What is the difference between a bank vole and a field vole?
Bank voles are small chestnut-brown rodents with a cream-coloured underbelly and a short hairy tail. Field voles have a shorter tail (around 30% the length of its body, compared to 50% for the bank vole). Also, don’t confuse with mice, which are not as stoutly built as voles and have very long, hairless tails.
Are bank voles omnivores?
Bank voles reside mainly in forests, occupying the litter zone of the forest floor or underground burrows and living mostly nonvisible lives. Bank voles are omnivores and breed seasonally, with the female delivering one to three litters per year. During the breeding season, females are strongly territorial.
Are bank voles rare?
Status & conservation Native to Great Britain; populations in Ireland were accidentally introduced in the 1950s. Common and widespread. Bank voles are not legally protected in the UK and have no conservation designation.
How big do bank voles get?
The adult head and body length varies between 3.25 and 4.75 inches (83 and 121 mm) and the tail ranges from 1.5 to 3 inches (38 to 76 mm). The weight is between 15.4 and 36 grams (0.54 and 1.27 oz).
How long do voles live for?
Voles are extremely prolific, with females maturing in 35 to 40 days and having 5 to 10 litters per year. Litter size ranges from 3 to 6 young. However, voles seldom live longer than 12 months. Voles are mostly herbivorous, feeding on a variety of grasses, herbaceous plants, bulbs, and tubers.
How many voles live in a hole?
How many voles are in a colony and what makes up a colony? There may be two adults, several juveniles, and a nest with up to 5 babies in a family colony. Adults are thought to defend their home habitat or territory from invasion by other voles.
Do voles come into homes?
Also known as field mice, voles usually invade the yard and damage vegetation. Voles prefer eating plant materials and generally don’t do well indoors. As such, they rarely enter the house. When they do enter your house, you have several options for getting rid of them.
What kind of habitat does a bank vole live in?
Bank voles are very active and agile animals, and are frequently seen – they even visit bird tables. They live in shallow burrows, but may make grassy, round nests above ground if the soil is unsuitable for digging. They have three or four litters a year, each with three to five young.
What kind of food does a bank vole eat?
The bank vole lives in woodland, hedgerows, parks and gardens. It eats fruit, nuts and small insects, but is particularly keen on hazelnuts and blackberries. Bank voles are very active and agile animals, and are frequently seen – they even visit bird tables.
Is there such thing as a cold blooded animal?
All animals are either warm-blooded, cold-blooded, or somewhere in between. A warm blooded animal, according to Merriam-Wesbter, is one that can maintain a relatively constant internally regulated body temperature that is independent from that of its surroundings.
How many young does a bank vole have?
They have three or four litters a year, each with three to five young. Bank voles do not hibernate. The bank vole is rich, chestnut-brown above, and white below. It is richer in colour than the similar field vole and has a proportionally longer tail. Voles have blunter, rounder faces, smaller ears and eyes, and shorter tails than mice.
Where does the bank vole live in the world?
A rodent, it lives in woodland areas and is around 100 millimetres (3.9 in) in length. The bank vole is found in much of Europe and in northwestern Asia. It is native to Great Britain but not to Ireland, where it has been accidentally introduced, and has now colonised much of the south and southwest.
Are there any animals that are neither warm blooded or cold blooded?
Some species are neither entirely warm-blooded nor cold-blooded. Insects are cold-blooded. All animals are either warm-blooded, cold-blooded, or somewhere in between.
What kind of tree does a bank vole eat?
The bank vole climbs well and in the winter it feeds on the bark of trees including beeches, maples and larch up to several metres above the ground. It also eats tree seedlings and reduces the natural regeneration of woodland and when present in large numbers, is considered a forest pest.
What kind of disease can the bank vole cause?
The bank vole acts as a reservoir of infection for the Puumala virus, which can infect humans, causing a haemorrhagic fever known as nephropathia epidemica and, in extreme cases, even death.
