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5 unusual facts about European Water Vole


European water vole

In the comic novel and film Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons, one of the characters, Urk, refers to the subject of his unrequited love, Elfine Starkadder, as his little water vole.

A water vole named Ratty is a leading character in the 1908 children's book Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame: the locality used in the book is believed to be Moor Copse in Berkshire, England, and the character's name "Ratty" has become widely associated with the species and their riverbank habitat, as well as the misconception that they are a species of rat.

North Kent Marshes

The North Kent Marsh with its stable water level is an important habitat for the water vole.

Thurnby Lodge

This natural area was extensively landscaped in several phases by the Leicester City Council and a floodplain added up until the present day, destroying a natural fertile habitat for the then common water voles and small fresh water fish found within the habitat.

Whitchurch Waterways Country Park

The presence of water and unimproved grassland and patches of semi-natural woodland, particularly around Greenfields Nature Reserve, has created a habitat that includes Cuckoo flower and water voles, as well as many butterfly species.


Portbury Ashlands

Great crested newts (Triturus cristatus), Water voles (Arvicola amphibius), Grass snakes (Natrix natrix) and Brown Hares (Lepus europaeus) have been seen and there is evidence that Otters (Lutra lutra) are moving in.


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