 mm
Range:
234-274 mm
Weight:
Range:
72-150 g males; 68-140 g females
References:
DeKay, J.E., 1842. Natural History of New York. Part I: Zoology, p. 91. Thurlow Weed, Albany, New York, 146 pp.
Links:
Mammal Species of the World
Click here for The American Society of Mammalogists species account
|
|
