Voles, when talked about in the literature, are frequently referred to as pests. Because of this, despite being the most common mammal in these parts, they are seldom seen. Voles do this, they tunnel under the snow, making complicated networks of burrows both underground and through the thatch of fields under a protective layer of grass. I first knew a rodent was visiting my chicken coop when a tunnel opening emerged from the subnivean zone, the interface between snow and ground, next to the chicken coop. A famous member of the Cricetidae family is the muskrat. While voles dig tunnels under the ground, mice don't. One difference is that they come from different families mice are from the taxonomic family Muridae, and voles are from the family Cricetidae. Voles are mouse-like rodents, but they aren't mice. My chances of a correct identification in this case were high since meadow voles are probably the most common rodent in New England. After consulting some mammal guide books, I was able to determine that it was a meadow vole, Microtus pennsylvanicus (sometimes called the meadow or field mouse). It looked too big to be a mouse, and, I hoped, too small to be a rat. What little I saw of it as it streaked by and dove into its' burrow was cute. It was about 5 inches long, had a short tail and a blunt nose.
I was putting my chickens away the other night, closing up the coop, and while shutting the door a rodent scurried out.
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