246 



MAMMALS OF AMERICA 



Related Species 

 Common Meadow Mouse, or Eastern Vole. — 



Microfus f'cnusylz'anicus l^i-iinsyl'L'tniicus (Ord). Typ- 

 ical animal as described above. Eastern United States 

 westward to Dakota and Nebraska. 



Drummond Vole. — Microfus druinmondii (Audubon 

 and Bachman). Much smaller, slenderer and paler than 

 the Eastern Vole. From Hudson Bay to west slope 

 of the Rocky Mountains and Alaska, and from northern 

 edge of United States north to Fort .\nderson, Mac- 

 kenzie. 



Mountain Vole. — Microfus montanus monfanus 

 (Peale). Size moderate; tail longer than that of East- 

 ern \'ole ; color yellowish-brown mixed with black. 

 Northeastern California, eastern Oregon, northern 

 Utah and Nevada. 



Dwarf Vole. — Microfus nanus nanus (Merriam). 

 Size small ; ears small ; color, pale grizzled brown 

 mixed with black. 



California Vole. — Microfus calif amicus calif ornicus 

 (Peale). Tail twice as long as hind foot; color, pale 

 yellowish-brown mixed with black. California west of 

 Colorado desert, and the Sierra Nevada from San Diego 

 county. California, to Rogue River, Oregon. 



Townsend Vole. — Microfus tozfnscndii (Bachman). 

 Size very large ; tail long ; colors dark. Low country 

 west of Cascades f.'om Port Moody, British Columbia, 

 south to Willamette Valley, Oregon. 



Yellow-cheeked Vole. — Microfus xanthognathus 

 (Leach ) . Size large ; ears large ; tail shorter than head ; 

 above dark brown and black ; blackish-brown stripe on 

 nose between two reddish-brown stripes. Northwestern 



Canada and Alaska from central Alberta north to 

 Arctic coast and west to central Alaska. 



Arctic Vole. — Microfus macfarlani Merriam. Size 

 medium ; tail short ; color, dull yellow-brown and black. 

 Tundra region of Arctic .America east of Mackenzie 

 river. 



Richardson's Vole. — Microfus ricJiardsoni richard- 

 soni (DeKay). Probably the largest of .American 

 Voles, total length up to 9 inches ; tail about as long 

 as head; feet large; mammae eight; color dark brown. 

 Rocky Mountain region of Alberta, Canada. 



Prairie Vole. — Microfus haydcnii (Baird). Medium 

 size, soles thickly haired; tubercles on soles five in 

 number ; tail and ears short ; grayish yellow-brown 

 mixed with black above ; mammae six. Plains region 

 of western South Dakota, Nebraska. Kansas, eastern 

 Colorado, Wyoming and southern Montana. 



Oregon Vole. — Microfus orcgoni orcgoni (Bach- 

 man). Size very small; tail long; ears prominent; fur 

 short and glossy ; mammae eight. Pacific coast region 

 from northern California to Puget Sound. 



Pine Vole. — Pifymys pincforuin finetoruni (Le- 

 Conte). Size small, soles hairy with five tubercles; 

 mammae four ; pelage short, close and glossy ; ears 

 short : tail short ; above, russet, beneath, plumbeous 

 washed with russet. Georgia and the Carolinas. 



Pallid Vole. — Lagurus pallidus (Merriam). Size 

 small ; tubercles on soles of feet five in number ; eight 

 mammae ; tail very short ; ears well haired ; above 

 pale bufify gray mi.xed with black ; beneath white. 

 Prairies of western North Dakota, Montana, and north 

 to Calgary, Alberta. 



The Meadow Alice are probably the most 

 abtindant small rodents in North America, not 

 only as regards individuals but also as regards 

 number of species. There are no less than 

 seventy-six species and stibspecies north of the- 

 Rio Grande, not to mention a few that are found 

 sotith of this boundary. This large number of 

 different varieties is due to the great diversity 

 of local surroundings in which Meadow Mice 

 live. Being of a vigorous stock, they have 

 ptished into almost every available economic 

 niche. 



In fact, the most remarkable thing about these 

 troublesome little rodents, the Field Mice, as the 

 farmers generally call them, is their ability to 

 adapt themselves to the most widely differing 

 environments. No matter, whether above the 

 timber line on some snowclad Alaskan peak, or 

 in the pine forests of Georgia; whether on the 

 arid sand flats of the Painted Desert, or in the 

 well-watered meadows of Pennsylvania — every- 

 where they seem to enjoy life. Under one set 

 of conditions as under another, thev present an 

 equally sleek and well-fed appearance. Nat- 



urally the effect of environment is seen in the 

 pectiliarities of certain species, as, for instance, 

 the brightening in color due to the effect of red 

 soil. 



" The vast range of this species has been 

 noted," says David E. Lantz in " An Economic 

 -Study of Field Mice." " This Mouse has its 

 natural habitat in moist meadows and grassy 

 borders of swamps, but it habitually extends its 

 range into neighboring cultivated fields, waste 

 lands, and open spaces on the border of timber 

 lands. \\'herever it occurs, it is normally the 

 most abundant rodent. Nearly all meadows are 

 full of the animals. 



" In swamps Meadow Mice nest in burrows in 

 dry tussocks or in bunches of grass above the 

 surface of the moist ground. The nests are com- 

 posed of grass or fibers of weeds made into 

 balls, loose and of coarser materials outside, 

 but compact and of finer stuff within, each hav- 

 ing a small opening on the side near the bottom. 

 From this opening two or more trails diverge, 

 one tisually leading into an underground tunnel 

 which opens at some distance from the nest. 



