Michigan has only 365 mapped records of this vole, every single one from GBIF specimen and survey data rather than a casual iNaturalist photo. That’s a telling gap: this is a species that’s essentially never been documented alive and in the open here, only picked up through live-trapping surveys in the state’s cooler forests.
A vole that feeds on fungi
The southern red-backed vole relies heavily on fungi, including underground truffle-like species, as a food source, and by carrying spores through its droppings it helps spread those fungi through the forest floor. That habit ties it closely to the cool, moist conifer and mixed forest of the Upper Peninsula’s old growth, places like the Porcupine Mountains and Ottawa National Forest, where downed logs and a rich fungal layer give it both food and cover.
Reading a trap-only record
Records run highest from July through September, which almost certainly tracks when small-mammal surveys are most often conducted rather than a true seasonal shift in the vole’s activity. A blank month on the map says nothing about whether the vole is there; it just means no survey happened to run.
Status in Michigan
NatureServe ranks the southern red-backed vole S3, vulnerable, and Michigan lists it as native. Its entire Michigan record comes from trapping surveys rather than sightings, underscoring how rarely this vole surfaces where anyone would see it.
Full species profile
