 |
 Vole Species - Approximately 70 vole species have been discovered which include: meadow Vole, Florida salt marsh vole, Arctic voles, southern red-back voles, bank vole, water vole, CA vole and red-backed vole.
|
|
|
|
|
The CA vole, also known as the California vole is most commonly found in grassland and can be a pest to farmers as they can damage crops. The CA vole has a number of predators which include hawks, owls, weasels, and snakes.
|
CA Vole
This vole species, more commonly known as the Californian vole, can be found along the Pacific coast in northern Baja California to central Oregon. It predominantly inhabits grasslands but is the CA vole is known to live in a range of environments which include wet meadows and oak woodlands. It also likes to visit agricultural areas which contain crops like sugar beets and vegetables that are large enough to provide cover from its predators. This can cause damage to crops, so farmers sometimes poison them.
|
|
|
The CA vole feeds on grasses
|
Like most voles, the California Vole is a burrower, but it also forms surface runways. This species feeds on forbs, grasses and other green vegetation, preferring tender leaves and young seeds; piles of cuttings are found along its runways. In winter, it eats mostly roots and other underground parts of plants. Like most other voles, the CA vole considerably alters its habitat with its burrows, runways, and cuttings.
The California vole can dig its own underground burrow system but it often begins by using Pocket Gopher burrows. The tunnels are usually 1 to 5 meters long and up to one half meter below ground, with a nesting den somewhere inside. The ends of the burrows are left open. Many insects, spiders, centipedes, and other animals live in their burrows, thus, the CA vole creates habitat for other species.
|
|
|
|
The most relevant links we could find, placed here free
 eNature
- A detailed profile of this species of vole. www.enature.com
Splash
- This page has lots of interesting facts about the CA vole including details on breeding and habitats. www.sacsplash.org
California voles communicate mostly through scent by depositing urine in areas of its runways as a tracking device. This tells the vole where it has been and who else inhabits a runway. Unfortunately for the voles, the urine they use to communicate to each other is the way their diurnal predators track them and determine vole density. Through the raptors ability to see ultraviolet light, the florescent urine shows up in the runways and directs the predator to the prey's location.
|
|
|
CA vole,better known as the Californian vole
|
They're an important prey item for raptors, composing 90 percent of the diet of the white-tailed kite. Northern harriers, also known as marsh hawks, will snatch a vole nest out of the grass, give it a good shake to dislodge the occupant, and snag the vole as it falls. Other predators include owls, weasels, and snakes. Even herons and egrets, normally thought of as fish-eaters, can go for voles.
|
|
Voles Home
Back
Site Contents Map
Page Index A-Z
