9^ The Mammals of Colorado 
no doubt the foolish destruction of their natural enemies, 
especially hawks and owls, which almost every farmer thinks 
it a sacred duty to kill at every opportunity, and too many 
so-called sportsmen shoot merely to see them drop. ^lany 
of these birds are worth more to a farmer for the mice they 
destroy than the price of several chickens to save whose lives 
the birds are killed. As a matter of fact most of our hawks 
and owls trouble poultry but little. 
The Saguache Vole prefers to live about damp and marshy 
places, and wet meadows, and in these places its runways 
can often be found in great abundance, and the animal 
running about in them, for the voles are abroad much of the 
daytime. 
Microtus nanus (Grk. nanos, a dwarf). Dwarf Vole 
Arvicola nanus Merriam, N . A. Fauna, Xo. 5, p. 63 (189 1). 
Type locality. — Pashimeroi Mts., Idaho, 9,350 ft. (Merriam and 
Bailey). 
Measurements. — Total length, 5.6; tail vert., 1.55; hind foot, 0.75. 
Description. — (From a specimen taken at Crested Butte, Oct, 
1 6th): Upper parts a grizzled grayish brown, but lighter than 
preceding species, fewer black hairs intermixed; feet grayish; under 
parts a whitish gray; tail bicolor, gray above, not blackish, lighter 
below. 
Distribution. — The Dwarf Vole is reported from Idaho, Utah, 
Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado, In Colorado it has been recorded 
from Larimer, Boulder, Grand, Routt, Gunnison, Lake, and Mon- 
trose counties. It is mainly an inhabitant of the Canadian Zone, 
and is therefore confined to the mountains. It will no doubt 
eventually be recorded from all the mountain counties. The 
lowest elevation at which I know of its being taken is 7,000 feet, 
near Coventry, Montrose County, and it has been taken up to 
nearly 11,000. 
Habits. — This species seems to prefer dryer ground to the 
Saguache \^ole, and is found much on the grassy hillsides; 
at the same time it is also found in the meadows. It makes 
runways and nests, and its general habits are much as 
described for that species. 
