Produced by Chris Curnow, Joseph Cooper, Diane Monico, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net NATURAL HISTORY OF THE PRAIRIE VOLE (~Mammalian Genus~ Microtus) BY E. W. JAMESON, Jr. University of Kansas Publications Museum of Natural History Volume 1, No. 7, pp. 125-151 October 6, 1947 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS LAWRENCE 1947 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS, MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY Editors: E. Raymond Hall, Chairman; Donald S. Farner, H. H. Lane, Edward H. Taylor Volume 1, No. 7, pp. 125-151 October 6, 1947 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Lawrence, Kansas PRINTED BY FERD VOILAND, JR., STATE PRINTER TOPEKA, KANSAS 1947 21-6957 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE PRAIRIE VOLE (MAMMALIAN GENUS MICROTUS) By E. W. JAMESON, JR. CONTENTS PAGE Introduction 128 Methods 130 Molt 131 Food and Habitat 132 Types of cover 132 Cuttings 133 Food caches 134 Plants used as food and as cover 135 Associates 137 Nest and Burrows 137 External Parasites 138 Fleas (Siphonaptera) 139 Lice (Anoplura) 141 Mites (Acari except Ixodoidea) 142 Ticks (Ixodoidea) 143 Reproduction 144 Age classes 144 Fecundity 144 Size of litters 146 The breeding season 147 Summary 149 Literature Cited 150 INTRODUCTION The prairie vole (_Microtus ochrogaster_) at Lawrence, Kansas, is approximately 5-1/2 inches in length, of which the tail comprises 1-1/4 inches, and weighs approximately 1-1/2 ounces. The color on the dorsum is dark gray with a grizzled appearance from the mixture of black and fulvous on the long hairs; the venter is paler, sometimes pale fulvous or cinnamon. The animal is compactly built much as are the other microtine rodents. The short legs and short tail, small eyes and partly hidden ears, and heavy and flattened head all suggest its semifossorial mode of life. The prairie vole spends most of its time in an elaborate system of tunnels (some entirely below the ground) and in almost hidden galleries in the dense grass.