Southern red-backed vole
{{Short description|Species of rodent}}
{{speciesbox
| name = Southern red-backed vole
| image = SouthernRedbackedVole23.jpg
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Clethrionomys
| species = gapperi
| authority = (Vigors, 1830)
| range_map = Myodes gapperi map.svg
}}
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.
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 {{convert|12|–|16.5|cm|in|abbr=on}} long with a 4 cm tail[http://www.borealforest.org/zoo/vole.htm Southern Red-backed Vole] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415181259/http://www.borealforest.org/zoo/vole.htm |date=2021-04-15 }}, borealforest.org and weigh about 6–42 g; average 20.6 g (0.21–1.48 oz; average 0.72 oz).[http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Myodes_gapperi.html Southern Red-backed Vole], Animal Diversity Web They are active year-round, mostly at night. They use burrows created by other small animals, such as squirrels and groundhogs.
Habitat
Image:Red-backed_vole.jpg, 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. They can store foods such as roots, bulbs, and nuts to feed on later.
Predators
Breeding
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/southernredbackedvole.htm Nature Works TV.org: Southern Red-backed Vole]
{{Arvicolinae}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1764765}}
Category:Rodents of the United States
Category:Fauna of the Eastern United States
Category:Fauna of the Plains-Midwest (United States)
Category:Mammals described in 1830
Category:Least concern biota of the United States
Category:Taxa named by Nicholas Aylward Vigors
{{Arvicolinae-stub}}