As endothelial cells are subject to flow shear stress, it is important to determine the detailed velocity distribution in microvessels in the study of mechanical interactions between blood and endothelium. This paper describes a velocity field of the arteriole in the rat mesentery using an intravital microscope and high-speed digital video system obtained by a highly accurate PIV technique. Red blood cells (RBCs) velocity distributions with spatial resolutions of $0.8{ imes}0.8{mu}m$ were obtained even near the wall in the center plane of the arteriole. By making ensemble-averaged time-series of velocity distributions, velocity profiles over different cross-sections were calculated for comparison. The shear rate at the vascular wall also evaluated on the basis of the ensemble-averaged profiles. It was shown that the velocity profiles were blunt in the center region of the vessel cross-section while they were steep in the near wall region. The wall shear rates were significantly small, compared with those estimated from the Poiseuille profiles.