What is the maximal age a Southern red-backed vole reaches?
An adult Southern red-backed vole (Myodes gapperi) usually gets as old as 1.67 years.
Southern red-backed voles are around 18 days in the womb of their mother. When born, they weight 1 grams (0 lbs) and measure 3 cm (0′ 2″). As a member of the Cricetidae family (genus: Myodes), a Southern red-backed vole caries out around 5 little ones per pregnancy, which happens around 2 times a year. Fully grown, they reach a bodylength of 10.1 cm (0′ 4″).
As a reference: Usually, humans get as old as 100 years, with the average being around 75 years. After being carried in the belly of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks), they grow to an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) and weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual.

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
Not really brothers and sisters, but from the same biological family (Cricetidae):
- Abrothrix longipilis with 3 babies per pregnancy
- Bank vole becoming 4.83 years old
- Nectomys rattus bringing the scale to 248 grams
- Northwestern deer mouse with 5 babies per pregnancy
- Córdoba vesper mouse bringing the scale to 49 grams
- Abrothrix lanosus bringing the scale to 27 grams
- Pleasant bolo mouse bringing the scale to 27 grams
- Olive grass mouse becoming 1 years old
- Northern red-backed vole with 5 babies per pregnancy
- Rufous-bellied bolo mouse bringing the scale to 32 grams
Animals that reach the same age as Southern red-backed vole
With an average age of 1.67 years, Southern red-backed vole are in good companionship of the following animals:
- Western harvest mouse usually reaching 1.5 years
- Tundra vole usually reaching 1.75 years
- Slender-tailed dunnart usually reaching 2 years
- Robinson’s mouse opossum usually reaching 2 years
- Arctic shrew usually reaching 1.5 years
- North American least shrew usually reaching 1.75 years
- Red-cheeked dunnart usually reaching 2 years
- Southern red-backed vole usually reaching 1.67 years
- Dusky antechinus usually reaching 2 years
- Norway lemming usually reaching 2 years
Animals with the same number of babies Southern red-backed vole
The same number of babies at once (5) are born by:
- Coyote
- American pygmy shrew
- Lesser fat-tailed jerboa
- Dalton’s mouse
- Eversmann’s hamster
- Wood lemming
- Fringe-tailed gerbil
- Long-clawed shrew
- Reed vole
- Northern gracile opossum
Weighting as much as Southern red-backed vole
A fully grown Southern red-backed vole reaches around 19 grams (0.04 lbs). So do these animals:
- Velvety fruit-eating bat with 16 grams
- Wrinkle-lipped free-tailed bat with 21 grams
- Père David’s vole with 19 grams
- Railer bat with 22 grams
- Visored bat with 16 grams
- Least forest mouse with 21 grams
- Intermediate roundleaf bat with 19 grams
- Stella wood mouse with 19 grams
- Northern freetail bat with 20 grams
- New Holland mouse with 16 grams
Animals as big as a Southern red-backed vole
Those animals grow as big as a Southern red-backed vole:
- Common vole with 11.4 cm (0′ 5″)
- Somali serotine with 8.4 cm (0′ 4″)
- Pacific jumping mouse with 9.8 cm (0′ 4″)
- Malagasy serotine with 8.2 cm (0′ 4″)
- Shrew gymnure with 11.7 cm (0′ 5″)
- California kangaroo rat with 11.5 cm (0′ 5″)
- Namib brush-tailed gerbil with 10.5 cm (0′ 5″)
- Chisel-toothed kangaroo rat with 11.2 cm (0′ 5″)
- Woolly dormouse with 10.5 cm (0′ 5″)
- Pearson’s chaco mouse with 10.1 cm (0′ 4″)
