Vole/Lemming ID
I found the rodent pictured below underneath a piece of plywood on an abandoned railroad track near my home in Northeast Illinois. My best guess is that it was a meadow vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus). However, my internet research points to the Prairie Vole (M. ochrogaster) and Southern Bog Lemming Synaptomys cooperi) as also inhabiting similar habitats to the one where this was found (mostly prairie, near a woodland and some standing water). If anyone has an opinion as to what species this may be I’d love to hear it.
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vdinets
Prairie vole usually has buff-colored belly (hence the name “ochrogaster”). The tail looks too long for a lemming.