Growth and dispersal timing in male red-backed voles Clethrionomys rufocanus bedfordiae

The growth rate of dispersers and residents varied among individuals and among the enclosures. Dates of disappearance of males were compared with dates of the females whose home ranges overlapped with or adjoined them. Males tended to disappear around the dates of estrus. Resident males overlapped with estrous females more frequently than dispersers. Dispersers tend to be smaller than the males that were competing with them for an estrous female, but statistically significant differences in mean body weight between residents and dispersers could not be found in 2 of the 3 enclosures examined. -from Author