The molting processes of juveniles and subadults follow the same pattern. The first area of molting is in the pectoral region. The molt patch extends caudad toward the tail and cephalad toward the chin. New pelage separates this area of active molt into two strips on the fourth or fifth day. By this time each strip has spread laterad to the legs and sides, and is 10 to 20 mm. wide. Ultimately each strip unites with its opposite, usually at the center of the dorsum. This area of molt then spreads cephalad and caudad. Fourteen to fifteen days after the beginning of the molt, the entire dorsum is in process of being covered with new pelage. Shortly before the completion of the molt, the dorsal area of molt divides into two patches, one on the rump and one on the nape. The areas last to be covered with new pelage are the crown and that between the ears and the eyes. A slight variation in the above process occurred in some specimens in which the lateral strips joined immediately cephalad of the tail instead of at the center of the dorsum. The entire process takes approximately three weeks. Large voles (45 grams or more) grow hair in irregular patches that measured 5 to 15 mm. In these large voles the molt is accomplished slowly and does not cover large areas of the body at any one time. The small areas of molt are visible for 7 to 10 days, and were found on approximately three quarters of the large voles examined. FOOD AND HABITAT The diet of the prairie vole reflects both its environment and its choice of food. The plants eaten are usually green and succulent, but some dry, hard seeds and small stems of woody plants are also eaten. The vegetation, which supplies the food for the vole, is important as cover or nesting material. For this reason food and habitat are discussed together. TYPES OF COVER Prairie voles inhabit areas where the dominant plants in summer are clover or grasses or both. The lawn on the campus at the University of Kansas consists mostly of several kinds of grasses, but in some places alfalfa (_Medicago sativa_) replaces clover (_Trifolium_ sp.), and in other places sedges (_Scirpus_ spp.) are found in addition to the grasses. The grass is short; it is mowed to a length of 4 to 6 inches. Bluegrass (_Poa pratensis_) and crabgrass (_Digitaria ischaemum_) form most of the sod. Bluejoint (_Andropogon furcatus_) is common in a sparsely wooded part of the campus, an area which has many voles. Foxtail (_Setaria lutescens_ and _S. viridis_) and prairie threeawn (_Aristida oligantha_) are also common on the lawn, but these become dry in late summer, and at that time supply neither food nor cover for the voles. The voles make well-beaten depressions in the sod, and the grass arches over them to form canopies.