Water Voles

Several groups of Water Voles can be found in the Malmesbury area. Home ranges can be seen on the River bank in the Station Car Park and from the bankside footpath in Conygre Mead. The quiet observer can see them feeding on the opposite side of the stream and swimming up and down the stream by the bank, or popping in or out of their holes. Should one be disturbed, it will either flop into the water and swim to the other side, or dive and swim under water to the safety of its burrow.

The Water Vole is a large vole – The largest of the voles found in Britain (2). It is found throughout Europe and is divided into several species and sub-species; not all of which are aquatic. The species found in the British Isles is peculiar to that country and is divided into two sub-species: A.a .reta, the northern Scottish sub-species and A.a. amphibius, which lives in the rest of the country. They are absent from Ireland.

 The Water Vole is often mistaken for the common Rat, however, it is distinguished from rats by its rounded head, shorter limbs, and  smaller eyes. The average adult is about 200 mm long, with a tail approximately 50% of that length Rats and mice have tails proportionately much longer. Its lightly-haired tail and hairy feet probably assist it in swimming, but it is not particularly adapted to a semi-aquatic life. It is normally coloured dark brown, though colour and texture of the fur varies. A black variant is found in North and Northwest Scotland and East Anglia. Its eyesight is poor, but its hearing is sharp and its sense of smell is well developed. On land it walks rather than trots or runs. The difference in size between forefeet and hind feet is quite distinctive. Hind-foot tracks are normally between 20 and 23 mm long.

Water Voles live anywhere they can dig their burrows and find suitable food;-from the banks of wide rivers to streams and canals. Their home territories can be spotted easily by round holes in the sides and tops of the banks of watercourses. They dig burrows and tunnels both above and below the surface of the water. In snowy conditions, the voles will continue their tunnel systems above the ground surface, under the snow. These snow-tunnels are then filled up with loose soil as the voles enlarge their underground system., leaving sausage shaped structures, especially noticeable after a slow thaw.

British Water Voles are preyed upon by heron, owls, otter, mink,  stoat, weasel, pike, trout and eel, but probably the most important is the common rat, which will drive off the adult voles and kill the young.

Alan Nicholas Walker.
17/08/2000

References

The Wind in the Willows.                   Kenneth Graham.

Thorburns Mammals.                         Archibald Thorburn.  Elbyry Press & Michael Joseph Limited.

Further information was obtained from:-

British Mammals    L. Harrison Matthews. Collins New Naturalist series, 1952.

R.S.P.C.A. book of British Mammals    L.Boyle (Ed.) Collins 1981

Collins guide to Animal Tracks & Signs.       Bang and Dahlstrom. Collins 1974

The Shell Natural History of Britain.    M.Burton (Ed.) Rainbird Reference Books 1970.

Personal Observations by The Author and Mr Ted Hall of Gloucester Street, Malmesbury.