Washington mammals

Gray-tailed Vole in Washington

Microtus canicaudus

Native to Washington S2 Imperiled in Washington

Not listed as nonindigenous in Washington by USGS NAS; native to its Washington range.

IUCN Red List status

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Microtus canicaudusGray-tailed Vole (Microtus canicaudus)
Photo: Annie Kreager · CC BY 4.0Microtus canicaudusPhoto: Annie Kreager · CC BY 4.0Gray-tailed Vole (Microtus canicaudus)

Gray-tailed Vole in Washington, by the numbers

Rare in Washington 105th most recorded of 145 mammals logged in Washington

17 occurrence records

Records from 2000–2026.

17 total records count every Washington occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the monthly chart covers the 16 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Gray-tailed Vole in Washington

Most sightings fall in May.

16 Washington occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence. Based on a small number of dated records; the seasonal pattern may not be representative.

Monthly Washington records (table)
MonthRecords
January0
February0
March0
April4
May7
June0
July0
August1
September0
October3
November0
December1

Monthly gray-tailed vole occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Washington, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in Washington, with recorded sightings peaking in May.

Occurrence map

Where Gray-tailed Vole has been recorded in Washington

17 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

17 Washington records mapped

Where it's recorded in Washington

CountyRecords
Skamania County 13
Kittitas County 3
Clark County 1

The complete county distribution, spread across 3 Washington counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Washington sits at the northern edge of the gray-tailed vole’s range, and the state’s record is accordingly spare: 17 reports since 2000, against the hundreds logged in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Skamania County holds 13 of them, a cluster along the Columbia Gorge side of the Cascades, with three more from Kittitas County near the Wenatchee National Forest and a single record from Clark County. That handful of dots is most of what Washington knows about the animal.

NatureServe ranks the vole imperiled in the state, and a total this small is exactly what an edge-of-range species looks like in the records: patchy, easily missed, and probably undercounted rather than truly absent from every county in between. Voles stay active year-round and keep to dense grass cover, so they rarely offer a casual sighting; most records come from trapping efforts. The dated reports tilt toward spring, with May the busiest month. Any verified observation away from the Skamania cluster would materially improve the state’s picture of where this vole hangs on.

Occurrence data from GBIF.

Gray-tailed Vole in other states

Microtus canicaudus
Full species profile Gray-tailed Vole Microtus canicaudus Size 13–17 cm5.1–6.7 in Weight 30–60 g1.1–2.1 oz View the full profile

More mammals in Washington in the atlas

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources:

  • GBIFCC-BY 4.0occurrence records behind the range map, elevation, and record counts
  • iNaturalistCC0 / CC-BY / CC-BY-SAobservations, photos, and audio recordings
  • NatureServe ExplorerCC-BYthe state conservation rank
  • IUCN Red Listattributed factthe global conservation status
  • USGS NASpublic domainnative / introduced status
  • Natural Earthpublic domainthe relief basemap
  • USFSpublic domainnational-forest boundaries