Japanese grass vole
Amazing fact
Japanese grass voles gather dry grass to build nests inside their underground tunnels.
多摩動物公園
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
Japanese grass voles gather dry grass to build nests inside their underground tunnels.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Japanese grass vole
- Scientific name
- Microtus montebelli
- Japanese name
- ハタネズミ
- Group
- Land mammals
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Rodentia
- Family
- Cricetidae
- Genus
- Microtus
It lives on Honshu, Kyushu and other parts of Japan, in places such as the edges of fields and rice paddies, riverbanks and woods.
It digs a web of tunnels underground. Its ears are small and its tail is short, so they do not get in the way as it moves through the tunnels.
Its Japanese name is said to come from the way it turns up in fields and rice paddies. It eats plants such as grasses and daisy-family plants.
How the Japanese grass vole lives
They also eat the underground stems of plants.
多摩動物公園Basic data
- Size
- Head and body length: 95–136 mm
- Weight
- 22–62 g
- Diet
- Grasses, plants in the daisy family and rhizomes
- Range
- Japan (Honshu, Kyushu, Sado Island and Noto Island)
Where the Japanese grass vole has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- ハタネズミ
- 한국어
- 일본밭쥐
- Deutsch
- Japanische Wühlmaus
- Português (Brasil)
- Campanhol-japonês
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 多摩動物公園 — ハタネズミChecked: 2026-11-03
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
Report a mistakeEXHIBIT INFORMATION
Places that keep or show the Japanese grass vole
Zoos, aquariums and other places whose official websites say they keep or show this animal.
Kanto
Displays can change with the animals’ health and the seasons. Check each facility’s official website before you go.
RELATIVES
Others in Cricetidae
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