A water vole's journey

What does a water vole need?

Water voles need to eat 80% of their body weight every day.  They eat grasses, reeds, rushes; roots, tree bark and fruit. 

They need grassy banks to be able to dig burrows into which will often have underwater entrances. Slow moving rivers, ditches, streams, lakes, ponds, canals, as well as marshland and upland provide the best habitat for water voles. 

Water voles live in colonies but spread themselves out along a watercourse. Breeding females have territories of 30-150m, while males have larger home ranges of 60-300m that overlap several females.

Water voles generally do not travel far from the cover of vegetation along the water's edge.

What barriers might a water vole face on its journey?

Building development has led to the direct loss of habitat and the loss of riverside vegetation.

Heavy grazing by livestock causes the loss of riverside vegetation, while cows' trampling of banks and riversides reduces water quality and destroys vegetation. 

The introduction of non-native American mink  has decimated water vole populations.  Water voles are also predated by foxes, otters, stoats, weasels, owls, herons, pike, rats and cats.

Poor water quality - pollutants (including traffic fumes) and chemicals washed off the land and in the air destroys important water vole food sources found in rivers and streams. 

Drought leads to lower water levels, leaving water vole burrow entrances exposed to predators. 

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