The red tree vole is a medium-sized vole. It is uniquely colored among North American voles: bright orangish-red to cinnamon on the dorsum, silvery gray (often with some light orangish hairs) on the venter, and a tail pale orangish on the venter grading to black on the dorsum.

This vole is endemic to western Oregon. It occurs at moderate elevations on the west slope of the Cascade Range southward as far as the Douglas-Jackson county line and in the Coast Range to the Oregon-California border.

It is largely arboreal and builds nests on suitable foundations (commonly nests of birds or other arboreal mammals) in Douglas-fir, western hemlock, grand fir, and Sitka spruce, species that serve as a source of food.

The red tree vole is an Oregon Conservation Strategy Species in the Coast Range, Klamath Mountains and West Cascades ecoregions.

Photo by Stephen Destefano, USGS