Montane vole
Images copyright by Mark A. Chappell

Voles (Microtus) are a large and widely distributed group of rodents in the Northern Hemisphere; sometimes they are called 'field mice'.   This one is the montane vole, found as its name implies in mountainous regions in western North America.   I photographed these in Mono County, in the eastern Sierra Nevada of California.

digital captures, Canon 1D Mk. II, 500 IS lens plus 1.4X converter and electronic flash (2006)