A Little Bit More
Voles are rodents but differ from the mice most of us are more familiar with. Voles are especially well–adapted for foraging on grasses and flowering plants, obvious when scientists look at their complex molar tooth patterns. And it’s just these teeth that are used to differentiate between the 25 species of voles in North America, north of Mexico, found across a wide range of habitats across the continent.
Voles tend to confine themselves to an established system of runways in the grass or underground burrows. These passageways are hidden from view by a grassy roof, providing a reasonably safe, but not fool-proof, thoroughfare to and from their food. Many a homeowner has found their runways in lawns that have not been recently mowed or after the snow has melted.
vole runway in grass
Voles are active both day and night and are therefore available as food for both nocturnal and diurnal predators. They’re preyed upon by a wide range of mammalian and avian predators and their high reproductive rate is necessary to counteract their typically short (usually less than one year) life-span.
Activities
Science – Spit It Out
Objectives: See rodent bones firsthand
Materials: Owl pellets and instructions (can be purchased)
We’ve shared this activity before but dissecting an owl pellet is such an interesting activity that I think it worthwhile to repeat it here in case you haven’t done this before.
The websites we’ve included allow you to acquire your own pellets and will have directions on how to proceed with this activity. Many different biological supply houses provide these so you may want to order from your own preferred source and not what we’ve shared. There’s no guarantee that the pellets you receive will have voles in them but they will have rodent bones for sure.
Here are a few of the many sources of owl pellets.
Key Concepts
Predator/Prey Relationships, Populations and Ecosystems, Identification, Food Webs /Food Pyramids, Behavior and Regulation, Adaptations and Diversity
Questions
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