Southern red-backed vole

The southern red-backed vole or Gapper's red-backed vole (Clethrionomys gapperi) is a small slender vole found in Canada and the northern United States. It is closely related to the western red-backed vole (Clethrionomys californius), which lives to the south and west of its range and which is less red with a less sharply bicolored tail.

Southern red-backed vole
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Cricetidae
Subfamily:	Arvicolinae
Genus:	Clethrionomys
Species:	C. gapperi
Binomial name
Clethrionomys gapperi (Vigors, 1830)

Description

These voles have short slender bodies with a reddish band along the back and a short tail. The sides of the body and head are grey and the underparts are paler. There is a grey color morph in the northeast part of their range. They are 12–16.5 cm (4.7–6.5 in) long with a 4 cm tail^[2] and weigh about 6–42 g; average 20.6 g (0.21–1.48 oz; average 0.72 oz).^[3] They are active year-round, mostly at night. They use burrows created by other small animals, such as squirrels and groundhogs.

Habitat

Top view, Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park, Ontario

These animals are found in coniferous, deciduous, and mixed forests, often near wetlands. They tend to follow paths they have established, runways through the surface growth in warm weather and tunnels through the snow in winter. They are omnivorous, feeding on green plants, underground fungi, seeds, nuts, and roots, as well as insects, snails, and berries.^[2] They can store foods such as roots, bulbs, and nuts to feed on later.

Predators

Predators include hawks, owls, and mustelids.

Breeding

Female voles have two to four litters of two to eight young in a year.^[2]