Montane Vole in Arizona

Microtus montanus

Native to Arizona S4 Apparently Secure in Arizona

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

IUCN Red List status

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Photo: Cole Wolf · CC BY 4.0Montane vole peering out from lichen-covered alpine rocksPhoto: ecovore · CC BY 4.0A montane vole pauses on late-season snow in the Sierra Nevada foothills.Photo: Brodie Cass Talbott · CC BY 4.0A montane vole works through dry meadow grass in eastern Oregon.Photo: ecovore · CC BY 4.0The same Sierra Nevada vole, tail and whiskers visible against the snow.

Montane vole foraging on snow with its tail and whiskers visible — Photo: Cole Wolf · CC BY 4.0Montane vole peering out from lichen-covered alpine rocksPhoto: ecovore · CC BY 4.0A montane vole pauses on late-season snow in the Sierra Nevada foothills.Photo: Brodie Cass Talbott · CC BY 4.0A montane vole works through dry meadow grass in eastern Oregon.Photo: ecovore · CC BY 4.0The same Sierra Nevada vole, tail and whiskers visible against the snow.

Montane Vole in Arizona, by the numbers

Rare in Arizona 124th most recorded of 158 mammals logged in Arizona

11 occurrence records

2 with iNaturalist photos

Jun 23, 2022 Last seen in Arizona

Records from 2000–2026.

When to look for the Montane Vole in Arizona

Most sightings fall in August.

11 Arizona 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 Arizona records (table)

Month	Records
January	0
February	0
March	0
April	0
May	0
June	1
July	0
August	10
September	0
October	0
November	0
December	0

Monthly montane vole occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Arizona, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Sparse observation record in Arizona; presence confirmed but timing of activity not well documented.

Occurrence map

Where Montane Vole has been recorded in Arizona

11 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

11 Arizona records mapped

Where it's recorded in Arizona

County	Records
Greenlee County	8
Apache County	3

The complete county distribution, spread across 2 Arizona counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Montane vole reaches Arizona only in the state’s highest wet meadows, another species confined to a narrow slice of habitat that keeps its record in the bottom quarter statewide. Every logged sighting in this dataset falls in a single August survey.

A one-month record from one apparent survey effort is not a seasonal pattern; it’s a snapshot of when someone went looking for voles at elevation, and the species almost certainly persists through the rest of the year in the same high meadows.

Full species profile Montane Vole Microtus montanus Size 14–22 cm5.5–8.7 in Weight 35 g1.2 oz View the full profile

More mammals in Arizona 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