Disgruntled field vole

Today I helped out with a small mammal survey at Filey Dams Nature Reserve in North Yorkshire. This field vole looked rather disgruntled at being caught in a live-trap, but it still sat calmly to have its photo taken (as field voles usually do).

On a roll with voles

A couple of weeks ago I was walking to work and spotted another water vole at a different location more than a mile from last month's Ratty. Today I took my camera with me and snapped the vole munching on the bankside vegetation.  It's amazing to see such an elusive and threatened animal on my 'commute' to work.

Ratty in danger

This morning I was delighted to see a water vole in the ditch alongside which I've walked various dogs for over 20 years without a single such sighting.
My delight turned to sadness later today when I learned that this ditch will be disturbed by the construction of part of a huge flood alleviation scheme - undoubtedly necessary, but I'm off to investigate what mitigation measures will be put in place for my little Ratty friend (and his/her descendants)!