Vole beside the auto tour road at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma

Vole Or Field Mice at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge

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This Vole, sometimes known as Field Mice, was on the side of the road where I was parked. This was at the Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.

Vole beside the auto tour road at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma
A vole, often called a field mouse, spotted along the auto tour road at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge.

Wildlife Notes: Voles vs. Field Mice

Voles are sometimes called field mice or meadow mice, but they’re not the same as true mice. Voles have shorter tails, rounder bodies, and smaller ears than house mice or deer mice. They’re built for ground-level life, not climbing.

They’re also surprisingly common. Voles live in grassy and brushy areas, including roadsides, field edges, and wetland borders, all habitats Sequoyah NWR has in abundance. They’re active day and night, so a morning sighting like this one isn’t unusual.

Because I couldn’t get a controlled ID shot, I’m not calling the species beyond “vole.” The most common voles in eastern Oklahoma are the Prairie Vole (Microtus ochrogaster) and the Meadow Vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus). Either is plausible here given the habitat. If you have a clearer ID based on the photo, I’d welcome the note.

Photography Notes: Shooting Small Mammals from the Vehicle

Gear

  • Camera: Canon EOS R5
  • Lens: Canon EF 800mm f/11

Settings

  • Date and Time: June 4, 2021, 8:42 AM
  • Location: Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma
  • Aperture: f/11
  • Shutter speed: 1/1250 sec
  • ISO: 800 (Auto)
  • Exposure Compensation: 0
  • Focal Length: 800mm

How I Got the Shot

I didn’t exit the truck. Opening the door and resting the lens on it gave me a stable platform and kept me from flushing the vole. At 800mm, small mammals can fill the frame nicely, but any movement from me would have ended the session fast.

The vole was in open light at that hour, so I didn’t need to push the ISO far. Evaluative metering handled the bright road surface without blowing out detail on the animal. I stayed in Manual so I had full control if the vole moved into shadow or heavier cover.

If you’re interested in how I approach small mammal photography from the vehicle, check out some related encounters like this Crayfish Crossing Road and Land Slug for more roadside finds at Sequoyah.