Microtus montanusmontane vole

Ge­o­graphic Range

Mon­tane voles (Mi­cro­tus mon­tanus) are a na­tive res­i­dent of the north­west­ern United States. They can be found as far north as south­ern British Co­lum­bia and as far south as Ari­zona and New Mex­ico. Their range ex­tends south from British Col­mu­bia, through Wash­ing­ton and Ore­gon, and into north­east­ern Cal­i­for­nia, as well as east into Nevada, Utah, Mon­tana, Wyoming, and Col­orado. Dis­junct pop­u­la­tions have been found on the bor­der be­tween cen­tral Ari­zona and New Mex­ico.

Fif­teen sub­species of mon­tane voles have been rec­og­nized. Two sub­species, Mi­cro­tus mon­tanus amo­sus and M. m. rivu­laris, are en­demic to sep­a­rate coun­ties in Utah. Two more, M. m. co­di­en­sis and M. m. zy­go­mati­cus, are en­demic to sep­a­rate coun­ties in Wyoming. Three sub­species, M. m. fu­co­sus, M. m. mi­cro­pus, and M. m. un­do­sus are en­demic to sep­a­rate coun­ties in Nevada. Mi­cro­tus m. ari­zo­nen­sis, is en­demic to the San Fran­cisco River wa­ter­shed in Ari­zona. Seven more sub­species are each en­demic to sep­a­rate coun­ties in Ari­zona, Wash­ing­ton, Col­orado, and Mon­tana. (Cas­sola, 2016; Hafner, et al., 1998; "Iden­ti­fi­ca­tion of the voles from Aragon, Catron County, New Mex­ico: Are they en­dan­gered Ari­zona mon­tane vole (Mi­cro­tus mon­tanus ari­zo­nen­sis)?", 2010; Kays and Wil­son, 2010; Naughton, 2012; Sera and Early, 2003)

Habi­tat

Mon­tane voles are often found in dry grass­lands, sage­brush-grass­lands, grassy alpine mead­ows, and agri­cul­tural lands 300 to 1190 m above sea level. Mon­tane voles reach high pop­u­la­tion den­si­ties around agri­cul­tural areas, such as crop fields and or­chards. Stud­ies sug­gest areas with abun­dant canopy cover and soil mois­ture lev­els less than 20% are fa­vor­able for this species. In the north­ern part of their range, they in­habit mon­tane and grassy in­ter­mon­tane areas. This dif­fers from south­ern parts of their range, where they are re­stricted to grassy mon­tane areas. If pop­u­la­tion den­sity in one area be­comes too high, mon­tane voles will tol­er­ate less fa­vor­able habi­tats.

There is ev­i­dence that mon­tane voles in­habit marshy habi­tats, dense forests, and the banks of streams and rivers. Al­though this species in­hab­its moun­tain­ous areas, a spe­cific el­e­va­tion range has not been iden­ti­fied, due to their wide range of po­ten­tial habi­tats. In the south­ern parts of their range, mon­tane voles are found at a higher el­e­va­tion than that of the north­ern parts of their range. They are com­monly found above the tim­ber line on moun­tains through­out their range. In Col­orado, con­sid­ered the south­ern part of their range, they do not live at el­e­va­tions under 2,074 m, but in north­ern Cal­i­for­nia, they live as low as 824 m.

Mon­tane voles are con­sid­ered to be semi­fos­so­r­ial. Brood nests are spher­i­cal and will al­ways be lo­cated below ground, how­ever they also con­struct cup-shaped nests of grass both above and below ground. Males ei­ther dig their own bur­row or take ad­van­tage of empty holes made by go­phers (Tho­momys). The av­er­age bur­row depth for mon­tane voles ranges from 21 cm to 23 cm, and av­er­age length ranges from 100 cm to 133 cm. How­ever, bur­rows lo­cated in sandy soil can be deeper. Mon­tane voles con­struct run­ways in grassy habi­tats, which are 30 mm to 60 mm wide and may be worn down 1 cm into the dirt. These paths serve as a high­way, con­nect­ing dif­fer­ent bur­rows to each other and al­low­ing for easy ac­cess to rocks and logs for pro­tec­tion from preda­tors. Dur­ing the win­ter, mon­tane voles re­main ac­tive, bur­row­ing and for­ag­ing under the snow. (Hodg­son, 1972; Kays and Wil­son, 2010; Naughton, 2012; Reynolds and Wakki­nen, 1987; Sera and Early, 2003; Verts and Car­raway, 1998)

  • Range elevation
    300 (low) m
    984.25 (low) ft

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

Mon­tane voles range in total length from 140 mm to 220 mm and have masses of 37.3 to 85.0 g. Tail lengths range from 24 mm to 69 mm and hind foot lengths range from 14 mm to 27 mm. They have an av­er­age ear length of 13.9 mm. Be­cause they con­tinue to grow through­out their life, mass and size de­pends on age, as well as sub­species, lo­ca­tion, and sex. Gen­er­ally, males are slightly larger than fe­males, and larger in­di­vid­u­als are more com­monly found in the south­west­ern part of their ge­o­graph­i­cal range. They have 16 teeth that grow con­tin­u­ously and a den­tal for­mula of 1003/1003. Av­er­age meta­bolic rate is 2.65 cm^3 oxy­gen/hour.

On their dor­sal side, mon­tane voles are brown with black-tipped hair mixed in. Their fur is lighter on their sides and fades to a white/gray ven­tral side. Their feet are sil­ver gray, and their tail is bi-col­ored – chang­ing from brown to black on the dor­sal side and white to gray on the ven­tral side. There are vari­a­tions in col­oration de­pend­ing on ge­o­graphic lo­ca­tion. In the south­west­ern part of their range, mon­tane voles typ­i­cally have darker fur, while voles far­ther north have lighter brown fur, as well as more red­dish or gray fur. In gen­eral, and through­out their range, fur color tends to vary more in fe­males than males.

There are sev­eral char­ac­ter­is­tics that dis­tin­guish mon­tane voles from meadow voles (Mi­cro­tus penn­syl­van­i­cus), which have a range sim­i­lar to mon­tane voles. Mon­tane voles have lighter col­ored feet and dor­sal fur. Mon­tane voles also have four el­e­ments on their upper sec­ond molar, while meadow voles have five el­e­ments. This is the most pre­cise way to dis­tin­guish these two species. Dur­ing mat­ing sea­son, male mon­tane voles, un­like other vole species, have oily skin glands lo­cated on their hips.

New­borns are com­pletely hair­less. They are born with­out teeth, their ear and eyes are closed, and their toes are fused. Their ears open first, 3 days after birth, fol­lowed by in­cisors de­vel­op­ing be­tween day 3 and day 5. Fur be­gins to de­velop and be­comes vis­i­ble on day 4. Fi­nally, about 10 days after birth, their eyes open and their toes sep­a­rate. ("Iden­ti­fi­ca­tion of the voles from Aragon, Catron County, New Mex­ico: Are they en­dan­gered Ari­zona mon­tane vole (Mi­cro­tus mon­tanus ari­zo­nen­sis)?", 2010; Kays and Wil­son, 2010; Naughton, 2012; Sera and Early, 2003)

  • Sexual Dimorphism
  • sexes alike
  • male larger
  • sexes colored or patterned differently
  • Range mass
    37.3 to 85.0 g
    1.31 to 3.00 oz
  • Range length
    140 to 220 mm
    5.51 to 8.66 in
  • Average basal metabolic rate
    2.65 cm3.O2/g/hr

Re­pro­duc­tion

Chem­i­cals found in veg­e­ta­tion con­sumed by mon­tane voles in­flu­ence their breed­ing sea­son. A chem­i­cal found in spring grass, 6-methoxy­ben­zox­a­zoli­none, stim­u­lates re­pro­duc­tion, while cin­namic acids and vinyl phe­nols found in late-sum­mer grasses sup­press re­pro­duc­tion. These chem­i­cal cues help mon­tane voles to pro­duce off­spring when young have the great­est chance of sur­vival. Chem­i­cals in spring grass in­di­cate an up­com­ing abun­dance of food, while chem­i­cals in late sum­mer in­di­cate the op­po­site.

Pheromones are im­por­tant to the mat­ing process be­cause they aid in find­ing a mate. Male pheromones also aid in ac­ti­vat­ing the re­pro­duc­tive sys­tems of fe­males. Mon­tane voles have no reg­u­lar es­trus cy­cles. Ovu­la­tion is in­duced by cop­u­la­tion. As cop­u­la­tion fre­quency in­creases, the prob­a­bil­ity of fe­male ovu­la­tion in­creases.

Mon­tane voles are typ­i­cally polyg­y­nan­drous, mean­ing both males and fe­males mate with mul­ti­ple part­ners. How­ever, when pop­u­la­tion den­sity is low, fac­ul­ta­tive monogamy oc­curs. Males do not share nests with fe­males. Nei­ther sex dis­tin­guishes be­tween a mate they have pre­vi­ously mated with or not. They also do not dis­tin­guish be­tween mates that have or have not mated with other in­di­vid­u­als. Fe­males do not dis­tin­guish be­tween dom­i­nant males and sub­or­di­nate males when choos­ing a mate. Fe­males gen­er­ally stand still while males ap­proach to mate, al­though ag­gres­sive box­ing and chas­ing some­times oc­curs. (Berger, et al., 1981; Dews­bury, 1973; Fred­er­ick, 1982; Gray, et al., 1974; Naughton, 2012; Sera and Early, 2003; Shapiro and Dews­bury, 1986; Shapiro and Dews­bury, 1990; Verts and Car­raway, 1998)

The breed­ing sea­son for mon­tane voles be­gins in spring after the snow melts, typ­i­cally be­tween April and May, and ex­tends through the fall. While less fre­quent, mid­win­ter breed­ing does occur. Chem­i­cals found in their diet have an im­pact on their breed­ing sys­tem. A chem­i­cal in spring grasses, 6-methoxy­ben­zox­a­zoli­none, stim­u­lates re­pro­duc­tion, while cin­namic acids and vinyl phe­nols, found in ma­ture grasses in late sum­mer, sup­press breed­ing. Fe­males have a ges­ta­tion pe­riod of 21 days and typ­i­cally have 3-4 lit­ters per year in the wild, av­er­ag­ing 6 pups per lit­ter (range 3 to 9 pups). Typ­i­cally, lit­ter size in­creases until the fifth lit­ter and then de­creases. The breed­ing in­ter­val can be as lit­tle as 21 days. In cap­tiv­ity, fe­males can pro­duce up to 13 con­sec­u­tive lit­ters. Birth mass av­er­ages 2.76 g (range: 2.11 to 3.32 g). On av­er­age, pups are weaned at 14 days (range: 13 to 16 days), and be­come in­de­pen­dent on the 15th day, when moth­ers leave to con­struct a brood nest for their next lit­ter.

Age of sex­ual ma­tu­rity varies greatly de­pend­ing on the time of year pups are born. The first lit­ter, typ­i­cally born in May, reaches sex­ual ma­tu­rity at 4 to 5 weeks of age. The sec­ond lit­ter, born mid-to-late sum­mer, reach sex­ual ma­tu­rity by 7 to 8 weeks of age. The third lit­ter, born in the fall, will not reach sex­ual ma­tu­rity until the next spring, at around 28 to 30 weeks of age. Lit­ters born dur­ing win­ter typ­i­cally do not sur­vive. Sex­ual ma­tu­rity in fe­males may be ac­cel­er­ated when ex­posed to un­fa­mil­iar males. (Berger, et al., 1981; Dews­bury, 1973; Naughton, 2012; Rabon, et al., 2002; Sera and Early, 2003; Verts and Car­raway, 1998)

  • Breeding interval
    Breeding intervals can be as little as 21 days. Female montane voles typically produce 3 - 4 litters a year in the wild.
  • Breeding season
    Breeding season is between spring and late fall. However, some breeding takes place midwinter.
  • Range number of offspring
    3 to 9
  • Average gestation period
    21 days
  • Range weaning age
    13 to 16 days
  • Average weaning age
    14 days
  • Average time to independence
    15 days
  • Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
    4 to 30 weeks
  • Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
    4 to 30 weeks

Males pro­vide no pa­ter­nal care and do not share nests with preg­nant fe­males. Fe­males alone man­age nurs­ing, brood­ing, groom­ing, and pup re­trieval. New­borns have an av­er­age birth mass of 2.76 g (range: 2.11 to 3.32 g). They are born hair­less and with­out teeth, their ears and eyes are closed, and their toes are fused. Their ears open first, 3 days after birth, fol­lowed by in­cisors, which de­velop be­tween day 3 and day 5. Pups are able to right them­selves and de­velop fur by day 4. Fi­nally, about 10 days after birth, their eyes open and their toes sep­a­rate. Pups leave the nest and first eat solid food be­tween 10 to 13 days after birth.

Pups are given less care the older they get, as their moth­ers spend more time away from nests, search­ing for a lo­ca­tion to raise their next lit­ter. On av­er­age, pups are weaned by 14 days of age. Fe­males aban­don brood nests at day 15 to con­struct a new nest for their next lit­ter. If pop­u­la­tion den­sity is high, fe­males will not aban­don their brood nest and ex­tended ma­ter­nal fam­i­lies form. When this oc­curs, the age of sex­ual ma­tu­rity for pups is de­layed. (Fred­er­ick, 1978; McGuire and Novak, 1986; Naughton, 2012; Rabon, et al., 2002; Sera and Early, 2003; Shapiro and Dews­bury, 1990; Verts and Car­raway, 1998)

  • Parental Investment
  • altricial
  • female parental care
  • pre-hatching/birth
    • provisioning
      • female
    • protecting
      • female
  • pre-weaning/fledging
    • provisioning
      • female
    • protecting
      • female
  • pre-independence
    • provisioning
      • female
    • protecting
      • female

Lifes­pan/Longevity

Al­though lifes­pan greatly de­pends on the time of year at which they are born, max­i­mum lifes­pan of mon­tane voles in the wild is 18 months. The first lit­ter, typ­i­cally born in May, live ap­prox­i­mately 6 months. Lit­ters born mid-to-late sum­mer, live ap­prox­i­mately 7 months. Lit­ters born in the fall, have the longest lifes­pan, liv­ing ap­prox­i­mately 12 months. Lit­ters born dur­ing the win­ter typ­i­cally do not sur­vive. Mon­tane voles are kept in cap­tiv­ity for re­search pur­poses, but are eu­th­a­nized be­fore lifes­pan in cap­tiv­ity can be de­ter­mined. (Naughton, 2012)

  • Range lifespan
    Status: wild
    18 (high) months
  • Typical lifespan
    Status: wild
    6 to 12 months

Be­hav­ior

Mon­tane voles are ac­tive day and night, but are pre­dom­i­nantly noc­tur­nal dur­ing the sum­mer. Due to sum­mer heat, di­ur­nal ac­tiv­ity is lim­ited to a few hours after sun­rise and be­fore sun­set. Males and fe­males do not share nests and typ­i­cally live in bur­rows or nests alone. In gen­eral, fe­males are more ac­tive than males when it comes to for­ag­ing, drink­ing, trav­el­ing, and nest build­ing. Re­search has in­di­cated that mon­tane voles are not known to jump or climb, but are able to swim.

Mon­tane voles con­struct elab­o­rate run­way sys­tems and sel­dom ven­ture off their run­ways. Run­ways range from 3.8 cm to 6.4 cm in width. Wider run­ways mean they are more fre­quently used. Mon­tane voles and sim­i­lar species share these run­ways. For ex­am­ple, other vole species (genus Mi­cro­tus) and va­grant shrews (Sorex va­grans) have been doc­u­mented in run­way sys­tems of mon­tane voles. Run­ways serve sev­eral pur­poses. Firtly, as a way to evade preda­tors. Run­ways pro­vide a path cleared of de­bris, al­low­ing for quick and silent move­ment through the habi­tat and an easy es­cape from preda­tors. Be­cause home ranges of in­di­vid­ual mon­tane voles over­lap, run­ways are shared. This al­lows mon­tane voles to eas­ily find a mate. Run­way sys­tems are main­tained under the snow dur­ing the win­ter. Caches of food are also placed along­side run­ways. (Dou­glass, 1976; Fred­er­ick, 1978; Fred­er­ick, 1982; McGuire and Novak, 1986; Sera and Early, 2003; Stoecker, 1972; Toews, 1966; Verts and Car­raway, 1998)

Home Range

Live trap­ping has in­di­cated an av­er­age home range for fe­males is about 291.6 m^2 and, for males, about 317 m^2. Re­search also in­di­cated that home ranges are smaller in win­ter. In the same study, radio iso­tope trac­ing in­di­cated a home range av­er­ag­ing 145 m^2 for both sexes. Fe­males are both in­tra- and in­ter­specif­i­cally ter­ri­to­r­ial. Ter­ri­tory size has not been ex­pressed in terms of area, but fe­males may de­fend 10 to 20 m around their brood nest. (Naughton, 2012; Toews, 1966)

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

Like other species of voles, mon­tane voles com­mu­ni­cate vo­cally. Al­though spe­cific calls have not been iden­ti­fied, in­fants use ul­tra­sonic vo­cal­iza­tions to call for their mother when they are un­able to ther­moreg­u­late. Moth­ers lo­cate pups using these au­di­tory cues rather than ol­fac­tory cues. By day 15, pups are able to ther­moreg­u­late and vo­cal­iza­tions cease.

Scent mark­ing is also an im­por­tant means of com­mu­ni­ca­tion for mon­tane voles. Males often mark their ter­ri­to­ries with urine, or by leav­ing piles of feces in their run­away sys­tem. Males also mark their ter­ri­tory using gland se­cre­tions. Males have scent glands lo­cated on their hips, and scent mark­ing is ac­com­plished by anal drag­ging and by rais­ing their but­tocks in order to rub the gland over their tun­nel walls. Lit­tle re­search on mon­tane voles has tested vi­sual, au­di­tory, or ol­fac­tory acu­ity. Re­search does show that mon­tane voles may lack depth per­cep­tion. Mon­tane voles use sight to for­age both day and night. Pheromones are im­por­tant in mat­ing sea­son, when species-spe­cific chem­i­cal cues help mon­tane voles find mates. (Blake, 2002; Ghett, 1977; Sera and Early, 2003)

Food Habits

Mon­tane voles are pri­mar­ily her­bi­vores, feed­ing pri­mar­ily on leaves of forbs and grasses. Re­search shows that ap­prox­i­mately 85% of their diet con­sist of forb leaves while 9% con­sists of grasses. In eary spring, when forbs are just be­gin­ning to grow, 10% of their diet is fun­gus. Mon­tane voles only eat fungi when forbs and grasses are less fre­quent. Forb leaves make up the vast ma­jor­ity of their diet, be­cause they are high in en­ergy and can sup­port their high me­tab­o­lism. Mon­tane voles con­sume arthro­pods when abun­dant in the sum­mer. How­ever, dur­ing the win­ter, when forbs are not avail­able, grass be­comes a more im­por­tant com­po­nent of their diet. In win­ter they will also chew on bark and tree roots. Re­search shows that small evening prim­rose (Camis­so­nia minor) and Amer­i­can vetch (Vicia amer­i­cana) were the two most com­monly con­sumed plants, mak­ing up 20% and 16% of their diet, re­spec­tively. Out of the grass species avail­able to them, mon­tane voles were only ever ob­served eat­ing great basin brome (Bro­mus polyan­thus) and slen­der wheat­grass (Ar­gopy­ron tra­chy­caulum).

Over­head cover is es­sen­tial and is pro­vided by grasses and peren­nial plants. Mon­tane voles for­age year-round and con­cen­trate their for­ag­ing around edges of cov­ered areas. This al­lows them to reach a greater va­ri­ety of food while also being close to cov­ered areas for pro­tec­tion. Mon­tane voles for­age day and night. While most ac­tive at night, day ac­tiv­i­ties are con­cen­trated to the early-morn­ing and late-evening hours. (Naughton, 2012; Sera and Early, 2003; Vaughan, 1974)

  • Animal Foods
  • insects
  • Plant Foods
  • leaves
  • roots and tubers
  • Other Foods
  • fungus

Pre­da­tion

Mon­tane voles are prey for many preda­tors. Mam­malian species that feed on mon­tane voles in­clude rac­coons (Pro­cyon lotor), Amer­i­can black bears (Ursus amer­i­canus), coy­otes (Canis la­trans), bob­cats (Lynx rufus), Amer­i­can bad­gers (Taxidea taxus), and striped skunks (Mephi­tis mephi­tis). Avian preda­tors in­clude marsh hawks (Cir­cus cya­neus), rough-legged hawks (Buteo lago­pus), red-tailed hawks (Buteo ja­maicen­sis), Amer­i­can kestrels (Falco sparverius), great horned owls (Bubo vir­gini­anus), long-eared owls (Asio otus), short-eared owls (Asio flam­meus), bur­row­ing owls (Athene cu­nic­u­laria), mag­pies (Pica), gulls (Larus), and shrikes (La­nius). Rep­til­ian species in­clude west­ern ter­res­trial garter snakes (Thamnophis el­e­gans) and north­ern Pa­cific rat­tlesnakes (Cro­talus ore­ganus). Mon­tane voles are a sub­stan­tial part of the diet for er­mines (Mustela er­minea) and long-tailed weasels (Mustela fre­nata) dur­ing the win­ter months.

Mon­tane voles have sev­eral tech­niques in order to avoid pre­da­tion. Sim­i­lar to other species of voles, mon­tane voles are counter-shaded, mean­ing they have darker fur on their dor­sal side than their ven­tral side. This al­lows them to bet­ter blend into their sur­round­ings, mak­ing it harder for preda­tors to spot them. They also con­struct tun­nels and run­aways that serve as high­ways, con­nect­ing dif­fer­ent bur­rows to each other and al­low­ing for easy ac­cess to cover under rocks and logs when preda­tors are near. (Fitzger­ald, 1977; Lyman, et al., 2001; Naughton, 2012; Sera and Early, 2003; Verts and Car­raway, 1998)

  • Anti-predator Adaptations
  • cryptic

Ecosys­tem Roles

Mon­tane voles have sev­eral eco­nomic roles. First, they are a prey species for a wide va­ri­ety of preda­tors. Sec­ond, com­mon be­hav­iors such as tun­nel­ing and bur­row­ing aer­ates soil.

Many par­a­sites af­fect mon­tane voles, in­clud­ing mites, ticks, lice, fleas, ces­todes, ne­ma­todes, trema­todes, and pro­to­zoans. Species of mites in­clude Gly­cyph­a­gus hy­pu­daei, An­dro­lae­laps fahren­holzi, Bre­vis­terna uta­hen­sis, Echi­nonys­sus is­abelli­nus, Echi­nonys­sus oc­ci­den­talis, Eu­brachy­lae­laps crow­eri, Eu­brachy­lae­laps de­bilis, Eu­lae­laps stab­u­laris, Haemoga­ma­sus am­bu­lans, Haemoga­ma­sus liponys­soides, Haemoga­ma­sus oc­ci­den­talis, Haemoga­ma­sus reidi, Is­chy­ropoda ar­ma­tus, Lae­laps alasken­sis, Lae­laps in­cilis, Lae­laps kochi, Listropho­rus mex­i­canus, Psor­ergates townsendi, Co­mat­acarus amer­i­canus, Neotrom­bic­ula cal­i­for­nica, Neotrom­bic­ula cav­i­cola, Neotrom­bic­ula harperi, and Neotrom­bic­ula mi­croti.

Species of ticks in­clude Der­ma­cen­tor an­der­soni, uniden­ti­fied Der­ma­cen­tor, Ixodes an­gus­tus, Ixodes kingi, Ixodes muris, Ixodes muris, Ixodes sculp­tus, and uniden­ti­fied Ixodes. Species of lice in­clude Ho­plo­pleura acan­tho­pus, Poly­plax alasken­sis, Poly­plax ser­rata, and Poly­plax spin­u­losa.

Species of fleas in­clude Am­phip­sylla sibir­ica, Cal­listop­syl­lus deuterus, Catal­la­gia de­cip­i­ens, Catal­la­gia math­esoni, Catal­la­gia scul­leni, Cor­rodop­sylla cur­vata, Dacty­lop­sylla rara, De­lotelis hol­landi, Epite­dia stan­fordi, Epite­dia wen­manni, Ho­plop­syl­lus anom­alus, Hys­tri­chop­sylla dip­piei, Malaraeus bit­ter­roolen­sis, Malaraeus eu­phorbi, Malaraeus telch­i­nus, Megaboth­ris aban­tis, Megaboth­ris asio, Megaboth­ris clan­toni, Megaboth­ris lu­cifer, Meringis hub­bardi, Meringis park­eri, Meringis shan­noni, Monop­syl­lus eu­molpi, Monop­syl­lus wag­neri, Nonop­syl­lus fas­cia­tus, Opiso­dasys keeni, Orop­sylla ida­hoen­sis, Per­omyscop­sylla ham­ifer, Per­omyscop­sylla se­le­nis, and Thras­sis bac­chi.

Species of ces­todes in­clude Andrya com­mu­nis, Andrya macro­cephala, Andrya pri­mor­dialis, Hy­menolepis hor­rida, and Para­noplo­cephala in­fre­quens. Species of ne­ma­todes in­clude Ne­matospiroides mi­croti and Sypha­cia ob­ve­lata. Trema­todes in­clude Quin­que­se­ri­alis has­salli.

Pro­to­zoan species in­clude En­ta­moeba, Gi­a­r­dia, Spironu­cleus, Babesia mi­croti, Gra­hamella, He­pa­to­zoon, and Try­panosoma. (Sera and Early, 2003; Timm, 1985)

Com­men­sal/Par­a­sitic Species

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

There are no known pos­i­tive eco­nomic im­pacts of mon­tane voles on hu­mans.

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

Pop­u­la­tion den­si­ties of mon­tane voles are high­est in agri­cul­tural areas and cause ex­ten­sive dam­age to a wide va­ri­ety of crops. Mon­tane voles com­monly eat the roots or grain heads of crops, caus­ing plants to die. Or­chards are also af­fected my mon­tane voles due to ex­ten­sive dam­age caused by chew­ing on bark and roots of trees. This may weaken or kill trees if girdling oc­curs. (Clark, 1984; Naughton, 2012; Sera and Early, 2003)

  • Negative Impacts
  • crop pest

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

Mon­tane voles are listed as a species of least con­cern on the IUCN Red List and have no spe­cial sta­tus on the US Fed­eral List, CITES, or the State of Michi­gan List. While mon­tane voles as a whole are not listed as an en­dan­gered species, mon­tane voles (Mi­cro­tus mon­tanus ari­zo­nen­sis) are a state en­dan­gered species in New Mex­ico and are listed as near threat­ened on the IUCN Red List. Vir­gin River mon­tane voles (M. m. rivu­laris) of spe­cial con­cern in Utah, and are listed as near threat­ened on the IUCN Red List. This sub­species are under con­sid­er­a­tion for fed­eral list­ing under the En­dan­gered Species Act. Pahrana­gat Val­ley mon­tane voles (M. m. fu­co­sus) and Ash Mead­ows mon­tane voles (M. m. nevaden­sis) are listed as vul­ner­a­ble on the IUCN Red List and are also under con­sid­er­a­tion for fed­eral list­ing under the En­dan­gered Species Act. Cody mon­tane voles (M. m. co­di­en­sis) and Big Horn mon­tane voles (M. m. zy­go­mati­cus) are listed on the IUCN Red List as data de­fi­cient, as more in­for­ma­tion is needed to de­ter­mine their cur­rent sta­tus.

Due to agri­cul­tural dam­age, hu­mans use weed con­trol, lethal snap-traps, and poi­son baits to re­duce mon­tane vole pop­u­la­tions. Major treats to mon­tane voles across the sub­species are their re­stricted dis­tri­b­u­tion, re­stricted habi­tat, small pop­u­la­tion sizes, and habi­tat degra­da­tion due to graz­ing.

De­spite sev­eral sub­species of mon­tane voles being state listed as en­dan­gered species or con­sid­ered near threat­ened by the IUCN Red List, no con­ser­va­tion ef­forts are in place for this species. Close sur­veil­lance of sub­species is rec­om­mended to de­ter­mine cur­rent pop­u­la­tion lev­els, ge­netic di­ver­sity, and quan­tify habi­tat loss. Mon­tane voles are found within Yel­low­stone Na­tional Park and are there­fore pro­tected within park bound­aries. (Anich and Hadly, 2013; Cas­sola, 2016; Clark, 1984; Hafner, et al., 1998; "Iden­ti­fi­ca­tion of the voles from Aragon, Catron County, New Mex­ico: Are they en­dan­gered Ari­zona mon­tane vole (Mi­cro­tus mon­tanus ari­zo­nen­sis)?", 2010; Sera and Early, 2003; "Sta­tus as­sess­ment of the Ari­zona mon­tane vole (Mi­cro­tus mon­tanus ari­zo­nen­sis) in New Mex­ico", 2014; United States Fish and Wildlife Ser­vice, 1994)

Con­trib­u­tors

Car­ley Stid­ham (au­thor), Rad­ford Uni­ver­sity, Lau­ren Bur­roughs (ed­i­tor), Rad­ford Uni­ver­sity, Layne DiBuono (ed­i­tor), Rad­ford Uni­ver­sity, Lind­sey Lee (ed­i­tor), Rad­ford Uni­ver­sity, Karen Pow­ers (ed­i­tor), Rad­ford Uni­ver­sity, Galen Bur­rell (ed­i­tor), Spe­cial Pro­jects.

Glossary

Nearctic

living in the Nearctic biogeographic province, the northern part of the New World. This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands of central Mexico.

World Map

acoustic

uses sound to communicate

agricultural

living in landscapes dominated by human agriculture.

altricial

young are born in a relatively underdeveloped state; they are unable to feed or care for themselves or locomote independently for a period of time after birth/hatching. In birds, naked and helpless after hatching.

bilateral symmetry

having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

chemical

uses smells or other chemicals to communicate

crepuscular

active at dawn and dusk

cryptic

having markings, coloration, shapes, or other features that cause an animal to be camouflaged in its natural environment; being difficult to see or otherwise detect.

diurnal
  1. active during the day, 2. lasting for one day.
endothermic

animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.

female parental care

parental care is carried out by females

folivore

an animal that mainly eats leaves.

forest

forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality.

fossorial

Referring to a burrowing life-style or behavior, specialized for digging or burrowing.

herbivore

An animal that eats mainly plants or parts of plants.

induced ovulation

ovulation is stimulated by the act of copulation (does not occur spontaneously)

iteroparous

offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).

marsh

marshes are wetland areas often dominated by grasses and reeds.

monogamous

Having one mate at a time.

motile

having the capacity to move from one place to another.

mountains

This terrestrial biome includes summits of high mountains, either without vegetation or covered by low, tundra-like vegetation.

native range

the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

nocturnal

active during the night

pheromones

chemicals released into air or water that are detected by and responded to by other animals of the same species

polygynandrous

the kind of polygamy in which a female pairs with several males, each of which also pairs with several different females.

riparian

Referring to something living or located adjacent to a waterbody (usually, but not always, a river or stream).

scent marks

communicates by producing scents from special gland(s) and placing them on a surface whether others can smell or taste them

seasonal breeding

breeding is confined to a particular season

sedentary

remains in the same area

sexual

reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

soil aeration

digs and breaks up soil so air and water can get in

solitary

lives alone

tactile

uses touch to communicate

temperate

that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle).

terrestrial

Living on the ground.

territorial

defends an area within the home range, occupied by a single animals or group of animals of the same species and held through overt defense, display, or advertisement

tropical savanna and grassland

A terrestrial biome. Savannas are grasslands with scattered individual trees that do not form a closed canopy. Extensive savannas are found in parts of subtropical and tropical Africa and South America, and in Australia.

savanna

A grassland with scattered trees or scattered clumps of trees, a type of community intermediate between grassland and forest. See also Tropical savanna and grassland biome.

temperate grassland

A terrestrial biome found in temperate latitudes (>23.5° N or S latitude). Vegetation is made up mostly of grasses, the height and species diversity of which depend largely on the amount of moisture available. Fire and grazing are important in the long-term maintenance of grasslands.

ultrasound

uses sound above the range of human hearing for either navigation or communication or both

visual

uses sight to communicate

viviparous

reproduction in which fertilization and development take place within the female body and the developing embryo derives nourishment from the female.

Ref­er­ences

New Mex­ico De­part­ment of Game and Fish. Iden­ti­fi­ca­tion of the voles from Aragon, Catron County, New Mex­ico: Are they en­dan­gered Ari­zona mon­tane vole (Mi­cro­tus mon­tanus ari­zo­nen­sis)?. None. Santa Fe, New Mex­ico: New Mex­ico De­part­ment of Game and Fish. 2010.

Con­ser­va­tion Ser­vices Di­vi­sion New Mex­ico De­part­ment of Game and Fish. Sta­tus as­sess­ment of the Ari­zona mon­tane vole (Mi­cro­tus mon­tanus ari­zo­nen­sis) in New Mex­ico. Pro­fes­sional Ser­vices Con­tract 04-516.75. Santa Fe, New Mex­ico: Con­ser­va­tion Ser­vices Di­vi­sion New Mex­ico De­part­ment of Game and Fish. 2014.

Anich, P., E. Hadly. 2013. Asym­met­ri­cal com­pe­ti­tion be­tween Mi­cro­tus mon­tanus and Mi­cro­tus long­i­caudus in the greater Yel­low­stone ecosys­tem. Amer­i­can Mid­land Nat­u­ral­ist, 170/2: 274-286.

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Fitzger­ald, B. 1977. Weasel pre­da­tion on a cyclic pop­u­la­tion of the mon­tane vole (Mi­cro­tus mon­tanus) in Cal­i­for­nia. Jour­nal of An­i­mal Ecol­ogy, 46/2: 367-397.

Fred­er­ick, J. 1982. Nest­ing pat­terns of adult voles, Mi­cro­tus mon­tanus, in field pop­u­la­tions. Jour­nal of Mam­mal­ogy, 63/3: 495-498.

Fred­er­ick, J. 1978. The den­sity-de­pen­dent for­ma­tion of ex­tended ma­ter­nal fam­i­lies of the mon­tane vole, Mi­cro­tus mon­tanus nanus. Be­hav­ioral Ecol­ogy & So­cio­bi­ol­ogy, 3/3: 245-263.

Ghett, V. 1977. The on­togeny of ul­tra­sonic vo­cal­iza­tion in Mi­cro­tus mon­tanus. Be­hav­iour, 60/1/2: 115-121.

Gray, G., H. Davis, M. Zeryl­nick, D. Dews­bury. 1974. Oestrus and in­duced ovu­la­tion in Mon­tane voles. Jour­nal of Re­pro­duc­tion and Fer­til­ity, 38/1: 193-196.

Hafner, D., E. Yensen, G. Kirk­land. 1998. North Amer­i­can Ro­dents: Sta­tus Sur­vey and Con­ser­va­tion Ac­tion Plan. Gland, Switzer­land, and Cam­bridge, UK: IUCN.

Hodg­son, J. 1972. Local dis­tri­b­u­tion of Mi­cro­tus mon­tanus and M. penn­syl­van­i­cus in south­west­ern mon­tana. Jour­nal of Mam­mal­ogy, 53/3: 487-499.

Kays, R., D. Wil­son. 2010. Mam­mals of North Amer­ica: Sec­ond Edi­tion. Prince­ton, New Jer­sey: Prince­ton Uni­ver­sity Press.

Lyman, L., E. Power, J. Lyman. 2001. On­togeny of deer mice (Per­omyscus man­ic­u­la­tus) and mon­tane voles (Mi­cro­tus mon­tanus) as owl prey. Amer­i­can Mid­land Nat­u­ral­ist, 146/1: 72-79.

McGuire, B., M. Novak. 1986. Parental care and its re­la­tion­ship to so­cial or­ga­ni­za­tion in the mon­tane vole (Mi­cro­tus mon­tanus). Jour­nal of Mam­mal­ogy, 67/2: 305-311.

Naughton, D. 2012. The Nat­ural His­tory of Cana­dian Mam­mals. Toronto, Canada: Uni­ver­sity of Toronto Press.

Rabon, D., D. Web­ster, K. Sawrey. 2002. Early post­na­tal mass in mon­tane and prairie voles (Mi­cro­tus). Jour­nal of the North Car­olina Acad­emy of Sci­ence, 118/1: 57-60.

Ran­dall, J. 1978. Be­hav­ioral mech­a­nisms of habi­tat seg­re­ga­tion be­tween sym­patric species of Mi­cro­tus: Habi­tat pref­er­ence and in­ter­spe­cific dom­i­nance. Be­hav­ioral Ecol­ogy & So­cio­bi­ol­ogy, 3/2: 187-202.

Reynolds, T., W. Wakki­nen. 1987. Char­ac­ter­is­tics of the bur­rows of four species of ro­dents in undis­turbed soils in south­east­ern Idaho. The Amer­i­can Mid­land Nat­u­ral­ist, 118/2: 245-250.

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Shapiro, L., D. Dews­bury. 1986. Male dom­i­nance, fe­male choice and male cop­u­la­tory be­hav­ior in two species of voles (Mi­cro­tus ochro­gaster and Mi­cro­tus mon­tanus). Be­hav­ioral Ecol­ogy & So­cio­bi­ol­ogy, 18/4: 267-274.

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