Wednesday 10 April 2013

Where are the water voles?

Normally, along the river there would be lots of signs of water vole activity and they would be fairly easy to see as they define breeding territories.
But the cold spring seems to have delayed the start of the water vole season, but there a few signs of increased activity, including the distinctive evidence of feeding:
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And the first water vole latrines are starting to appear:
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Although the most obvious sign is the ever increasing number of new burrows:
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But it's not all good news, opposite these burrows is a fairly fresh mink scat.
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Yet further downstrain, there is evidence of a different mammal activity - a dry spraint, indicating there is still otter activity of the river.
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Meanwhile over at the 'About a Brook; blog, Kate is seeing a lot more water vole activity and close encounters with a different mustelid: http://staggsbrook.blogspot.co.uk/ 

3 comments:

  1. Martin Gulliver17 April 2013 at 00:03

    aah....perfect early morning viewing...pictures of poo!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Martin,

    Sometimes all there is along the river is some poo and sometimes there isn't even that.

    I hope I didn't put you off your breakfast.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Martin Gulliver17 April 2013 at 23:54

    Thanks Richard - I am made of stern stuff!

    ReplyDelete