A vole is a small rodent resembling a mouse but with a stouter body, a shorter, hairy tail, and smaller ears and eyes.

Description

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Most vole species have rootless molars that fold into a series of triangles. Voles are one of the few rodents whose molars continue to grow during their entire life. There is little to distinguish a vole from a lemming.

All rodents have incisors that grow continuously.

Adult voles, depending on the species, are three to seven inches long.

Habitat

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Voles live in a variety of environments. The North American Meadow Vole lives in networks of above-ground "runways" in grassy areas, as well as underground burrows. California's Red Tree Vole lives in the treetops.

Range

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Sometimes known as field mice in America, approximately 70 species of voles can be found in Europe, Asia, North Africa and North America.

Diet

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Depending on the species, the Vole's diet consists of seeds, tubers, conifers needles, bark, various green vegetation such as grass and clover, and insects.

Predators

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Many carnivores such as wolves, owls, hawks, coyotes, foxes, weasels, cats and fish eat voles.

Age

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The average life of a vole is between 3–6 months. Voles rarely live longer than 12 months. The longest lifespan of a vole ever recorded was 18 months.

Popular culture

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The character of Ratty in The Wind in the Willows is actually a water vole, not a rat.

Some techies refer to Microsoft headquarters as 'VoleHill' and Microsoft as 'the Vole.' It has been suggested that the origin of this usage lies in the name of the genus of many North American voles: Microtus. The Inquirer, an online IT oriented magazine, has popularised this usage (see also: VoleWare).

Containment

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While voles can, like most rodents, be pests to yards and homes next to fields, there are some ways to keep them out of your yard. According to the Humane Society a mixture of castor oil, dish soap, and water spread around the perimeter of your yard will be seen as a threat and therefore keeps these rodents away.

Muroid rodents | Voles and lemmings

Wühlmaus | Campagnol terrestre | Vole | 田鼠