| Bank Vole | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Cricetidae |
| Subfamily: | Arvicolinae |
| Genus: | Myodes |
| Species: | M. glareolus |
| Binomial name | |
| Myodes glareolus (Schreber, 1780) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Clethrionomys glareolus |
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The bank vole (Myodes glareolus; formerly Clethrionomys glareolus) is a small vole with red-brown fur and some grey patches, with a tail about half as long as its body. A rodent, it lives in woodland areas and is around 100 millimetres (3.9 in) in length. The bank vole is found in western Europe and northern Asia. It is native to Great Britain but not to Ireland, where it has been accidentally introduced, and has now colonised much of the south and southwest.
The bank vole lives in woodland, hedgerows and other dense vegetation such as bracken and bramble. Its underground chamber is lined with moss, feathers and vegetable fibre and contains a store of food. It can live for 18 months and is omnivorous, eating insects, leaves and fruits such as raspberries and hazel nuts. It readily climbs into scrub and low branches of trees.
In areas such as Great Britain, where the only other small vole is the short-tailed vole (Microtus agrestis), the bank vole is distinguished by its more prominent ears, chestnut-brown fur and longer tail.
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