Bank vole facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Bank Vole |
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| The Bank vole. | |
| Scientific classification | |
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| Phylum: | |
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Arvicolinae
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| Genus: |
Myodes
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| Species: |
M. glareolus
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The bank vole (Myodes glareolus) is a small, type of vole with red-brown fur with some grey patches, its body is around 100 millimeters (3.9 in) long in length and the tail is around 50 millimeters long. They weigh around 20 to 35 grams, they have blunt noses and have small eyes and ears.
Where it lives
The Bank vole lives in woodlands, oak woods, farmlands, hedgerows, and grasslands in Europe (except for the north and south) and east, north, and central Asia.
Behavior
The Bank Vole is active during both, day and night, but they rest a lot to stop themselves from getting tired. They make their nests under logs, in tree holes, or sometimes underground. In the autumn they store food for the winter.
Feeding
Bank voles are omnivorous, meaning that they eat other animals and plants. They eat insects, snails, grass, seeds, fungi, leaves and fruit, like raspberry and hazelnut. They have also been known to eat the bodies of dead animals.
Lives
Baby Bank voles are born in nests made of grass, moss and feathers. The nests are built above ground, usually in trees. When the babies are born they have no fur and are blind. They live on their mothers milk for the first few weeks of their life. A mother Bank vole has an average of six babies at a time, and can have five litters in a season. A baby Bank vole born in spring will be old enough to breed by the time fall comes. A Bank vole lives for an average of 18 to 20 months.
Predators
Some predators of the Bank vole are the Barn owls, the Tawny owls, the fox, the weasel, and the stoat.
Images for kids
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Twigs of elder (Sambucus nigra) damaged by the bank vole
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Young bank voles in their nest beneath a wood pile
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Bank vole carrying nest material
See also
In Spanish: Myodes glareolus para niños
