How big does a Southern red-backed vole get? Here is an overview over the average adult age:
A grown Southern red-backed vole (Myodes gapperi) reaches an average size of 10.1 cm (0′ 4″).
When born, they have an average size of 0 cm (0′ 0″). During their lifetime of about 1.67 years, they grow from 1 grams (0 lbs) to 19 grams (0.04 lbs). Talking about reproduction, Southern red-backed voles have 5 babies about 2 times per year. The Southern red-backed vole (genus: Myodes) is a member of the family Cricetidae.
As a reference: Humans reach an average body size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) while carrying 62 kg (137 lbs). A human woman is pregnant for 280 days (40 weeks) and on average become 75 years old.

The southern red-backed vole or Gapper’s red-backed vole (Myodes gapperi) is a small slender vole found in Canada and the northern United States. It is closely related to the western red-backed vole (Myodes californius), which lives to the south and west of its range and which is less red with a less sharply bicolored tail.These voles have short slender bodies with a reddish band along the back and a short tail. The sides of the body and head are grey and the underparts are paler. There is a grey color morph in the northeast part of their range. They are 12–16.5 cm (4.7–6.5 in) long with a 4 cm tail and weigh about 6–42 g; average 20.6 g (0.21–1.48 oz; average 0.72 oz).These animals are found in coniferous, deciduous, and mixed forests, often near wetlands. They use runways through the surface growth in warm weather and tunnel through the snow in winter. They are omnivorous feeding on green plants, underground fungi, seeds, nuts, roots, also insects, snails, and berries. They store roots, bulbs, and nuts for later use.Predators include hawks, owls, and mustelids.Female voles have two to four litters of two to eight young in a year.They are active year-round, mostly at night. They use burrows created by other small animals.
Animals of the same family as a Southern red-backed vole
We found other animals of the Cricetidae family:
- Caatinga vesper mouse with a weight of 39 grams
- Lundomys with 2 babies per litter
- Abrothrix andinus with a weight of 24 grams
- Middendorf’s vole with 5 babies per litter
- Handleyomys intectus with a weight of 60 grams
- Spotted bolo mouse with a weight of 37 grams
- Hylaeamys megacephalus with a size of 12.2 cm (0′ 5″)
- Abrothrix jelskii with a weight of 34 grams
- Strong-tailed Oldfield mouse with a weight of 77 grams
- Sikkim mountain vole with 2 babies per litter
Animals with the same size as a Southern red-backed vole
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Southern red-backed vole:
- Four-toed rice tenrec with a size of 10.7 cm (0′ 5″)
- Chiruromys lamia with a size of 11.2 cm (0′ 5″)
- Mountain tube-nosed fruit bat with a size of 8.6 cm (0′ 4″)
- Chinese dormouse with a size of 9.1 cm (0′ 4″)
- Tundra vole with a size of 11.6 cm (0′ 5″)
- Umboi tube-nosed fruit bat with a size of 9.3 cm (0′ 4″)
- Sandy inland mouse with a size of 8.2 cm (0′ 4″)
- Dusky hopping mouse with a size of 12 cm (0′ 5″)
- Mountain mosaic-tailed rat with a size of 11.5 cm (0′ 5″)
- Yellow-pine chipmunk with a size of 12 cm (0′ 5″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Southern red-backed vole
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (5) as a Southern red-backed vole:
- Wood lemming
- Mongolian hamster
- Hispid cotton rat
- American water shrew
- Daurian pika
- Gray marmot
- Pilbara ningaui
- Sagebrush vole
- Kellen’s dormouse
- Tristram’s jird
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Southern red-backed vole
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Southern red-backed vole:
- Western harvest mouse with an average maximal age of 1.5 years
- Atlantic bamboo rat with an average maximal age of 1.58 years
- Brush mouse with an average maximal age of 1.5 years
- Eurasian pygmy shrew with an average maximal age of 2 years
- Honey possum with an average maximal age of 2 years
- Ningbing false antechinus with an average maximal age of 2 years
- Common shrew with an average maximal age of 2 years
- Swamp antechinus with an average maximal age of 2 years
- Cinnamon antechinus with an average maximal age of 2 years
- Cinereus shrew with an average maximal age of 1.92 years
Animals with the same weight as a Southern red-backed vole
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Myodes gapperi:
- Wilson’s spiny mouse bringing 18 grams to the scale
- Shrew-toothed shrew tenrec bringing 18 grams to the scale
- Greenish yellow bat bringing 19 grams to the scale
- New Holland mouse bringing 16 grams to the scale
- Blackish grass mouse bringing 19 grams to the scale
- Lesser Asiatic yellow bat bringing 20 grams to the scale
- Red fruit bat bringing 21 grams to the scale
- Moon forest shrew bringing 18 grams to the scale
- Big brown bat bringing 17 grams to the scale
- Woodland jumping mouse bringing 22 grams to the scale
