South Dakota mammals

Long-tailed Vole in South Dakota

Microtus longicaudus

Native to South Dakota S4 Apparently Secure in South Dakota

Not listed as nonindigenous in South Dakota by USGS NAS; native to its South Dakota 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.

Long-tailed vole peering from rocksLong-tailed vole under a fallen logLong-tailed vole moving through dry grass, tail trailing behind
Photo: CK Kelly · CC BY 4.0Long-tailed vole peering from rocksPhoto: Eric Knight · CC BY 4.0Long-tailed vole using log cover.Photo: Rocky Mountain National Park · CC BY-SA 4.0Long-tailed vole moving through dry grass, tail trailing behind

Long-tailed Vole in South Dakota, by the numbers

Common in South Dakota 27th most recorded of 100 mammals logged in South Dakota

141 occurrence records

Records from 2000–2026.

141 total records count every South Dakota occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 134; the monthly chart covers the 134 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Long-tailed Vole in South Dakota

Most sightings fall in July to August.

134 South Dakota occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly South Dakota records (table)
MonthRecords
January0
February1
March0
April5
May1
June9
July55
August48
September2
October2
November3
December8

Monthly long-tailed vole occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in South Dakota, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in South Dakota, with recorded sightings peaking in July–August.

Occurrence map

Where Long-tailed Vole has been recorded in South Dakota

134 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

134 South Dakota records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Jewel Cave National Monument 16
Black Hills National Forest 4
Black Elk Wilderness 4

Protected places with the most long-tailed vole sightings, from the USGS Protected Areas Database plus named mountain ranges, good spots to look, not a full breakdown, so they don't sum to the total.

Where it's recorded in South Dakota

CountyRecords
Pennington County 71
Custer County 35
Lawrence County 27
Meade County 1
Other localities 7

The complete county distribution, spread across 4 South Dakota counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Nearly every long-tailed vole report in South Dakota comes from one corner of the state: the Black Hills. Pennington, Custer, and Lawrence counties hold all but a handful of the 141 records, with Jewel Cave National Monument and Black Hills National Forest among the most reported spots. The Hills are a cool, forested island rising out of the plains, and they shelter several western mountain species near the eastern edge of their range. The long-tailed vole is one of them.

Reports crest in July and August, when both researchers and hikers crowd the Hills, then thin to a trickle the rest of the year. A vole doesn’t hibernate, so the quiet winter months reflect effort more than activity.

NatureServe considers the species apparently secure in South Dakota. Whether voles live out on the open prairie in any numbers is genuinely unknown, because almost nobody sets small-mammal traps out there.

Occurrence data from GBIF.

Long-tailed vole peering from rocks
Full species profile Long-tailed Vole Microtus longicaudus Size 13.5 cm5.3 in Weight 50 g1.8 oz Lifespan Up to 1.2 yr View the full profile

More mammals in South Dakota 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
  • USGS Protected Areas Databasepublic domainthe named parks, forests, and refuges behind "notable places to look"