page_title: Southern red-backed vole
hierarchical_section_title: Southern red-backed vole
caption_attribution_description: English: Southern red-backed vole (Myodes gapperi) taken in Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Park, Ontario
context_page_description: The southern red-backed vole or Gapper's red-backed vole is a small slender vole found in Canada and the northern United States. It is closely related to the western red-backed vole, which lives to the south and west of its range and which is less red with a less sharply bicolored tail.
  These voles have short slender bodies with a reddish band along the back and a short tail. The sides of the body and head are grey and the underparts are paler. There is a grey color morph in the northeast part of their range. They are 12–16.5 cm long with a 4 cm tail and weigh about 6–42 g; average 20.6 g.
  These animals are found in coniferous, deciduous, and mixed forests, often near wetlands. They use runways through the surface growth in warm weather and tunnel through the snow in winter. They are omnivorous feeding on green plants, underground fungi, seeds, nuts, roots, also insects, snails, and berries. They store roots, bulbs, and nuts for later use.
  Predators include hawks, owls, and mustelids.
  Female voles have two to four litters of two to eight young in a year.
  They are active year-round, mostly at night. They use burrows created by other small animals.
context_section_description: The southern red-backed vole or Gapper's red-backed vole (Myodes gapperi) is a small slender vole found in Canada and the northern United States. It is closely related to the western red-backed vole (Myodes californius), which lives to the south and west of its range and which is less red with a less sharply bicolored tail.
  These voles have short slender bodies with a reddish band along the back and a short tail. The sides of the body and head are grey and the underparts are paler. There is a grey color morph in the northeast part of their range. They are 12–16.5 cm (4.7–6.5 in) long with a 4 cm tail and weigh about 6–42 g; average 20.6 g (0.21–1.48 oz; average 0.72 oz).
  These animals are found in coniferous, deciduous, and mixed forests, often near wetlands. They use runways through the surface growth in warm weather and tunnel through the snow in winter. They are omnivorous feeding on green plants, underground fungi, seeds, nuts, roots, also insects, snails, and berries. They store roots, bulbs, and nuts for later use.
  Predators include hawks, owls, and mustelids.
  Female voles have two to four litters of two to eight young in a year.
  They are active year-round, mostly at night. They use burrows created by other small animals.
caption: Top view, Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park, Ontario
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "NIKON", "Image Model": "E4500", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "E4500v1.1", "Image DateTime": "2009:04:06 16:45:15", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "216", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "300", "Thumbnail YResolution": "300", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1663", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "9852", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "10/1683", "EXIF FNumber": "19/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2005:08:07 22:35:04", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2005:08:07 22:35:04", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "14/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "39/2", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1024", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "768", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1522", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "94", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}