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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2012}}
{{Taxobox
| name = Bank vole
| status = LC | status_system = IUCN
| status_ref =<ref name=iucn>{{IUCN2008|assessor=Amori, G.|assessor2=Hutterer, R.|assessor3=Kryštufek, B.|assessor4=Yigit, N.|assessor5=Mitsain, G.|assessor6=Muñoz, L.J.P.|assessor7=Henttonen, H.|assessor8=Vohralík, V.|assessor9=Zagorodnyuk, I.|assessor10=Juškaitis, R.|display-assessors=etal|year=2008|id=4973/0|title=Myodes glareolus|downloaded=2013-07-24}} Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern.</ref>
| image = Rötelmaus.jpg
| image_width = 220px
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]]
| classis = [[Mammal]]ia
| ordo = [[Rodent]]ia
| familia = [[Cricetidae]]
| subfamilia = [[Arvicolinae]]
| genus = ''[[Red-backed vole|Myodes]]''
| species = '''''M. glareolus'''''
| binomial = ''Myodes glareolus''
| binomial_authority = ([[Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber|Schreber]], 1780)
| range_map = Mapa Myodes glareolus.png
| range_map_caption = Range of bank vole
| synonyms =
*''Clethrionomys glareolus''
*''Evotomys glareolus''
}}

The '''bank vole''' (''Myodes glareolus''; formerly ''Clethrionomys glareolus'') is a small [[vole]] with red-brown fur and some grey patches, with a tail about half as long as its body. A rodent, it lives in [[woodland]] areas and is around {{Convert|100|mm|in}} in length. The bank vole is found in western Europe and northern Asia. It is native to Great Britain but not to Ireland, where it has been accidentally introduced, and has now colonised much of the south and southwest.

The bank vole lives in [[woodland]], [[hedgerow]]s and other dense vegetation such as [[bracken]] and [[bramble]]. Its underground chamber is lined with moss, feathers and vegetable fibre and contains a store of food. It can live for eighteen months to two years in the wild and over 29 months in captivity and is mostly [[herbivorous]], eating buds, bark, seeds, nuts, leaves and fruits and occasionally insects and other small invertebrates. It readily climbs into scrub and low branches of trees although not as versatile as a mouse. It breeds in shallow burrows, the female rearing about four litters of pups during the summer.

==Description==
The bank vole is a small rodent resembling a mouse when young but developing a stouter body, a slightly rounder head with smaller ears and eyes and a shorter, hairy tail. The dorsal surface is reddish-brown, with a greyish undercoat and the flanks are grey with a reddish-brown sheen. The underparts are whitish-grey sometimes tinged with dull yellow. The ears are larger than those of most voles. The adult head and body length varies between {{convert|3.25|and|4.75|in}} and the tail ranges from {{convert|1.5|to|3|in}}. The weight is between {{convert|15.4|and|36|g}}. Young animals are darker in colour with greyer underparts. The bank vole is capable of making growling sounds and can utter low-pitched squeaks.<ref name=Collins>{{cite book |title=Mammals |last=Konig |first=Claus |year=1973 |publisher=Collins & Co. |isbn=978-0-00-212080-7 |pages=110–111 }}</ref>

In areas such as Great Britain, where the only other small vole is the [[Short-tailed Vole|short-tailed vole]] (''Microtus agrestis''), the bank vole is distinguished by its more prominent ears, chestnut-brown fur and longer tail which is usually 50% body length. The [[northern red-backed vole]] (''Myodes rutilus'') from northern Scandinavia and Russia, has a shorter tail and is paler with less grey in its pelage. The [[grey red-backed vole]] (''Myodes rufocanus'') from northern Eurasia, is larger with a distinctive reddish back.<ref name=Collins/>

==Distribution==
The bank vole has a [[Palearctic ecozone|palearctic]] distribution. It is native to Europe, [[Asia Minor]] and parts of Western Siberia. It does not occur in Iceland or northern Scandinavia (except for Finland) and is absent from the Iberian Peninsula and most of Italy.<ref name=Collins/> It was introduced into south western Ireland in the 1950s where it has taken hold and there are fears that it may be displacing the native [[wood mouse]] (''Apodemus sylvaticus''). A subspecies found on the island of [[Skomer]] in West Wales, the [[Skomer vole]] (''Myodes glareolus skomerensis''), is much larger than the mainland bank vole and there may be 20,000 individuals on the island in late summer.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.storm-crow.co.uk/animals/skomer_vole.html |title=Skomer Vole (''Myodes glareolus skomerensis'') |publisher=Storm Crow |accessdate=2013-07-24}}</ref>

==Habitat==
The bank vole is found in forests, especially in deciduous and mixed woodland with scrub, low plants and leaf litter. It is also present in hedgerows, field verges, among bracken and brambles, river banks, swamps and parks. In mountainous regions and the northern part of its range it occurs in coniferous woodland at altitudes of up to {{convert|1800|m}}. It is not found on bare soil and ample ground cover seems a necessity.<ref name=Collins/> In the Mediterranean region, at the southern extent of its range, it is a habitat specialist and is found in moist woodland but not in grassland and bushy places.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Torre, Ignasi |author2=Arrizabalaga, Antoni |year=2008 |title=Habitat preferences of the bank vole ''Myodes glareolus'' in a Mediterranean mountain range |journal=Acta Theriologica |volume=53 |issue=3 |pages=241–250 |doi=10.1007/BF03193120 }}</ref> At the fringes of forested areas it is possible for there to be a [[metapopulation]] consisting of a number of spatially separated populations of bank vole that come and go according to the season and local events. Some areas may be devoid of voles during the winter and be repopulated during the summer only to become empty of voles again in October. The further from permanently inhabited forest the location is, the fewer females there are and the more widely does the number of individuals fluctuate.<ref>{{cite journal |author=van Apeldoorn, R. C. |author2=Oostenbrink, W. T. |author3=van Winden, A. |author4=van der Zee, F. F. |lastauthoramp=yes |year=2008 |title=Effects of habitat fragmentation on the bank vole, ''Clethrionomys glareolus'', in an agricultural landscape |journal=Oikos |volume=65 |issue=2 |pages=265–274 |jstor=354501 |doi=10.2307/3545018}}</ref>

==Behaviour==
[[File:Sambucus nigra damage.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Twigs of elder (''[[Sambucus nigra]]'') damaged by the bank vole]]
The bank vole is active by day and also at night. It does not [[Hibernation|hibernate]] in winter. It excavates long, shallow branching burrows with multiple exits, sometimes tunelling along beneath the [[leaf litter]]. It gathers and stores food underground and makes a nest with moss, dry grasses and leaves close to the surface or even above ground. It is in general quite bold but is also very alert to the cries of other animals such as [[Tit (bird)|tits]] warning of aerial predators.<ref name=Collins/>

The bank vole is primarily a herbivore. Its diet varies with the season but usually consists of leaves, grasses, roots, buds, bark, fruits, nuts, grain and seeds. When feeding on grass stalks it may clip the stalks and lay the cut pieces in piles. Some food is carried back to the burrow where it is kept in dedicated storage chambers. It sometimes eats animal food in the form of insects, spiders and worms and may take eggs from the nests of birds nesting on the ground.<ref name=Collins/><ref name=ADW/>

The bank vole climbs well and in the winter it feeds on the bark of trees including beeches, maples and larch up to several metres above the ground. It also eats tree seedlings and reduces the natural regeneration of woodland and when present in large numbers, is considered a forest pest. However, its harmfulness is relatively low in a healthy ecosystem because significant damage only occurs when numbers build up, and because it has a large number of natural enemies its population is normally kept under control.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Buesching, Christina D. |author2=Newman, Christopher |author3=Twell, Rachael |author4=Macdonald, David W. |year=2008 |title=Reasons for arboreality in wood mice ''Apodemus sylvaticus'' and bank voles ''Myodes glareolus'' |journal=Mammalian Biology - Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde |volume=73 |issue=4 |pages=318–324 |doi=10.1016/j.mambio.2007.09.009 }}</ref>

==Breeding==
[[File:Bank voles.jpg|thumb|left|Young bank voles in their nest beneath a wood pile]]
Females maintain territories which may overlap somewhat, and males occupy larger territories covering those of several females. The home range of females is usually between {{convert|500|and|2000|m2}}.<ref name=Haupt>{{cite journal |author1=Haupt, Moritz |author2=Eccard, Jana A. |author3=Winter, York |year=2010 |title=Does spatial learning ability of common voles (''Microtus arvalis'') and bank voles (''Myodes glareolus'') constrain foraging efficiency? |journal=Animal Cognition |volume=13 |issue=6 |pages=783–791 |doi=10.1007/s10071-010-0327-8 }}</ref> The breeding season lasts from Late April to September. Females appear to prefer dominant males and may actively avoid other vagrant males. The gestation period averages 21 days, being longer if the female is still lactating from a previous litter. A litter can be up to ten pups but the average number is four to eight. Females sometimes kill pups in burrows in adjoining territories and males sometimes kill pups before mating with their mother, perhaps as a tactic to ensure his offspring are advantaged. The pups are naked and helpless and their eyes open at about nine days. They are weaned at 20 to 25 days and the females become sexually mature by six weeks with the males reaching maturity by eight weeks. There may be up to four litters per year and as the youngsters start to breed, numbers quickly build up over the summer months. The bank vole lives for up to two years.<ref name=ADW>{{cite web |url=http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Myodes_glareolus.html |title=''Myodes glareolus'': Bank vole |author1=Lundrigan, Barbara |author2=Mueller, Marie |year=2003 |work=Animal Diversity Web |publisher=University of Michigan |accessdate=2013-07-21}}</ref> In captivity this can increase to over 29 months, with the older voles tending to spend most time resting, less physically agile, though still capable of having a spin on the wheel.

==Ecology==
The bank vole is plentiful during much of the year and plays an important part in the diet of various predators including the [[red fox]] (''Vulpes vulpes''), the [[stoat]] (''Mustela erminea''), the [[least weasel]] (Mustela nivalis), the [[European mink]] (''Mustela lutreola''), the [[common kestrel]] (''Falco tinnunculus''), the [[rough-legged buzzard]] (''Buteo lagopus'') and the [[tawny owl]] (''Strix aluco''). The voles try to prevent being caught by avoiding open areas of ground, by using underground tunnels and well-worn paths through the undergrowth.<ref name=ADW/>

The bank vole acts as a reservoir on infection for the [[Puumala virus]], which can infect humans, causing a haemorrhagic fever known as [[nephropathia epidemica]] and, in extreme cases, even death.<ref>Yeron Kalner (August 7, 2014) "Deadly Research," Retrieved ''[[Yedioth Ahronoth]]'', p. 27, announced the death of Dr. Keren Ambar, a post-graduate studying the behavior of the bank vole in Finland. She had been affected by the ''Puumala'' virus which caused a complete breakdown of her immune system.</ref> Although this hantavirus has co-evolved with its [[Host (biology)|host]], its presence among populations seems to decrease their over-winter survival rates.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Kallio, E. R. |author2=Voutilainen, L. |author3=Vapalahti, O. |author4=Vaheri, A. |author5=Henttonen, H. |author6=Koskela, E. |author7=Mappes, T. |title=Endemic hantavirus infection impairs the winter survival of its rodent host |journal=Ecology |volume=88 |issue=8 |pages=1911–1916 |year=2007 |pmid=17824420 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6016866_Endemic_hantavirus_infection_impairs_the_winter_survival_of_its_rodent_host |doi=10.1890/06-1620.1}}</ref>

==Status==
The bank vole has a very wide range across Europe and western Asia. The population density depends on the time of year and location and varies between six and one hundred individuals per hectare. The population size varies from year to year but in the long term appears to be stable. For these reasons, the [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] has rated the bank vole as being of "[[Least Concern]]" in its [[Red List of Threatened Species]].<ref name=iucn/> When it lives on road verges, the bank vole can suffer from [[Lead poisoning|lead toxicity]] and near farmland it may be affected by [[pesticide]]s, [[molluscicide]]s and [[rodenticide]]s.<ref name=ARKive>{{cite web |url=http://www.arkive.org/bank-vole/clethrionomys-glareolus/ |title=Bank vole (''Clethrionomys glareolus'') |publisher=ARKive |accessdate=2013-07-25}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

{{Wikispecies|Myodes glareolus}}
{{Commons category|Myodes glareolus}}

{{Arvicolinae}}
{{MyodesSpecies}}

[[Category:Voles and lemmings]]
[[Category:Animals described in 1780]]
[[Category:Mammals of Asia]]
[[Category:Rodents of Europe]]
[[Category:Mammals of Russia]]
[[Category:Mammals of Turkey]]
[[Category:Mammals of Kazakhstan]]

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