Home Range Overlap and Nest Cohabitation of Male and Female Prairie Voles

Abstract

The degree of association between male and female prairie voles Microtus ochrogaster was assessed using radiotelemetry. Nine sets of males and females caught together in live traps were fitted with transmitters and monitored for 3-4 days; an additional three sets of voles were radiotracked for 10 days. Eleven of the 12 male-female pairs remained together during the radiotracking period. The areas used by the male and female of each of these pairs overlapped greatly. Furthermore, each pair cohabited in a nesting burrow. On an average of 34.6% of the occasions when simultaneous readings were taken for a male and female, they were together in a nest. These results contrast markedly with field studies of M. pennsylvanicus and M. montanus which have revealed no nest cohabitation by adult males and females. The results of this study support laboratory evidence and live-trapping data suggesting pair-bonding in M.