Voles
In Redwall
- Alignment: Good
- Appearance: Voles in Redwall tend to be scruffy, not always that
clean, and small. They're bipedal and wear clothes.
- Habitat: Voles often live near the water, sometimes in houseboats
and sometimes not.
- Typical Personality: There aren't really that many voles in the
Redwall series, so I don't know the typical personality.
- Habits: See Personality.
Outside Redwall
- Classification: Species: Arvicola terrestris
- Other Names: European water vole; water vole; water rat
- Appearance: Voles are rat-sized with a blunt nose and
chestnut-brown fur and a hairy, 95-140mm tail. They are 140-220mm in
length including the tail and weigh 150-300g.
- Life Span: Voles live to be about 5 months old in the wild.
- Diet: Water voles eat mostly aquatic plants and grasses.
- Habitat: Voles live along rivers, ditches, dykes, and lakes, in
large and complex burrows, often with underwater entrances.
- Typical Personality: The water vole has been described as
"charming" and "confiding," but it will slip into the
water at the first sign of threat.
- Habits: Water voles are more diurnal than nocturnal, though they
can be semi-active at night.
- Life Cycle: Depending on the weather, the breeding season can begin
anywhere between March and June. Voles have three or four litters a
year of about five young per litter. Voles are weaned at 14 months.
- Sites for Further Research: