California Vole

Microtus californicus

The California vole is most active near dawn and dusk with short bursts of activity every few hours in between(crepuscular). These animals are active throughout the year. They have no hibernation and are not known to store food. California voles are a social species.

Family:

Cricetidae (New World rats and mice, voles, hamsters, and relatives)

Description:

The California vole varies a great deal in size depending upon where they are found. Subspecies found in the south of the species range can be much larger than those found in the north. California voles are sexually dimorphic with the males being six percent longer and eleven percent heavier than females. The coat of these animals is buffy brown, grayish brown or dark brown (blackish toward coast, reddish in desert) colored on top, with a reddish tinge down the middle of the back. The underside is blue-gray to white. The tail is bi-colored. The feet are pale, and the eyes are dark brown to black. Average length is around 7 inches.

Habitat:

California voles inhabit areas of broad-leaved chaparral, oak woodlands, and grasslands along the Pacific Coast in northern Baja California to central Oregon.

Range:

California voles are found along the Pacific Coast of North America, from central Oregon southward to northern Baja California. It occurs in the woodlands, shrublands and grasslands of these areas.

Diet:

These animals are herbivorous and eat mostly grasses and roots, but they also relies on sedges, fruits and forbs in certain areas.

Breeding:

California voles seem to be mostly monogamous when populations aren't too dense. Ovulation is induced by copulation. This species experiences a post-partum estrus, and breeding can occur within fifteen hours after young are born. This allows up to 4 or 5 litters a season. The gestation is twenty-two days. Litters of 1 to 11 young can be produced, but the average is 4 or 5 young. Females reach reproductive maturity by three weeks old, and the male at five weeks.

Comments:

It has been incorrectly called a California meadow mouse as it is not a mouse species.

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