Outdoor Ontario

Wildlife Reports => Toronto Wildlife => Topic started by: surfinbird on April 12, 2010, 09:03:56 AM

Title: RFI please
Post by: surfinbird on April 12, 2010, 09:03:56 AM

(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2799/4502676978_c74dae56f3.jpg)
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4013/4502043735_52ed0c913d.jpg)
I'm not sure what this is , it looks like a mouse or vole . It was eating seeds at the bottom of a feeder at the hawk watch on Halls Rd. It didn't seem to mind people walking by but would hide when my IS on the lens made a noise .
Let me know what it is .
Thanks
 Rob

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Post by: Pruss on April 12, 2010, 09:11:31 AM

Now I'm no expert on mammals... but that looks a lot like what I've always been told were voles.

Here is what the wikipedia has to say:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vole (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vole)

Best,

Pat

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Post by: Axeman on April 12, 2010, 10:58:37 AM

I'd go vole too...but did you get a look at the tail? voles have a short tail

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Post by: Moira on April 12, 2010, 05:27:21 PM

If it was under the feeder at Halls Rd., I've been advised it's a meadow vole.  There are 2 of them regularly ... I don't know how they've survived the traffic thru there.

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Post by: Halton Hills on April 12, 2010, 08:17:17 PM

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There are two main types of Voles in Ontario.......Pine or Meadow

This is definitely a Meadow Vole.......prominent eyes and furry ears.

And if you could see it, the tail would be about twice as long as the hind foot.

The pine vole is smaller with a shorter tail.....and has sunken eyes and ears buried in the fur.


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Title: Ref: RFI
Post by: JTF on April 12, 2010, 08:29:50 PM

Meadow vole, owl food on amherst island.

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Post by: Axeman on April 12, 2010, 10:43:57 PM

damn them meadow voles...

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Post by: Halton Hills on April 13, 2010, 04:15:22 AM

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Ahh yes........Axeman knows all about Voles....... :wink:

They eat away at the grass and form narrow runways under the snow.

Meadow Voles feed mostly on seeds, herbs and bulbs......and sometimes bark in the winter.

Pine Voles feed mostly on rootlets and bark on larger roots.

Most birds of prey you see hunting over a field usually have their eyes on one of these critters.

They are also favourites of foxes and coyotes.......it's always a treat to see the hunting ritual in the hayfield behind our house.

Something like this.......  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5YIa1NO ... re=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5YIa1NOByo&feature=related)


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Post by: surfinbird on April 16, 2010, 08:23:24 AM

Thanks for the ID folks .

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Post by: Axeman on April 16, 2010, 11:53:53 AM

SO would it be the pine vole then, that ate our rose bushes? I had to laugh...we had one still standing...I thought it was OK...the root had been severed...the stalk was held up by the soil and came off in my hand....

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Post by: Halton Hills on April 16, 2010, 12:19:16 PM

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Hard to say for sure who has set up shop in your garden without trapping one.......  :wink:

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