We don’t have a normal front yard, we have a meadow. We’ve planted over the years and have growing over 30 native plants. For a short 30 day window each summer, it’s a rainbow of colors that just cool to watch. Well, you could say we’re a little protective of our plants so when the snow melts, we’re on guard for natural predators of our earthly delights. The main villain are voles. We have lots of Sage Brush Voles but when this guy got in our trap, it caught my attention (I have a permit to live trap so critters we catch, we translocate to our neighbor’s yard). This is a Montane Vole (also called meadow mice by some), it’s not rare but just rare to our yard. He instantly had a new temporary home in a very large tank sitting in our office. Now we think that he is a she because its getting a big belly. So we’ve been providing it lots of fresh grasses, some it eats and the rest is being used to build a very cool nest which you can partially see here.
Photographing small mammals is something I’m known for in biological circles, these little critters just fascinate me. I’ve written about my set up many times in the past, it’s a simple 60micro, single flash affair. So for the next week or 10 days, we’ll keep an eye on our new friend and if babies appear, I’ll post the news here. If not, well my neighbor will have a new pet.
Photo captured by D2Xs, 60micro with SB-800 on Lexar digital film