Microtus chrotorrhinus

photo credit: NorthWoods Stewardship Center

ID

  • Orange or saffron-colored nose
  • Grizzled brown mixed with black on the dorsum, orange-rufous or saffron face
  • Silvery-gray belly
  • Small eyes
  • Prominent ears

Distribution

Reproduction

  • Females can mate 24 hours after giving birth, so they often are pregnant with one litter while nursing another
  • Gestation is 19-21 days and a litter is usually 3 or 4 young (Smithsonian)
  • Young are born anywhere between early spring and well into the fall (Whitaker)

Behavior

  • Live in shallow burrows

Food Habits

  • Bunchberries, butterfly larvae, moss, rootstocks, grass, shoots, berries, blueberry leaves and stems, bluebeard lily

Size/Life Cycle

  • Average measurement: 140-185 mm (total length), 30-48 g (total weight) (Smithsonian)

Predators

  • Unknown

Habitat

  • Under shady, moss covered boulders