How many baby Water vole (North America)s are in a litter?
A Water vole (North America) (Microtus richardsoni) usually gives birth to around 5 babies.With 2 litters per year, that sums up to a yearly offspring of 10 babies.
Each of those little ones spend around 22 days as a fetus before they are released into the wild. Upon birth, they weight 5 grams (0.01 lbs) and measure 3.2 cm (0′ 2″). They are a member of the Muridae family (genus: Microtus). An adult Water vole (North America) grows up to a size of 15.4 cm (0′ 7″).
To have a reference: Humans obviously usually have a litter size of one ;). Their babies are in the womb of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks) and reach an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). They weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual, and reach an average age of 75 years.
The water vole (Microtus richardsoni) is the largest North American vole. It is found in the northwestern United States and southern parts of western Canada. This animal has been historically considered a member of genus Arvicola, but molecular evidence demonstrates that it is more closely related to North American Microtus species. Water voles are on the USDA Forest Service Region 2 sensitive species list because they maintain very small populations and there is high concern that their required habitat may be declining.These animals have gray-brown or red-brown fur with gray under parts. Their large hind feet help make them excellent swimmers, and they are found in alpine or semi-alpine meadows near water. They feed on grasses, leaves, roots and seeds, also eating small invertebrates. Water voles dig burrows that are connected to water sources, and are considered a semi-aquatic species.They are active year-round, tunneling through snow during the winter. Their burrows often have entrances at the water’s edge or under water, and they usually live in colonies of 8-40 individuals along the waterway.
Other animals of the family Muridae
Water vole (North America) is a member of the Muridae, as are these animals:
- Beaded wood mouse with 4 babies per pregnancy
- Gray-bellied pygmy mouse with 5 babies per pregnancy
- Canyon mouse with 3 babies per pregnancy
- Guadalcanal rat raching a size of 21.6 cm (0′ 9″)
- Unalaska collared lemming with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Cape gerbil with 3 babies per pregnancy
- Link rat with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Winkelmann’s mouse weighting only 40 grams
- Forest Oldfield mouse weighting only 77 grams
- Guinean gerbil weighting only 102 grams
Animals that share a litter size with Water vole (North America)
Those animals also give birth to 5 babies at once:
- Marbled polecat
- Lesser fat-tailed jerboa
- Dalton’s mouse
- Daurian pika
- Woolley’s false antechinus
- Speckled ground squirrel
- American water shrew
- Euphrates jerboa
- Christy’s dormouse
- Common degu
Animals that get as old as a Water vole (North America)
Other animals that usually reach the age of 0.75 years:
- Anderson’s four-eyed opossum with 0.75 years
- Eligmodontia typus with 0.75 years
Animals with the same weight as a Water vole (North America)
What other animals weight around 92 grams (0.2 lbs)?
- Voalavoanala weighting 97 grams
- Sloggett’s vlei rat weighting 106 grams
- Atherton antechinus weighting 76 grams
- Allen’s chipmunk weighting 89 grams
- Kimberley rock rat weighting 95 grams
- Dusky spiny tree-rat weighting 108 grams
- Crest-tailed mulgara weighting 100 grams
- Red rock rat weighting 81 grams
- Pink fairy armadillo weighting 86 grams
- Slender Oldfield mouse weighting 77 grams
Animals with the same size as a Water vole (North America)
Also reaching around 15.4 cm (0′ 7″) in size do these animals:
- Bornean smooth-tailed treeshrew gets as big as 12.5 cm (0′ 5″)
- Oldfield white-bellied rat gets as big as 14.3 cm (0′ 6″)
- Tete veld aethomys gets as big as 14.2 cm (0′ 6″)
- Desert kangaroo rat gets as big as 13.8 cm (0′ 6″)
- Andean caenolestid gets as big as 12.7 cm (0′ 5″)
- Moncton’s mosaic-tailed rat gets as big as 14.7 cm (0′ 6″)
- New Britain naked-backed fruit bat gets as big as 16.1 cm (0′ 7″)
- Round-tailed ground squirrel gets as big as 15.5 cm (0′ 7″)
- New Caledonia flying fox gets as big as 13.5 cm (0′ 6″)
- Hairy-eared dwarf lemur gets as big as 13.3 cm (0′ 6″)