Re: [SG] Biology Lesson
When I saw my name used in a gratuitously negative way, I decided that to
respond might appear defensive or quarrelsome and I would like to avoid both.
However, to set the record straight, to use a phrase, would be extremely
simple and so perhaps I should do that.
First, the creature I saw was absolutely, definitely, without doubt a vole. I
did not know what it was at the time. When I saw the word used here, I did
what most people would do -- I went to a reference book. The information you
presented was all there. I skimmed most of it because one glance had told me
that it was a rodent and related to mice. The important fact is that there
was a drawing which depicted the unfamiliar animal I had seen last summer.
Second, your description of a vole is very good. They do look like Beatriz
Potter drawings. Yes, it was a vole I saw and I thought of it as strange,
i.e. unfamiliar, at the time. Strange and adorable are not mutually
excllusive terms. Without prompting I would never have thought to call it
adorable, but I can agree that it was a strange, adorable creature. I must
confess ignorance of some of earth's creatures. We all have areas of
ignorance -- wouldn't it be dull to be one who knew everything. Learning is
so exciting.
Your lesson presented much material and together with Bill Shear's precise,
succinct statement should give Denise some of the information she sought.
(Denise, if you are listening, you can find information and drawings on some
of the garden wibsites.)
Roberta Diehl wrote:
> To set the record straight and (it is hoped) avoid any more confusion:
> (NOTE--in Biology, Order comes first, then family, then genus, then
> species, then variety--just like with plants.)
>
> Moles along with shrews are in the order Insectivora (because they eat
> insects) and taxonomically they come between opossoms and bats.
> Relationship-wise, they are FAR removed from voles and mice. If you
> look them up in a mammal book you will see that moles are larger and have
> big heads, with eyes and ears concealed in the fur, and enormous paddle
> shaped front legs with claws that they use for digging. They are rarely
> seen and their presence is usually detected by molehills. Other than
> making molehills, which lawn fanatics dislike, I believe they do more good
> than harm, by eating lots of Japanese beetle grubs. This is just as well,
> as it's practically impossible to get rid of them.
>
> Voles and mice (they are very closely related) are in the order Rodentia,
> along with chipmunks and squirrels. Voles and mice are in the same family,
> which is Cricetidae. Their main food is vegetable matter of various kinds,
> including seeds and roots. If you look at a vole, or a picture of a vole,
> it is the size of a mouse but has smaller ears and is overall a bit cuter.
> Frances recently referred to them as "strange"--I wonder if she is
> describing some other animal, as voles are actually adorable, looking like
> something drawn by Beatrix Potter. Fur color tends to be a rather pretty
> dark gray or grayish brown. I have read somewhere that a vole is the same
> thing as a field mouse--two different names for the same creature--but
> that may be an oversimplification. Voles are seen fairly often, in my
> neighborhood, at all times of the day. They come indoors especially in
> fall when the weather gets cold and occasionally the rest of the year,
> where they serve as new live (but temporary) toys for my indoor cats, who
> find them in the basement. Aside from hawks and owls (rare in our
> neighborhood), cats (dogs too) are their main predator.
>
> Everyone knows what a chipmunk looks like, surely? If not, it resembles a
> small squirrel, with stripes on its back. They dig little tunnels and do
> sometimes climb trees as well. It is interesting how ignorant many of us
> are about the creatures who share our world, no offense. A man who was
> painting our house once told us that, regrettably, he had bad news for
> us--we had rats. "There's one now," he said, pointing as it ran by. It was
> a chipmunk! I met a lady last week who didn't know what a mammal was. And
> one of my pet peeves is how people automatically kill bats or snakes,
> which are some of the most valuable predators we have--but that's another
> story.
>
> End of lecture.
>
> Bobbi Diehl
> Bloomington, IN
> zone 5/6
>
> On Thu, 25 Mar 1999, Denise Holder wrote:
>
> > Pardon my ignorance, but what are voles? I have moles in my yard, and
> > chipmunks too. At first I thought the "v" was a typo. Can anyone
> > enlighten? And, if moles are different, does anyone know how to get
> > rid of moles, and what they harm, if anything?
