Minnesota mammals

Rock Vole in Minnesota

Microtus chrotorrhinus

Native to Minnesota S4 Apparently Secure in Minnesota

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

IUCN Red List status

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Photo: Yves Czn · CC BY 4.0Microtus chrotorrhinusPhoto: Daniel McClosky · CC BY 4.0Live rock vole crouched on the forest floor among green foliage, moss, and lichen-covered twigs

Photo: Yves Czn · CC BY 4.0Microtus chrotorrhinusPhoto: Daniel McClosky · CC BY 4.0Live rock vole crouched on the forest floor among green foliage, moss, and lichen-covered twigs

Rock Vole in Minnesota, by the numbers

Common in Minnesota 28th most recorded of 88 mammals logged in Minnesota

280 occurrence records

Records from 2000–2026.

280 total records count every Minnesota occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the monthly chart covers the 270 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Rock Vole in Minnesota

Most sightings fall in September.

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

Monthly Minnesota records (table)

Month	Records
January	0
February	1
March	0
April	0
May	0
June	4
July	1
August	61
September	131
October	67
November	5
December	0

Monthly rock vole occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Minnesota, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in Minnesota, with recorded sightings peaking in September.

Occurrence map

Where Rock Vole has been recorded in Minnesota

280 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

280 Minnesota records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monument	iNaturalist records
Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness	10
Voyageurs National Park	8
Pat Bayle State Forest	5

Protected places with the most rock 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 Minnesota

County	Records
Cook County	257
St. Louis County	9
Clay County	7
Lake County	7

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

Rock vole records in Minnesota are as narrow in season as they are in range: every logged sighting falls in October or November, with October alone accounting for 33 of the total, and nothing recorded in any other month. Superior National Forest, Chippewa National Forest, and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness anchor the record, all rocky, talus-strewn Arrowhead habitat this vole specializes in.

That tight window likely reflects when small-mammal trapping surveys in this remote habitat actually happen, not a vole that disappears for ten months of the year. NatureServe ranks the species S4, Apparently Secure, in Minnesota, a reassuring grade for an animal whose narrow rock-crevice habitat and thin record leave it easy to overlook.

Full species profile Rock Vole Microtus chrotorrhinus Size 11.5 cm4.5 in Weight 39 g1.4 oz View the full profile

More mammals in Minnesota 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"