Posted by Audrey Elrod on October 21, 2006

Q: A rodent about 5 to 7 inches long no tail silver gray color about the size of a rat. It's back leggs seem to be longer than it's front ones about like a Kangaroo Rat.It lives in holes in the ground and I usually see them running in the fence rows when I mow the fields.I live in the Middle Tennessee area.

Habitat: field/meadow

State: Tennessee

Habitat: field/meadow

A: You've given me a difficult one! Small mammals often look so much alike that telling one from another can be extremely difficult. Your geographic location information was helpful (where you see an animal is often crucial for an ID)but that only narrows down the field, it doesn't point to a specific species.

So, I can come up with some possibilities but I can't nail it down for you, I'm afraid. I'm also guessing that your animals do have tails but they're short and therefore hard to see. Rabbits certainly seem tailess and are grey with larger back legs but they're much larger than 5-7" so I'm focusing on rodents, not the rabbits. Furthermore, the rodents that have larger back legs also have very long tails so this seems like another bit of complexity.

Some possibilities for your animals that seem most likely to me include Meadow Vole (common in fields and grasslands), Prairie Vole (common on prairies, meadows and farmland),and Woodland Vole (common in moist woodland and forests). These rodents have short tails, so are easy to miss and are about the right size too. See if you can google these animals and get some pictures but I think you'll find that they all look very much alike. Hope this helps a bit. Thanks for writing.

John Wiessinger ( October 24, 2006)