Conservation & Ecology


Water Voles


Helping out ‘Ratty’


Let’s be honest, not many people like rats so, when Winston Graham wrongly cast the unassuming Water Vole as ‘Ratty’ in Wind in the Willows, the little critter was often seen as a pest. Nowadays though, much more is known about its lifestyle, yet they are now so rare they are listed as a ‘priority species’ in the UK. Peter Britton looks at a few simple ways you could help Ratty out of his predicament


104 I PC OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 T


he water vole is listed as a ‘Priority Species’ in the UK. Nationwide surveys have revealed that water voles are absent from around 90% of the sites where they were


previously recorded prior to World War II. The main reasons behind this dramatic decline are habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation, and predation by introduced American mink (see issue 67 or visit https://www.pitchcare.com/magazine/ameri can-mink.html for further information). Agricultural intensification, unsympathetic


river management, drainage of wetland marshes/ponds and building development have all contributed to the loss of the water vole’s wetland habitat. They are now so rare that the remaining populations are increasingly isolated and particularly


vulnerable to further habitat loss, mink predation, flooding and excessive disturbance. Water voles are semi-aquatic herbivorous


rodents that are closely related to lemming, muskrat (neither of which are found in Britain) and other species of vole. At 14- 22cm (not including the tail), and weighing in at 140-350g, they are Britain’s largest vole - considerably larger than the field vole and bank vole, both of which are ‘mouse’ sized. Water voles are very strong swimmers


with water-repellent fur that prevents waterlogging whilst diving. Unlike other semi-aquatic mammals, they do not possess webbed feet and are, in fact, much more suited to a burrowing existence - hence their scientific name, Arvicola terrestris; terrestris meaning ‘of the earth’.


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