Tree vole

Red Baumwühlmaus ( Arborimus longicaudus )

The Baumwühlmäuse ( Arborimus ) are a genus of voles, for their arboreal lifestyle is eponymous. Although they have many characteristics that make them clearly distinguishable from other voles, they were long regarded as a subgenus of heather voles ( Phenacomys ). Even today there are still proponents of such a classification. Occasionally the Baumwühlmäuse are then distributed to two subgenera, Arborimus and Paraphenacomys.

Baumwühlmäuse have a body length 10-11 cm, added 6-8 cm tail. You are on the upper side dark brown ( white-footed vole ) or maroon ( Red Baumwühlmaus ) and turn white or gray. With the related heather voles they share many of the characteristics of the dentition, differ from them but by a much longer tail and smaller ears.

The habitat of Baumwühlmäuse are coastal forests in the U.S. states of Oregon and California. The way of life is to be described by way of the Red Baumwühlmaus of western Oregon, which is best explored by species. She lives in close association with Douglas firs, spruces and other conifers. Here there is a striking difference between males and females: the males hide in the undergrowth of the forest and dig a burrow in the ground. The females but are pure tree dwellers who build a nest in 5 to 15 m in height. This nest is made of twigs and needles that are placed in a tree fork or on a deserted bird's nest. It has a diameter of 25 to 30 cm. During the mating the ground-dwelling males climb a tree and build a smaller nest, they inhabit only until they found a female. After mating, they return to the ground. The female gives birth after 28 days gestation period one to three cubs are born, which are suckled 30 days. Carrying and suckling are relatively long for voles. The growth is quite slow. The reason for this could be the low nutritional value of conifer needles, which are almost the exclusive food source of the Red Baumwühlmaus. Here it is mainly Douglas fir needles that are eaten, while the needles of other trees make up a far smaller proportion; deprives you of a Baumwühlmaus this food and tries to provide them with other food, it goes quickly.

Baumwühlmäuse have one for mice uncharacteristically slow locomotion. In branches they move very carefully and try to firm hold before they take the next step.

Three types can be distinguished:

• Red Baumwühlmaus, Arborimus longicaudus, W. Oregon
• White-footed vole, Arborimus albipes, W. Oregon, NW. California
• Sonoma Baumwühlmaus, Arborimus pomo, NW. California

The white-footed vole but has the largest area of ​​distribution is much rarer than the Red Baumwühlmaus. In contrast to Red Baumwühlmaus she is more tied to deciduous trees. The Sonoma Baumwühlmaus resembles in habits, in turn, the Red Baumwühlmaus and is even rarer.