First Record of the Rock Vole, 
Microtus chrotorrhinus (Miller) 
(Rodentia: Cricetidae), in Virginia 
John F. Pagels 
Department of Biology 
Virginia Commonwealth University 
Richmond, Virginia 23284 
ABSTRACT . — A rock vole, Microtus chrotorrhinus, collected in 
Bath Co., Va., represents the first record of this species in the state. 
The collection site was at 1,036 m on Allegheny Mountain in George 
Washington National Forest. The site was characterized by talus and 
supported a northern hardwood forest. 
A subadult male rock vole, Microtus chrotorrhinus (Miller), collected 
in Bath Co., Va., on 28 July 1987, represents the first record to be 
published of this species in the Commonwealth. The collection site, at 
1,036 m elevation on the eastern slope of Allegheny Mountain (38° 14' 
N, 79° 49' W) in the George Washington National Forest, is 16 km N of 
Mountain Grove. The rock vole was captured on a west-facing slope 
about 25 m above the channel of Lightner Run, a tributary of Little 
Back Creek. The nearest of several West Virginia localities where M. 
chrotorrhinus has been collected is about 32 km from this site (Kirkland 
1977a, 1977b). 
Forty Sherman live traps were set among talus and boulders in a 
small area approximately 60 m by 60 m, 26-28 July and 12-15 August, 
1987, for a total sampling effort of 240 trap nights. Traps were baited 
with a mixture of rolled oats and peanut butter scented with oil of anise. 
The rock vole (Virginia Commonwealth University Mammal Collection 
No. 5006) was captured in a trap set within the talus with the opening of 
the trap directed under a small rock overhang. Other species captured in 
the same area were red-backed vole, Clethrionomys gapperi (Vigors) (13 
specimens); short-tailed shrew, Blarina brevicauda (Say) (7); cloudland 
deer mouse, Peromyscus maniculatus nubiterrae Rhoads (3); and masked 
shrew, Sorex cinereus Kerr (1). Eight pitfall traps set along the stream 
captured S. cinereus (4); smoky shrews, S. fumeus Miller (3); and rock 
shrew, S. dispar Batchelder (1). These small mammals are some of the 
same species reported as habitat associates of M. chrotorrhinus in West 
Virginia (Kirkland 1977a, 1977b). In New York, Kirkland and Knipe 
(1979) also captured the water shrew, Sorex palustris Hooper, with M. 
chrotorrhinus. The only known Virginia locality for S. palustris is a site 
along Little Back Creek only 1.6 km from Lightner Run (Pagels and 
Tate 1976, Pagels 1987). 
Brimleyana 16:1-3, July 1990 
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