Water Voles Thriving at RSPB Arne by Morwenna Alldis, RSPB
“There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats,” said Ratty, one of the most beloved characters of Kenneth Grahame’s 1908 novel, Wind in the Willows. But despite his name, Ratty is actually inspired by a water vole, and sadly, these once prolific creatures are now classed at Britain’s fastest declining mammal.
(Photo 1: by Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com) )
Over the past 40 years water voles have declined by a dramatic 90%. The cause of this shocking loss is the result of two major environmental changes:
Predation by North American Mink – these were accidently released into the environment, probably escapee from UK mink farms. They are aggressive and fearless predators.
Loss of Habitat - Water voles reside along rivers, lakes, marshes, streams, ditches, ponds, reedbeds and wet moorland. They build their burrow home in river banks and create sleeping chambers in the steepest parts of the bank. Water voles also fashion underwater entrances to their home, for extra security when hot-footing it away from any predators.
However, riverbank management, increased grazing of domestic animals, and the draining of ditches for flood management, have all negatively impacted on the water vole’s natural habitat. Water voles need a wide variety of water vegetation for food and for cover – again this has been significantly reduced by waterway dredging.
Also, flood defence engineering has caused a rise in river levels which then floods the water voles’ burrows – ‘Ratty’ is then forced to abandon his home or in some cases, drowns.
At RSPB Arne, however, the future of Ratty the water vole is looking brighter. They are now regularly sighted at Shipstal Ponds and visitors have been lucky enough to enjoy some up-close-and-personal encounters with these cute, chubby rodents. The success of water voles at RSPB Arne is down to the huge support the charity receives from members of the public, who have enabled the RSPB to manage this special rich nature reserve for wildlife, for the past 50 years.
It just goes to show that looking after the land in a wildlife friendly way makes a huge difference to the lives of the animals that call that habitat home.
(Photo 2: Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com) )