singing vole
microtus miurus latin

In the wild, many singing voles do not survive even their first winter.

Singing voles are found in tundra regions above the tree line.

Singing voles are at least semi-colonial animals, sharing burrows between family groups.

Singing voles have short ears, often concealed by their long fur, and a short tail.

Like the singing vole, this animal may give a warning call to alert other members of the colony of danger.

Singing voles are native to Alaska and north-western Canada.

Hikers may hear the chirps of the singing voles (Microtus miurus).

Singing vole (M. miurus)

Unusually among voles, in addition to storing food, such as roots and rhizomes, underground, singing voles also often leave stacks of grasses out on rocks to dry.

Male singing voles possess modified sebaceous glands on their flanks, which are used in scent marking; these glands have also been noted in some lactating females.

The singing vole, Microtus miurus, is a medium-sized vole found in northwestern North America, including Alaska and northwestern Canada.

Singing voles can be distinguished from other neighboring vole species by their shorter tails and the color of their underparts (other local voles have grey underparts).

Though later found only in high mountain reaches, in this rough rain not far from lowland rivers, singing voles and pikas were busily cans grass, to be dried and stored.

During the Ice Ages of the late Pleistocene, singing voles may have been much more widely distributed than today, and fossils have been reported from as far south as Iowa, which was then probably similar in climate to present-day Alaska.

The closest living relative of the Singing Vole today is the Insular Vole, which is found only on two small islands off the west coast of Alaska, and probably diverged as those islands were cut off from the Beringia land bridge by rising sea levels.