North Carolina sits near the southern edge of this vole’s main range, and in the South it’s largely a mountain-grassland species, tracking the cool, grassy balds and meadows found in places like Great Smoky Mountains National Park rather than turning up broadly across the Piedmont or Coastal Plain. Records tied to Uwharrie and Cape Hatteras likely reflect where surveys happened rather than a genuine statewide spread.
Meadow voles build a dense network of runways through thick grass, much like the hispid cotton rat does farther east, and they can reach very high local densities where grass cover is continuous and undisturbed. They eat mostly grasses and sedges and breed prolifically through the warm months, with several litters possible in a single season when conditions are good.
North Carolina’s records don’t show a strong seasonal gap, consistent with a species that stays active through the colder months under snow or dense grass cover rather than truly hibernating. NatureServe hasn’t assigned this species a state rank in North Carolina, reflecting how little targeted survey work has focused on its mountain-meadow habitat here.
