Myodes rutilus
Silhouette: PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The northern red-backed vole (Clethrionomys rutilus) is a small slender vole found in Alaska, northern Canada, Scandinavia and northern Russia. They have short slender bodies with a rust-colored back, light brown sides and underparts and a short thick tail. Their short ears are visible through their fur. They are 14 cm long with a 3.5 cm tail and weigh about 30 to 40 g. Their dental formula is 1/1, 0/0, 0/0, 3/3. They are active year-round, usually at night. They can cause damage to fruit trees and stored grains.
Northern red-backed voles live in a variety of northern forest and shrubland habitats. They occur in every major forest type in central Alaska. Plant species commonly found in areas occupied by northern red-backed voles include black spruce (Picea mariana), white spruce (Picea glauca), quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), paper birch (Betula papyrifera), alder (Alnus spp.), willow (Salix spp.), mountain cranberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea), blueberry and bilberry (Vaccinium spp.), bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), and a variety of grasses and forbs. Important fungi, mosses and lichens include truffle (Endogone fascilulata), Schreber's moss... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenai Fjords National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Denali National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Novosibirsk | 🇷🇺 Russia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Universeum | 🇸🇪 Sweden |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Red-backed Vole sighting in Novosibirsk on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 6th most-seen of the 10 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April–May and September–October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Red-backed Vole in Novosibirsk on a given day, against under 5% in June–August and November–March, the lowest months.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Northern Red-backed Vole sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Novosibirsk, in our data
Novosibirsk is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Northern Red-backed Vole sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Northern Red-backed Vole is recorded against all the mammals logged in Novosibirsk (9 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
