The woodland vole is one of Louisiana’s least-recorded small mammals in this database, with 71 records statewide. That count says more about how rarely a shallow, litter-covered tunnel gets found than about how many voles are actually digging beneath the state’s forest floor.
A burrower that needs dry ground, even in a wet state
Unlike the surface-active voles of open fields, the woodland vole digs shallow tunnels just under leaf litter and feeds on roots, bark, and bulbs it finds along the way. That habit needs loose, well-drained soil, which rules out the flooded backswamp that covers much of the Atchafalaya Basin. Inside the basin, this species sticks to the slightly higher, drier natural levees and hardwood ridges; across Kisatchie National Forest’s piney hills, the loamy upland soil under pine and hardwood cover suits its tunneling far more broadly.
Records lean toward the cooler months
Reports run higher from late fall through early spring and drop off sharply in mid-summer. Cooler, moister soil in those months likely brings the vole’s shallow tunnels closer to a surface where a trap or an observer can find them, rather than reflecting any real shift in how many voles are present.
Status in Louisiana
The woodland vole is native to Louisiana and carries a NatureServe rank of S4, apparently secure, in the state.
