The water vole is facing extinction in Britain conservationists have warned, naming it as the fastest declining mammal in recent times. Fifty years ago, a glimpse of this chestnut brown creature scurrying through reeds or the distinctive 'plop' as they dived from the river bank, was common. Unfortunately for the water vole, sometimes wrongly referred to as water rats, new methods of river management, intensive farming and building of large housing estates have virtually wiped out all the vole¹s natural habitats. Wildlife trusts report that these creatures have vanished from around 90% of the sites they occupied 60 years ago. They make very complex burrows in riverbanks before establishing their nest which is constituted of chewed and shredded grass. The female can produce 2 - 3 litters of 5 per year. Male water voles can grow to 8" in length and have a lifespan of 12 - 18 months. The water vole has numerous predators; mink, which is a much faster swimmer, stoats, weasels, brown rats, herons, birds of prey, pike and foxes. The Wildlife and Countryside Act extended water voles¹ limited protection under current law on 6th April this year when they joined a list of species protected. It is now a criminal act to intentionally kill or injure water voles, to disturb their homes or to take them from the wild.
David Ansell
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