What rodent is this? *Pictures*

[Salve&Fluffer]

It ate grass when I let it out to run around.

Here are some more pictures that I took of it today:

Its tail is shorter than one inch long, or just barely one inch. Its fur is very soft and silky, and it does not object much to being lightly petted.

 

[Ariel301]

That is a vole. We had them all over our field in Colorado. The one pictured is not a baby, it's big enough to be eating solid food. Once they are furred and have their eyes open, they are ready to leave the nest and will be breeding within weeks. Yours is a young one, but should be weaned already.

 

[TheFeatheredTempest]

Yep, vole. They are an important part of the ecosystem. Many animals, including migrating raptors, depend on voles for food. Just about every meat eating wild animal out there loves to munch on voles, especially during the lean winter months. I think of voles as the "popcorn" of the rodent world.

Plus they are cuties

 

[Lurken Turken]

Hi everyone,

I think its a gopher. Are there any holes around where you found them? If it is a gopher, the reason it is not jumping out of your hand is that they can not see well in the light. They live under ground and eat grass roots. Our cats and dogs think they are real yummy!

Oooops does it have little buck teeth?

 

[bobbi-j]

Quote:
Nope, sorry. Not a pocket gopher, anyway. Too cute. Plus, its nose isn't blunt enough, it's not the right color and the front paws are too small. I only know what they look like up close because my dog caught and killed one last week. It's also not a striped gopher. Maybe some other kind, but I don't think so.

 

[pgpoultry]

it's a bank vole.
We have thousands of these in the hedgerows here in Wales....much loved food of owls.

Sandie

 

[Lurken Turken]

Ok. Hmmmm How about a hamster?

 

[bobbi-j]

Quote:
Actually, that was my first thought when I saw the first pics! It is kind of a cute little bugger.

 

[sourland]

Meadow vole.

 

[MaKettle]

Its a vole. We have them in our neighborhood.

My 80some year old neighbor told me that Walt Disney used a vole as his inspiration for Mickey Mouse.