Rock Vole

Microtus chrotorrhinus
Chuck Fergus

This species of New England and Canada inhabits a limited area of northeastern Pennsylvania. It closely resembles the more common meadow vole, except that the rock vole has a yellowish orange nose. The rock vole inhabits forests. In Pennsylvania it lives in cool, damp woods of maple, yellow birch and hemlock, among boulders and lush groundcover, mainly ferns. Foods include green plants, seeds, leaves, stems, fungi and insect larvae. Weasels, foxes, timber rattlesnakes and copperheads prey on rock voles. Females bear 2-3 litters of 1-7 young each year. Considered rare in Pennsylvania, Microtus chrotorrhinus was classified as a “vulnerable” species by the Pennsylvania Biological Survey in 1985.