Bank vole
Myodes glareolus
peterkennerley · Coppice Close
Key facts in one look
- Diet
- Plants, seeds, berries, fungi
- Status in Georgia
- Native, point-like range
- Size
- Body 8–13.5 cm, 12–61 g
- Habitat
- Mountain forest, up to 1,600 m
- Family
- Cricetidae
- Conservation
- LC / EN
The bank vole is a common rodent of European forests, but in Georgia it is rare and endangered. Here it lives only in the mountains of the southwest, on the Adjara-Imereti and Guria-Adjara ridges, in broadleaf and coniferous forest. A rusty back, noticeable ears and a long, two-toned tail set it apart from other voles. It does not attack people, but it carries a hantavirus. So do not pick it up and do not touch its droppings.
Identification
Bank vole: how to identify it
A small, neat vole with a rusty back, grey flanks and a light grey belly. The ears are rounded and stand clear of the fur, and the tail is about half the body length. In Georgia it may be confused with other voles, such as Major's pine vole, so look at the colour and the tail.
The body is 8–13.5 cm long, the tail 3.2–7.2 cm, and it weighs 12–61 g. Males and females are almost the same size, and size varies from region to region.
The back is rusty, the flanks grey and the belly light grey, sometimes washed yellowish. The contrast between back and flanks is sharp, especially in adults. Young animals are darker and less rusty.
The tail is clearly two-toned, dark above and whitish below, and covered with short, sparse hair. The ears are larger than in most voles. These two features help tell it from other voles, but use a photo to identify it, not your hands.
Colour
Swatches are illustrative. Do not identify a species by colour alone.
It is a forest vole: it lives in broadleaf, mixed and coniferous woodland where thick grass, shrubs and leaf litter cover the ground. It avoids bare soil and climbs up to the tree line. In Georgia it occurs only in the southwest, on the Adjara-Imereti and Guria-Adjara ridges, from sea level to 1,600 m. There it lives in broadleaf and coniferous forest and in tall-grass meadows. In autumn and winter it also moves into haystacks and buildings. This population is cut off from the main range of the species.
It feeds mainly on plants: green parts and seeds. It also eats berries, fungi, lichens, buds and bark. Animal food makes up less than 5% of its diet: earthworms, snails, spiders and insects. In winter it climbs trees and gnaws the bark. It carries food in false cheek pouches and stores it in caches.
It is active all year and does not hibernate. It comes out several times a day and night, most of all at dusk and dawn; in summer it is more nocturnal. It is more agile than most voles: it jumps well and climbs trees up to 12 m high. It builds a nest of grass and leaves, 10–15 cm across, under logs or stones or in the ground. Breeding runs from March–April to September–October. Gestation lasts 18–20 days, a litter has 1 to 13 young, about 5 on average, and a female can have a new litter every 3–4 weeks. The young are born naked and blind, open their eyes at 12–13 days and breed at 1.5–2 months. In the wild it lives 18–21 months and rarely survives a second winter.
Globally the bank vole is rated Least Concern (LC, 2021): its range covers 8.7 million km² from Europe to Siberia. In Georgia the picture is very different. The 2021 national assessment rates it Endangered (EN B1+2ab(iii)), with a declining population for reasons that are unknown. The 2006 Red List of Georgia also listed it as Endangered (EN), as the subspecies Clethrionomys glareolus ponticus, because of its point-like range. It is food for many predators: foxes, stoats, weasels, kestrels and owls.
Related guides
Continue with related pages
Yes, but only in the southwest, in the forests of the Adjara-Imereti and Guria-Adjara ridges, from sea level to 1,600 m. This small population is cut off from the main range of the species. That is why in Georgia it is rare and rated Endangered.
By its rusty back, grey flanks, noticeable rounded ears and long, two-toned tail, which is about half the body length. Its ears are also larger than in most voles. The animal moves fast, so take a photo to identify it and do not catch it by hand.
It does not attack, but it carries Puumala hantavirus, which can give people a fever with kidney damage. The virus spreads through dust from urine, droppings and nesting material, and through bites and handling. So do not touch the vole or its droppings with bare hands.
Mostly the green parts and seeds of herbs. It also eats berries, fungi, lichens and buds, and in winter it climbs trees to gnaw bark. Insects and other invertebrates make up a small part of the diet. It also stores food in caches.
Globally it is Least Concern (LC, 2021), but in Georgia it lives only in one small, isolated area. The 2021 national assessment rates it Endangered (EN), with a declining population, though the cause is unknown. The 2006 Red List of Georgia also listed it as Endangered.
References
What this profile is based on
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
Prepared by the Reptiles.ge editorial team from the sources listed here.
