Its range extends from Norway, Sweden and Finland eastwards through northern Russia to the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Its typical habitat is dense undergrowth or rocky areas in coniferous or birch forests, often near rivers, but it is also found in clear cut areas of forests, rough grassland, subarctic shrubby heathland and dry peat bogs.

[1] The grey red-backed vole feeds on grasses and small herbs, the leaves and shoots of sub-shrubs and berries.

[1] It prefers the bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) to the northern crowberry (Empetrum nigrum ssp.

These occur in a four to five-year population cycle[1] the reasons for which are not fully understood but which may reflect changes in the abundance of certain specialised predators.