Bank vole
Myodes glareolus (Schreber, 1780)
Status not recordedrodents
The bank vole (Myodes glareolus), also called the common redbacked vole, is a rodent in the family Cricetidae and subfamily Arvicolinae. It is a small mammal with an adult body mass of 20.73 g, and the highest value reported by our sources is 21.8 g.
Quick facts about the bank vole
The bank vole is a terrestrial, cathemeral herbivore. Gestation lasts 20 days, litters average 4.3 young with 3.2 litters per year, and sexual maturity comes at 59.5 days.
- Weight
- 20.7 g – 21.8 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- 10 cmsrc for Length
- Lifespan
- 4.9 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 4.92 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- woodlandsrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 20 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4.3src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 47 days – 72 dayssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 3.2src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- Day and night (cathemeral)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the bank vole?
Photos of the bank vole
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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1 more photo exists under a licence we cannot display: view at source.
Where does the bank vole live?
Not recorded
What is the bank vole?
The bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus) is a small vole with red-brown fur and some grey patches, with a tail about half as long as its body. A rodent, it lives in woodland areas and is around 100 millimetres (3.9 in) in length. The bank vole is found in much of Europe and in northwestern Asia. It is native to Great Britain but not to Ireland, where it has been accidentally introduced, and has now colonised much of the south and southwest.
The bank vole lives in woodland, hedgerows and other dense vegetation, such as bracken and bramble. Its underground chamber is lined with moss, feathers and vegetable fibre and contains a store of food. It can live for eighteen months to two years in the wild and over 42 months in captivity and is mostly herbivorous, eating buds, bark, seeds, nuts, leaves and fruits and occasionally insects and other small invertebrates. It readily climbs into scrub and low branches of trees although it is not as versatile as a mouse. It breeds in shallow burrows, the female rearing about four litters of pups during the summer.
From the Wikipedia article “Bank vole” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bank_vole&oldid=1379920489), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the bank vole endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the bank vole classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderRodentia
- familyCricetidae
- genusMyodes
- SpeciesMyodes glareolus (Schreber, 1780)
Synonyms Arvicola fulvus, Arvicola pratensis, Arvicola riparia, Clethrionomys alstoni, Clethrionomys britannicus, Clethrionomys fulvus, Clethrionomys glareolus, Clethrionomys glareolus bernisi, Clethrionomys glareolus cantueli, Clethrionomys glareolus curcio, Clethrionomys glareolus garganicus, Clethrionomys glareolus insulaebellae, Clethrionomys glareolus makedonicus, Clethrionomys glareolus prinius, Clethrionomys glareolus variscius, Clethrionomys gorka, Clethrionomys hallucalis, Clethrionomys helveticus, Clethrionomys hercynius, Clethrionomys insulaebellae, Clethrionomys intermedius, Clethrionomys istericus, Clethrionomys italicus, Clethrionomys jurassicus, Clethrionomys nageri, Clethrionomys norvegicus, Clethrionomys pratensis, Clethrionomys reinwaldti, Clethrionomys riparia, Clethrionomys rubidus, Clethrionomys rufescens, Clethrionomys ruttneri, Clethrionomys sobrus, Clethrionomys suecicus, Clethrionomys tomensis, Clethrionomys vasconiae, Clethrionomys vesanus, Evotomys alstoni, Evotomys caesarius, Evotomys erica, Evotomys glareolus, Evotomys glareolus intermedius, Evotomys glareolus istericus, Evotomys glareolus italicus, Evotomys glareolus jurassicus, Evotomys glareolus ognevi, Evotomys glareolus reinwaldti, Evotomys glareolus ruttneri, Evotomys glareolus saianicus, Evotomys glareolus sobrus, Evotomys glareolus wasjuganensis, Evotomys gorka, Evotomys hercynicus britannicus, Evotomys hercynicus helveticus, Evotomys hercynicus suecicus, Evotomys nageri hallucalis, Evotomys nageri vesanus, Evotomys norvegicus, Evotomys ponticus, Evotomys skomerensis, Evotomys vasconiae, Hypudacus hercynicus, Hypudaeus nageri, Lemmus arvalis, Lemmus pratensis, Lemmus rubidus, Mus glareolus, Mus rutilus minor, Myodes bicolor
Other names and names in other languages (14)
- Common redbacked voleEnglish
- Llygod Pengrwn CochWelsh
- Llygoden Bengron GochWelsh
- RødmusDanish
- metsämyyräFinnish
- famhalan bruaicheScottish Gaelic
- famhalain BhreatannachScottish Gaelic
- famhalain bruaicheScottish Gaelic
- famhalan BreatannachScottish Gaelic
- klatremusNorwegian Bokmål
- speaiskuNorthern Sami
- buovnnjatNorthern Sami
- ängssorkSwedish
- skogssorkSwedish
Relatives of the bank vole
Other species in the same genus Myodes.
Northern red-backed vole
Myodes rutilus
Southern red-backed vole
Myodes gapperi
Western red-backed vole
Myodes californicus
Tien Shan red-backed vole
Myodes centralis
Shansei vole
Myodes shanseius
Smith's vole
Myodes smithii
CompareBank vole vs Northern red-backed voleBank vole vs Southern red-backed voleBank vole vs Western red-backed voleBank vole vs Tien Shan red-backed vole
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the bank vole?
The bank vole is a rodent, a mammal in the family Cricetidae and the order Rodentia.
How much does a bank vole weigh?
An adult bank vole has a body mass of 20.73 g, with a highest reported value of 21.8 g.
What does the bank vole eat?
The bank vole is a herbivore.
How long does a bank vole live?
The bank vole has a lifespan of 4.9 years.
How many young does a bank vole have?
A bank vole has 4.3 young per litter and 3.2 litters per year, after a gestation period of 20 days.
When does a bank vole reach sexual maturity?
A bank vole reaches sexual maturity at 59.5 days, with reported values from 47 to 72 days.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Bank vole (Myodes glareolus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/bank-vole
“Bank vole (Myodes glareolus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/bank-vole.
@misc{bank_vole_2026,
title = {Bank vole (Myodes glareolus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/bank-vole},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}