Myodes gapperi
southern red-backed vole

Red-backed voles, Myodes gapperi, range from British Columbia to mainland Newfoundland and throughout the northern United States from the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachians.

Red-backed voles inhabit cool, mossy and rocky boreal forests in both dry and moist areas. They also inhabit tundra and bogs. Coniferous forests are preferred habitat, although deciduous or mixed coniferous/deciduous woods are also accepted. Nests are generally constructed under the roots of stumps, logs, or brush piles, but may be located in holes or branches of trees high above the ground.

The head and body length of red-backed voles varies between 70 and 112 mm. The tail is 25 to 60 mm long. Weights between 6 and 42 g have been recorded.

Red-backed voles have dense, long, soft fur in winter but this changes to shorter, coarser fur in summer. The general coloration above is dark gray with a pronounced chestnut brown stripe running along the back from head to tail. Face and sides appear yellowish brown and the underparts are dark slate gray to almost white. Males and females are similar in size and color, and young animals tend to be darker than adults.

Red-backed voles can live in the wild to be 20 months. However, most voles only live as long as 12 to 18 months

Red-backed voles are active night and day (more often at night) year round, staying close to fallen logs or rocks and frequently traveling though underground passages when they forage. They usually hop rather than run and are agile jumpers and climbers. They do not generally make runways of their own, but they often use those of other small mammals such as shrews or moles. Red-backed voles construct spherical nests of grasses, mosses, lichens, or shredded leaves. During the winter, these are sometimes placed directly on the ground under the snow, with tunnels radiating from the nest under the snow. Home ranges may be as large as 1.4 ha in the summer (0.5 ha is most common) and as small as 0.14 ha in the winter, when foraging is restricted by a blanket of snow.

When disturbed, red-backed voles utter a chirplike bark that can be heard 1 to 2 m away. They may flee or freeze in position, depending on their preceding activity. They also gnash or chatter their teeth.

Red-backed voles are quite territorial, excluding other red-backed voles from their homes and showing aggression toward other species as well. No communal living or pair bonds have been observed, with the only amicable interactions among individuals occuring at mating time and between a mother and her offspring.

Home Range

Home ranges range in size from 0.14 ha in the winter to 1.4 ha in the summer (0.5 ha is most common) and as small as 0.14 ha in the winter.

Communication in these animals has not been thoroughly described. Some vocalizations are used. When disturbed, red-backed voles utter a chirplike bark that can be heard 1 to 2 m away. They also gnash or chatter their teeth.

In addition, visual cues such as body posture may be of some importance in interactions with members of the same species.

The role of chemical signals in these animals remains unknown, although it is likley that some information is transmitted through scents.

Tactile communication is important in aggression, as well as in the relationship between a mother and her offspring.

Red-backed voles are opportunistic feeders and change their diet as the seasons progress. They eat leaf petioles and young shoots in the spring, add fruits and berries to their diet in the summer, and then switch to nuts and seeds in the autumn. They also consume some bark, roots, lichens, fungi, and insects. They sometimes store food in their nests for use in the winter when it becomes difficult to forage, although they continue to forage for seeds, tree roots, and bark under the snow.

Red-backed voles are almost certainly eaten by a number of predatory species. Owls, hawks, mustelids, black bears, Canada lynx, bobcats, coyotes, foxes, and wolves are all likely predators of these small rodents.

These animals are likely to play some role in local food webs. As a prey item, these voles provide food for many other species. As predators, they may have a great impact on some insect populations. In addition, they help to disperse seeds.

Red-backed voles may damage or kill tree seedlings, and they also eat a large number of seeds. This has been of little economic importance to humans, however.

Red-backed voles destroy harmful insect larvae and are also a major source of food for fur-bearing animals. They have been found to be important in some areas as agents in transporting and burying seeds, although some seeds are obviously eaten.

Populations of Myodes gapperi often fluctuate widely from year to year but with no apparent periodicity. Numbers are fairly low in most of the species range, however, with an average of approximately 2 to 3 voles per acre in favorable habitat.