Utah mammals

Montane Vole in Utah

Microtus montanus

Native to Utah S5 Secure in Utah

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

Montane vole peering out from lichen-covered alpine rocksMontane vole foraging on snow with its tail and whiskers visibleMontane vole partly hidden in dry meadow grassMontane vole on snow showing its short, sparsely furred tail
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 Utah, by the numbers

Common in Utah 12th most recorded of 141 mammals logged in Utah

1,894 occurrence records
1 with iNaturalist photos
Jun 1, 2019 Last seen in Utah

Records from 2000–2026.

1,894 total records count every Utah occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 1,888 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Montane Vole in Utah

Most sightings fall in July to August.

1,888 Utah occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly Utah records (table)
MonthRecords
January30
February54
March62
April162
May242
June223
July436
August360
September199
October83
November29
December8

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

Seasonality

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

Occurrence map

Where Montane Vole has been recorded in Utah

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

300 Utah records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
State Trust Lands I-80 Block 35
Dinosaur National Monument 20
Utah State Department of Wildlife Resources 174 13
Utah State Department of Wildlife Resources 106 12
Zion National Park 11
Cache National Forest 11
Bryce Canyon National Park 8
Utah State Department of Wildlife Resources 116 5

Protected places with the most montane 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 Utah

CountyRecords
Salt Lake County 210
Davis County 183
Cache County 144
Tooele County 133
Sevier County 124
Summit County 115
Box Elder County 103
Daggett County 87
Uintah County 80
Garfield County 79
Juab County 78
Wayne County 68
16 other counties 490

The complete county distribution, spread across 28 Utah counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Montane vole reports connect the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache high country with grassy, damp edges in northern Utah valleys. Thick meadow growth and sedges matter more than the broad Great Salt Lake label, which can hide the narrow green strips where these voles leave their runways.

Records lift in May and again from July through September. Those are also practical months for reaching mountain meadows and running field surveys, so the peaks blend animal activity with observer access.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Montane vole peering out from lichen-covered alpine rocks
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 Utah 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"