Monday 14 March 2011

First water vole of 2011

Inspired by Kate's success in finding water vole feeding signs and latrines (http://staggsbrook.blogspot.com/2011/03/when-voles-grow-wings.html) and the nice weather this morning, I took the opportunity of a walk to work to look for evidence of water voles on the lower ock near ladygrove field and was  pleased to see what seems like signs of feeding:
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Then to prove these are feeding signs, a water vole appeared:
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It's always pleasing to see that these small creatures have survived what has been a harsh winter.

5 comments:

  1. Great to see them back!

    Martin Gulliver

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  2. Let's hope they're breeding. If they are, when would you expect to see babies? I suppose it's a bit early at this time of year.

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  3. Hi Martin,
    Great to see you back as well. It always amazes me how they cope with the flooding and the adverse weather.

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  4. Hi Rachel,
    I would expect them to be breeding soon - as the breeding season usually runs from March to September.
    As gestation takes about 30 days and then weened 14 days later - so we could have baby water voles by early April. I'll let you know if I see any.

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  5. Aw, lovely. That photo really shows the texture of the thick fur.

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