Characteristics of resident and wandering prairie voles, Microtus ochrogaster

Many studies have documented intraspecific differences in the behavior of males or females. In some species, many adults are territorial while others have larger home ranges encompassing multiple territories. Although these two types of behavior have been documented, they are not well understood in mammals. Therefore, in the mono gamous prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) we characterized individuals that engage in these two behavior patterns as residents and wanderers. We monitored populations enclosed in 0.1-ha. enclosures at Miami University's Ecology Research Center. As many as 26% of animals were wanderers: animals captured frequently, but less than 75% of the time, at one nest. As expected, wanderers had larger home ranges than residents. Wanderers were primarily adult males (70%) but included some adult females. This behavior pattern was not fixed, since some wanderers previously had been residents and at least 31% of males and 57% of adult female wanderers became residents during the same field season. Wanderers were not in worse physical condition, as estimated by body mass, and survived for slightly longer than residents. Thus, it does not appear that wanderers are making the best of a bad situation, but analysis of parentage is critical to validate this conclusion.