Grey Red-backed Vole (Craseomys rufocanus) lives in northern forests across Northern Europe and Asia. It feeds on seeds and fruits. Its conservation status is Least Concern.
Fascinating facts about the Grey Red-backed Vole
- A grey red-backed vole can tip the scales at 20-50 grams, yet its body stretches 4.5-5.25 inches (114-133 mm) with a tail up to 1.75 inches (44 mm) long, about the size of a small mouse but noticeably heftier. Compared with its close cousin, the northern red-backed vole, it is larger and has longer legs.
- From the fjords of Norway to the far reaches of the Kamchatka Peninsula, this vole spans an immense swath of northern Eurasia. Its range stretches across Norway, Sweden and Finland, sweeps east through northern Russia, and reaches the Ural and Altai Mountains, northern Korea, Sakhalin Island, Japan, northern Mongolia and China.
- The vole thrives from sea level up to 1,170 m (3,839 ft) in Scandinavia and even climbs to 2,700 m (8,858 ft) in Mongolia's Khangai Mountains. This altitude flexibility lets it occupy dense undergrowth, rocky coniferous zones, birch forests, and even dry peat bogs. By exploiting such varied elevations, the vole can escape low-land predators and find fresh food sources, reinforcing its role as a resilient resident of sub-arctic landscapes.
- When foraging, the vole munches grasses, herbs, leaf shoots and berries, showing a clear preference for bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) over the northern crowberry, which packs unpalatable phenolic compounds. By selecting bilberries, the vole avoids toxins.
- In tundra zones the vole erupts in population booms every four to five years, a cycle still puzzling scientists but likely tied to shifts in specialist predator numbers. Unlike lemmings, which keep breeding through winter, grey red-backed voles shrink in winter.
Sources
Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.
At a glance
RangeNorthern Europe and Asia
HabitatNorthern forests
DietSeeds and fruits
About the Grey Red-backed Vole
In the whispering undergrowth of the forest, the grey red-backed vole weaves a secretive existence, its rust-hued mantle blending seamlessly with the rustling leaves as it darts between the shadows. With each swift, darting movement, it embodies the very essence of adaptability, its tiny paws barely touching the earth as it navigates the hidden world of roots and decay. As it disappears into the dense thicket, its large, watchful eyes gleam like dark jewels, a testament to the vole's remarkable resilience in this ever-changing landscape.
Hear the Grey Red-backed Vole, and 4,400+ more
Real recorded sounds, 11 nature games and a free Daily 5, 1v1 quiz duels, conservation wins and a safe Kids mode. Free on Feravox.
