Voles, often called "meadow mice", occupy a wide variety of habitats, depending on the species. Generally, voles prefer areas with heavy ground cover of grasses, grass-like plants, or litter. They are active both day and night and throughout the year. Voles eat a variety of plants and animals. They frequently forage on grasses, forbs, roots, bulbs, tubers, bark, snails, and insects. To find food, voles construct tunnels and surface runways with many burrow openings. Several adults and young can live in these runway systems. This intricate network of tunnels and burrows provide voles with excellent shelter from the weather and protection from predators. Voles store seeds and other plant matter in underground chambers.

Although voles spend considerable time aboveground and may occasionally be seen scurrying about, most of their time is spent below ground in their burrow system. The clearest signs of their presence are the well-travelled, aboveground runways that connect burrow openings; the runways are usually hidden beneath a protective layer of grass or other ground cover. The maze of runways leads to multiple open burrows that are each about 11/2 to 2 inches in diameter. The runways are easily found by pulling back overhanging ground cover. Fresh clippings of green grass and greenish-color droppings about 3/16 inch long in the runways and near the burrows are further evidence of voles.

Voles are poor climbers and do not usually enter homes or other buildings. Instead, they inhabit wild lands or croplands adjacent to buildings, or gardens and landscaped sites with protective ground cover. Most problems around homes and gardens occur during times of large meadow mouse populations.

Voles usually live between 2 and 16 months. Their home ranges usually are less than 1/4 acre and vary with season, food supply and population density. Population densities of voles vary from species to species. Large population fluctuations that range from 14 to 500 voles per acre are common. Their numbers generally peak every 3 to 5 years. Factors that influence population levels include dispersal rates, food quality, climate, predation, physiological stress, and genetics.

Voles breed throughout the year, with peaks occurring during spring and summer. Voles can produce 3 to 12 litters per year with 3 to 5 being average. Litters range in size from 1 to 11 young per litter, with 3 to 6 being the average. Although gestation periods vary slightly among species, 21 days is the average length of gestation for voles. Young are weaned by the time they are 21 days old, and females are sexually mature within 40 days.

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