| Southern Red-backed Voles, like other voles, are active year-round. They do not hibernate or reduce their metabolism and enter a state of torpor to conserve energy against the cold. They breed from March through November, producing two or three litters of 4-5 young each year. By three months of age, the young voles are sexually mature and ready to reproduce. This species is semi-fossorial, using burrow systems built by other rodents and natural aboveground runways through logs, rocks, and roots of trees.
Also known as:
Red-backed Vole, Gapper's Red-backed Mouse, Boreal Red-backed Vole, Red-backed Mouse
Sexual Dimorphism:
None
Length:
Range:
116-172 mm
Weight:
Range:
6-42 g
References:
In Gapper, Dr., 1830. Observations on the quadrupeds found in the district of upper Canada extending between York and Lake Simcoe, with the view of illustrating their geographical distribution, as well as describing some species hitherto unnoticed, p. 204. The Zoological Journal, 5:201-207.
Links:
Mammal Species of the World
Click here for The American Society of Mammalogists species account
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