The Water Vole
‘Then, as he looked, it winked at him, and so declared itself
to be an eye; and a small face began gradually to grow up around
it, like a frame round a picture. A little brown face, with
whiskers. A grave round face, with the same twinkle in its eye that
had first attracted his notice. Small neat ears and thick silky
hair. It was the water rat!’ Kenneth Grahame
The water vole (Arvicola terrestris) or The Wind in the
Willow's water rat is the largest of our native voles, weighing up
to 350g, with a rounded body, blunt muzzle and short round ears.
They are found along densely vegetated banks of slow flowing
rivers, ditches, lakes and marshes where water is present
throughout the year.
There are certain signs that you can look for if you’re walking
along a riverbank
- Burrows - an entrance hole wider than it is high (4-8cm) with
no spoil left around it
- Droppings – 8-12mm long and 4-5mm wide with round blunt ends
left in latrines (a flattened mat of old droppings with fresh ones
on top)
- Feeding stations – a neat pile of chewed vegetation (grasses
and reeds) with 45o cuts at the ends
The most distinctive sign is a loud PLOP as the water vole dives
into the water – this plop acts as a warning to the other water
voles in the area
The water vole throughout the UK has seen huge declines in
abundance and distribution - read more about the causes of
decline