Woodland Vole & Deermice

 🦌We had 11 deer on Tuesday. It was cold and snowy. Cinnamon and I went walkies Tuesday morning. He was atop the caterpillar upstairs, and I asked him if he wanted walkies. His eyes got big and wide and he maintained eye contact – staring intently at me, then he jumped down eyeing my coat with anticipation. 

First, some back up. This is a vole. They are fatter than deermice, with a shorter tail and big teeth. I've always called them field mice, but they are voles. And they bite for defense. 

 

This is our mouse hole. 

This is a great spot. The bird feeder above drops seed. Now, if you feed birds, you know you draw other critters. Thankfully the bears and raccoons are sleeping. 

 

tree sparrow from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The deer mice likes this spot. 

 

deermice from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I am afraid to fill it up, as we'd have dead mice in the walls. We certainly don't get many mice in the house. Just the odd one, which the cats take care of. Dorah would sit and watch for mice friends. I saw one scamper up here once.

I'd put the trailcam out on the deck, I assumed they were deermice. Not so! They are voles. They worked for hours: 8:20 p.m. => 10:30 p.m.! This is just a snippet. 

mice friends from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Funny story, Dorah was bitten by a Woodland Vole back in the day. She had a mark on her nose for weeks. Last week JB was watching Cinnamon out back in the ditch. Cinnamon drew back quickly, and we think he was bitten. He was pretty leery Tuesday.  I think that explains this.

Back to my story, out we went. I spotted something dark in the snow. A Woodland Vole. This is one I took away from the cats once upon a time.

We call them 'mice friends,' a family joke relating to the cats! Turns out they are voles. I don't know how they fit into the hole. 

mice friends from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Remember we were doing walkies?

Cinnamon and the vole from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

This is a woodland vole. Cinn didn't know what to make of it. The vole ended up under some fallen pine tree branches. Some call them field mice.

I've done some research, after this video. Shorter tails, teeny ears, fatter than deermice. Woodland Voles (some call them field mice) are of special concern. No one has assessed the population in Ontario. I would say they are thriving here at their northern range limit. I am surprised to see them going in the mouse hole. I am really surprised they fit! 

"The woodland vole is protected as a species of special concern provincially under Ontario's Endangered Species Act and nationally under the Species at Risk Act."

Daisy found a vole under the snow. They tunnel only as deep as 10 cm, no more.

Daisy hunted a field mouse
out in the snow, in winter.
She sat and listened, then pounced!
It was tunneling under the snow.