A vole

October 31, 2015 17 Comments

This post has 5 photographs and accompanying text which can be viewed as a slideshow.

Hello! I am a vole.
I am very small.
And live underground.
I am very cute. But if many like me live in an area, we can be very destructive to plants (we eat their roots and they die!). In small numbers, we are beneficial. Like other burrowing rodents, we disperse nutrients through upper soil layers and are food for many predators. [The human who is speaking for me learned this on Wikipedia.]
This is one of the entrances to my tunnels. Down the hole goes the vole!
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17 Comments

  1. Eliza Waters October 31, 2015 at 8:05 PM

    Oh, so cute, but terrifyingly destructive in my garden!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Myriam (Myr's Bytes) November 4, 2015 at 9:45 AM

      So I’ve heard. I guess they need to be kicked out like the garden gnomes in the Harry Potter books. Hopefully there are a few places where they can go about their business without bothering anybody.

      Liked by 1 person

  2. weisserwatercolours November 1, 2015 at 5:25 AM

    ….we don’t (yet) have these creatures, so it looks like something straight out of an illustrated children’s storybook

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Myriam (Myr's Bytes) November 4, 2015 at 9:47 AM

      They do remind me of the little illustrated mice in one of my favourite children’s books. Except they aren’t wearing cute little clothes :-).

      Like

  3. melissabluefineart November 1, 2015 at 8:16 AM

    Aw! I love these little guys. Fortunately, so do several predators 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Myriam (Myr's Bytes) November 4, 2015 at 9:51 AM

      They do have really high reproduction rates :-)!

      Liked by 1 person

  4. Monica November 1, 2015 at 10:27 AM

    What a cutie! But just like toddlers, they’re adorable to look at, but can be a real terror, right? 😉

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Myriam (Myr's Bytes) November 4, 2015 at 9:53 AM

      Yes, uber-cute little terrors :-). Except they are sneaky, quiet, underground terrors…

      Like

  5. M.R. Emberson November 1, 2015 at 6:34 PM

    Great post as usual — I really like the special slideshow format!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Myriam (Myr's Bytes) November 4, 2015 at 9:58 AM

      Thanks M :-). I do like slideshows for telling photo-stories. But sometimes I worry that it is hard for some people to see. For example, they can’t be viewed in the WordPress Reader.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. M.R. Emberson November 5, 2015 at 6:02 PM

        I’ve never noticed. When I click to view your posts from the Reader, the link to takes me directly to your site.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Myriam (Myr's Bytes) November 6, 2015 at 11:22 PM

          Glad it has never been a problem for you :-)! My posts used to have the option of being read in full in the special Reader full view. I didn’t like the way this displayed photo galleries so I changed my settings and now other WordPress bloggers are forced to go to my site to view the full post.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. M.R. Emberson November 7, 2015 at 5:11 PM

            Although I’ve never tinkered with those settings for my site, I do think it’s a good idea–especially for one with several photos.

            Liked by 1 person

  6. Jill Kuhn November 2, 2015 at 11:38 AM

    These are great photos, Myriam! 😊

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Myriam (Myr's Bytes) November 4, 2015 at 10:00 AM

      Thanks Jill :-). I was standing still to watch some chickadees and suddenly I noticed some voles two feet away.

      Liked by 1 person

  7. Jet Eliot November 4, 2015 at 3:55 PM

    Great capture! I’ve found voles to be quite difficult to photograph–shy, ducking away quickly. Great post Myriam.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Myriam (Myr's Bytes) November 6, 2015 at 11:14 PM

      Thanks Jet :-). I guess I got lucky. This one didn’t mind me as long as I stayed still and more than 3 feet away, otherwise it would disappear into its tunnel for a little while.

      Like

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