Tennessee mammals

Rock Vole in Tennessee

Microtus chrotorrhinus

Native to Tennessee SNR Unranked in Tennessee

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

Microtus chrotorrhinusLive 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 Tennessee, by the numbers

Rare in Tennessee 73rd most recorded of 86 mammals logged in Tennessee

34 occurrence records
2 with iNaturalist photos
May 24, 2025 Last seen in Tennessee

Records from 2000–2026.

34 total records count every Tennessee occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 29; the monthly chart covers the 29 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Rock Vole in Tennessee

Most sightings fall in August.

29 Tennessee 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 Tennessee records (table)
MonthRecords
January0
February1
March3
April3
May1
June0
July6
August14
September0
October1
November0
December0

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

Seasonality

Year-round in Tennessee, with recorded sightings peaking in August.

Occurrence map

Where Rock Vole has been recorded in Tennessee

29 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

29 Tennessee records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Great Smoky Mountains National Park 18
Appalachian National Scenic Trail 1

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 Tennessee

CountyRecords
Sevier County 29
Other localities 5

The complete county distribution, spread across 1 Tennessee counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

The Tennessee overlay lists two iNaturalist and 34 GBIF records for rock vole from 2000–2026. Yet its dated monthly series contains only four entries, one in each month from April through July, showing that source totals and usable calendar data are not equivalent. Neither is a measure of vole abundance.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Fall Creek Falls State Park, and Land Between the Lakes are the three search leads supplied. Four dated records cannot establish a Tennessee activity season or show which, if any, of those places produced an occurrence.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Microtus chrotorrhinus
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 Tennessee 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"