California Vole California Vole
Microtus californicus
Natural History of California Voles
 |
A California vole. This animal is also known as the meadow mouse. |
 |
|
|
A vole tunnel from a vole's eye view. Voles make tiny tunnels underneath the grass. Their habitat usually has plenty of tall, tangly grass in which they feed, hide, and live their entire lives. |
|
 |
|
| A vole that was caught by a domestic cat. I retrieved the vole from the cat and checked to see if it was injured. Aside from a possibly injured toe, it was OK. I took some photos of it and released it. | |
|
|
|
|
The vole posed for a few photos nicely. It refused to eat though. Too scared. |
|
 |
|
|
This toe may have been injured in its encounter with the cat, or it could have been that way for a while. The animal got around OK and didn't seem bothered by it. |
|
 |
|
| These tiny scats were fresh from a vole. Vole scats can normally be found inside its grassy tunnels. | |
 |
|
| The vole as it was being released. It scampered away into the grass. | |
|
|
| Voles are very common, but we don't often see them. I did find that they don't run from noisy lawnmowers though. They are used to living in their tunnels and even such a noisy intrusion doesn't drive them away. I had cut some grass and saw something moving ahead of the mower. I stopped and found that it was a vole, still trying to use its tunnels, even though they had been opened to daylight by the mower. I caught the vole and moved it to a safer habitat- one that wasn't going to be mowed! |
Find vole posters, greeting cards, postage stamps and more in my new store.
|
Now available: "Animals Don't Cover
Their Tracks - An Introduction to Animal Tracking" on CD! (Version 3.0)
New drawings, more species, more photos, more extensive sections on tracking
humans, more detailed directions for plaster casting, mystery tracks section,
tracking stories section, and more. The CD features over 100 species, including
special bonus sections with the tracks of some African and Australian
animals. A large section on tracking lost people for search and rescue is
included, with over four pages of photos showing the details of tracks and
signs people leave. Easy to use format. This web site is limited
by bandwidth, but the CD-ROM is not. The CD is available in my online store at:
www.dirt-time.com
Works with Mac or PC. Happy tracking!!
What else can you find in the nature store? Beartracker's animal tracks coloring book, T-shirts, sweatshirts, journals, book bags, toddler and infant apparel, mouse pads, posters, postcards, coffee mugs, travel mugs, clocks, Frisbees, bumper stickers, hats, stickers, and many more items. All with tracks or paw prints, or nature scenes. Custom products are available. If you don't see the track you want on the product you want, email me and I can probably create it. Proceeds from all sales go to pay the monthly fees for this web site. You can help support this site as well as get great tracking products! Thank you! |
| Find other tracking products: www.zazzle.com/tracker8459* |
| Also visit these fine
stores for more products of interest: NDN Pride shop - For Indian Pride items for all tribes. Custom items available on request. ASL Signs of Love - For anyone who uses or is learning ASL, American Sign Language. Custom name items and more are available here. Sales from all stores give commissions to Beartracker's Animal Tracks Den, which helps keep this site online as a free service. We are celebrating ten years online this year! |
|
Looking for a Gift? This site lets you customize a gift card with your own photo. Commissions earned when you buy from this link help
keep Beartracker's Animal Tracks Den online! Thank you! |
|
If you wish to help keep this site online, donations are
accepted through PayPal. |
|
||
 |
Got a vole story? E-mail me and tell me about it. You are visitor number: Copyright © 1997-2009. Text, photos, and drawings by Kim A. Cabrera Updated: January 22, 2009. |
|
|
|
||
