The California red-backed vole is tied to old-growth conifer forest, tunneling through moss and coarse woody debris on the floor of Oregon’s wetter western forests and feeding heavily on truffles, the underground fruiting bodies of mycorrhizal fungi that also help those forests thrive. That specialized diet and habitat need make it far less adaptable than most of the state’s other small rodents.
Only 7 records exist in Oregon’s current window, all from iNaturalist rather than trapping surveys, spread across May and a stronger cluster in August and September. NatureServe ranks the species S4, apparently secure, though a record this thin likely reflects how rarely a small, forest-floor specialist crosses paths with an observer rather than any real scarcity.
Full species profile
