Red tree vole / Arborimus longicaudus.

Abstract

The secretive nocturnal red tree vole is one of least studied and most specialized voles in North America. It is found only along the coast and in the Western Cascades of Oregon where it spends most of its life in the tops of tall conifers. eating needles of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and. Occasionally, other conifers. The voles clip small twigs and bring the twigs and needles back to their nests. They lick the needles to obtain water from dew rain and condensation from fog. Home from dew rain and condensation from fog. Home ranges are thought to be small–one or more trees. Dispersal ability, and the ability to colonize new habitats seems limited. Early mammalogists reported that red tree voles occupied only areas of extensive forest. Recent studies have shown them to be most abundant in old-growth forests: they are undergoing declines due to logging. Red tree voles are rare in sapling, pole and managed sawtimber stands, and young stands may serve as barriers to their dispersal.

Citation

Carey, A.B. 1999.. Red tree vole / Arborimus longicaudus. In: Wilson, D.E.; Ruff, S., eds. The Smithsonian book of north American Mammals. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press: 620-622