Meadow Vole eating a clover

[lilHawkeyes]

I have 2 meadow voles as pets, they were brought in by my cat, they make really good pets

(btw thats a male vole)

[tophatch]

Plague: carried by fleas of rodents & cats. A plague lung infection called pneumonic plague can spread from humans. Tiny droplets carrying the bacteria move through the air. In Middle Ages massive plague epidemics killed millions. Plague can still be found in Africa, Asia & S. America.Today plague is rare in U.S. but it has been in CA, AZ, CO & NM.

[WildlifeAlec]

Uhhh....

A university of Chicago researcher died of the Black plague in 2009.

Also, there have been dozens of Wildlife researchers that have contracted the bubonic plague while working with flea carrying rodents just like this.

All in THIS century

[HaBooBo0]

We don't have voles in this part of the US but I have read that they aren't that aggressive and actually make better pets than mice.

[AlanCanon2222]

A Meadow Vole chewed my sister's leg off, but we sewed it back on.

[gsmonks]

Tophatch, this is a healthy animal that poses no risk whatsoever. I've been handling voles for a good many years. I handle bats, too. Even rehabilitated a few over the years. You take sensible precautions, which does NOT include overreacting with over-the-top silliness. This is the same attitude people have when they see a paper wasp nest hanging from the eaves. Their first reaction is to shriek and pull their hair out, and call the exterminator, when the best solution is to leave them alone.

[HoneyHashOil]

If you guys would do some research you guys would realize that this animal is actually very smart. Do some research and you'll find some interesting studies they've done with this animal.

[soodime]

retrieve us a vole! shishishwaaaa!!!!!

king of the hill. *)

[tophatch]

Don't they realize that this animal carries the plague and other disease?

[33doves33]

The plague? What century are you from. haha

[tophatch]

This century. "Besides carrying rabies, plague is a vole disease spread to humans by a sick voles fleas or by contact with a sick voles bodily secretions. Different kinds of plague can infect the lymph glands, blood and lungs.

Tularemia bacteria can be spread to humans that come into contact by touching an infected vole, an infected tick from a vole or by inhaling dust from soil contaminated by voles. Tularemia can cause ulcers, pneumonia and sore throats." from the encyclopedia online.

[gsmonks]

@colemccamman, the animal is healthy, not diseased. She probably didn't reply because the comment tophatch made wasn't worth responding to.

[gsmonks]

@tophatch, this is all "what if's" and "maybe's" that have no basis in reality. The vole is healthy. Many people, including myself, have handled them safely for many years.

Your words are no different from people shrieking about getting a rabies shot if you've handled a bat. First off, such incidents of rabies transmissions are so rare, given the number of animal/human contacts, that they're barely worth mentioning.

Getting struck by lightning is statistically more likely.

[rydag11]

@33doves33 The plague is still around not very much though thank god

[Ghostmonsters]

@tophatch the plague is easily treatable with antibiotics

[gsmonks]

@tophatch Are you still going on about that nonsense? First off, the plague is extinct, it was carried by fleas that hitched a ride on rats, and the plague itself was wiped out by the invention of bathing regularly. The worst thing I've ever seen voles carry is mites, which aren't transmitted to humans.

[LingeringProfanity]

This is great.

[Needsmoreritalin]

Thanks for sharing! Clover is quite a cutie :)

[33doves33]

Glad you like it! :)