Montana’s montane vole records trace the grass and sagebrush edges the species is built for, including habitat around Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, a high sagebrush valley well suited to the runways this vole cuts through matted grass. The Flathead Lake area and the Missouri River corridor round out the mapped locations, places where open, grassy ground meets water.
Montana logged 371 GBIF records and none from iNaturalist, in line with a fast-breeding grassland rodent that field biologists trap and count rather than casually photograph. Reports peak hard in July, with 184 records, just over half the annual total, months after the spring breeding surge this species is known for. Population numbers can quadruple across a single growing season before crashing back down, so a July count says more about when people were counting than about a stable population size. NatureServe lists the species Secure (S5) statewide.
Full species profile
