How big does a Western heather vole get? Here is an overview over the average adult age:
A grown Western heather vole (Phenacomys intermedius) reaches an average size of 10.7 cm (0′ 5″).
When born, they have an average size of 0 cm (0′ 0″). A full-grown exemplary reaches roughly 25 grams (0.06 lbs). On birth they have a weight of 2 grams (0 lbs). Talking about reproduction, Western heather voles have 4 babies about 3 times per year. The Western heather vole (genus: Phenacomys) is a member of the family Muridae.
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 western heather vole (Phenacomys intermedius) is a small vole found in western North America. Until recently, the eastern heather vole, (Phenacomys ungava), was considered to be a subspecies.These animals are similar in appearance to the meadow vole. They have short ears and a short thin tail which is paler underneath. Their long soft fur is brownish with silver grey underparts. They are 14 cm long with a 3.5 cm tail and weigh about 40 g.They are found in alpine meadows, open shrubby areas, dry forests with shrubs below to provide cover and tundra regions, usually near water, in British Columbia, the Yukon and the western United States. In summer, they live in burrows and, in winter, they tunnel under the snow. They store food for later use year-round.They feed on plant leaves and berries in summer and plant bark and buds in winter, also seeds and fungi. Predators include owls, hawks and carnivorous mammals.The female vole has 2 or 3 litters of 2 to 9 young in a nest made from grasses.They are active year-round, and are crepuscular.The population of this animal has been reduced in some parts of its range because of clearcutting of forests.
Animals of the same family as a Western heather vole
We found other animals of the Muridae family:
- Rakali with a size of 27.5 cm (0′ 11″)
- White-toothed brush mouse with a size of 11.5 cm (0′ 5″)
- Kemp’s grass mouse with a weight of 26 grams
- Least gerbil with a weight of 26 grams
- Hinde’s rock rat with 2 babies per litter
- Lowland mosaic-tailed rat with a size of 12.8 cm (0′ 6″)
- Siberian zokor with 4 babies per litter
- Social vole with 5 babies per litter
- Hylaeamys megacephalus with a size of 12.2 cm (0′ 5″)
- Bougainville naked-tailed rat with a weight of 397 grams
Animals with the same size as a Western heather vole
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Western heather vole:
- Lowland mosaic-tailed rat with a size of 12.8 cm (0′ 6″)
- Horsfield’s tarsier with a size of 10.6 cm (0′ 5″)
- Cozumel harvest mouse with a size of 8.7 cm (0′ 4″)
- Gray-tailed vole with a size of 11 cm (0′ 5″)
- Cameroon soft-furred mouse with a size of 11.5 cm (0′ 5″)
- Julia Creek dunnart with a size of 9.5 cm (0′ 4″)
- Taiwan vole with a size of 12.4 cm (0′ 5″)
- Nicobar shrew with a size of 10 cm (0′ 4″)
- Savanna path shrew with a size of 8.8 cm (0′ 4″)
- Robert’s hocicudo with a size of 10 cm (0′ 4″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Western heather vole
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (4) as a Western heather vole:
- Himalayan shrew
- Red-cheeked dunnart
- Large-eared pika
- Fawn-colored mouse
- California pocket mouse
- Bare-tailed woolly opossum
- Beaded wood mouse
- Long-tailed shrew
- Small five-toed jerboa
- Dice’s cottontail
Animals with the same weight as a Western heather vole
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Phenacomys intermedius:
- White-eared pocket mouse bringing 24 grams to the scale
- Sminthopsis laniger bringing 26 grams to the scale
- Northern freetail bat bringing 20 grams to the scale
- Puno grass mouse bringing 30 grams to the scale
- Philippine pygmy squirrel bringing 27 grams to the scale
- Dusky caenolestid bringing 29 grams to the scale
- Oligoryzomys magellanicus bringing 25 grams to the scale
- Kultarr bringing 25 grams to the scale
- Akodon albiventer bringing 26 grams to the scale
- Common fat-tailed mouse opossum bringing 28 grams to the scale