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Voles

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Tlingit are reported to have consumed meadow voles present on Admiralty Island [1]. Meadow voles are also reported to have been consumed by the early Huron [2]. Faunal remains excavated at Kugaluk suggest that Nuvorugmiut consumed tundra voles [3]. 

References

1.         de Laguna F: The Story of a Tlingit Community: A Problem in the Relationship between Archeological, Ethnological, and Historical Methods. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office; 1960.

2.         Waugh FW. In: Iroquois Foods and Food Preparation. edn. Ottawa: Department of Mines. Government Printing Bureau; 1973.

3.         Morrison DA: The Kugaluk Site and the Nuvorugmiut: The Archaeology and History of a Nineteenth-Century Mackenzie Inuit Society. Hull, Quebec: National Musems of Canada; 1988.

 

Voles are small rodents occurring throughout most North America, except in the high tundra, and include the meadow vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus) and the tundra vole (Microtus oeconomus)

Voles are part of the largest mammal family, which also includes lemmings, rats, and mice. They closely resemble lemmings with their compact body, shortened tail, rounded head, and small eyes and ears, unlike mice that have a more pointed head, a longer tail, and larger ears.  Like other members of the same family, they have a high reproductive potential, having multiple fast growing litters per year, and are important prey for many predators.

Reference

Forsyth A: Mammals of North America: Temperate and arctic regions. Willowdale, ON: Firefly Books; 1999.

 
Images provided below were obtained from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History - North American Mammals. Available from http://www.mnh.si.edu/mna/.
Meadow vole - adult (right), juvenile (left)
Credit: painting by Todd Zalewski from Kays and Wilson's Mammals of North America, © Princeton University Press (2002)
Credit: Data provided by NatureServe in collaboration with Bruce Patterson, Wes Sechrest, Marcelo Tognelli, Gerardo Ceballos, The Nature Conservancy — Migratory Bird Program, Conservation International — CABS, World Wildlife Fund — US, and Environment Canada — WILDSPACE.
Tundra vole - wide range of coloration, but with black-tipped hairs
Credit: painting by Todd Zalewski from Kays and Wilson's Mammals of North America, © Princeton University Press (2002)
Credit: Data provided by NatureServe in collaboration with Bruce Patterson, Wes Sechrest, Marcelo Tognelli, Gerardo Ceballos, The Nature Conservancy — Migratory Bird Program, Conservation International — CABS, World Wildlife Fund — US, and Environment Canada — WILDSPACE.
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