voles
Short-tailed burrowers
Voles are small rodents resembling mice but with stouter bodies, shorter tails, and smaller ears.
They live in burrows or runways through grass and are found throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.
Gardeners and farmers often consider them pests because they damage lawns, crops, and tree roots.
The orchard suffered significant damage from voles gnawing on the bark.
Gnawing mammal order
Animal body hair
- pelageMammal's fur collectively
- smallLimited in size
- roundedHaving no sharp angles
- short-tailedHaving abbreviated hindquarters
whiskers · incisors · compact · stocky · beady-eyed · ears · paws · coat
Enclosed underground route
- burrowAnimal's dug dwelling
- undergroundBelow ground or countercultural
- nestAnimal-built shelter for young
- chamberEnclosed room or cavity
runway · excavate · subterranean · den · soil · digging · mound · hole
Herbivore eating low vegetation
- herbivorePlant-only consumer
- nibblerSmall-bite eater or metal cutter
- girdlingCircumferential bark removal
- plant damageHarm to vegetation
grass-eater · winter feeding · food cache · gnaw marks · vegetation · browse
Harmful backyard creature
- crop damageHarm to cultivated plants
- lawn damageInjury to grass
- infestationPest takeover situation
- verminHarmful small animals
trapping · rodenticide · exclusion · population boom · hardware cloth · boom-bust cycle
Regurgitated prey remains
- meadowGrassy field for grazing
- grasslandTreeless herb-covered ecosystem
- tundraFrigid treeless biome
- wetlandWaterlogged land ecosystem
field · habitat · ecosystem · food chain · predator-prey
rodent
Gnawing mammal order
fur
Animal body hair
short-tailed · whiskers · incisors · compact · stocky · beady-eyed · ears · paws · coat · thickset
tunnel
Enclosed underground route
- burrowAnimal's dug dwelling
- undergroundBelow ground or countercultural
- nestAnimal-built shelter for young
chamber · runway · excavate · subterranean · den · soil · digging · mound · hole · shelter
grazer
Herbivore eating low vegetation
- herbivorePlant-only consumer
- nibblerSmall-bite eater or metal cutter
- girdlingCircumferential bark removal
plant damage · grass-eater · winter feeding · food cache · gnaw marks · vegetation · browse
garden pest
Harmful backyard creature
- crop damageHarm to cultivated plants
- lawn damageInjury to grass
- infestationPest takeover situation
vermin · trapping · rodenticide · exclusion · population boom · hardware cloth · boom-bust cycle
owl pellet
Regurgitated prey remains
wetland · field · habitat · ecosystem · food chain · predator-prey
- organismsplants, animals, human, dog, fungi
- farm hazardsdrought, frost damage, flood, hail damage, frost
- farm pestsaphid, aphids, armyworm, boll weevil, corn borer
- pestsants, ant, bugs, cockroach, cockroaches
- plant-eatersherbivores, grazers, browsers, cows, horses
- rodentsmouse, rat, guinea pig, squirrel, mice
voleshouse mice
Small rodents infesting homes
deer mice · rats · shrews · field mice · moles
- water volesAquatic rodent species