As I check my great-crested newt traps for newts (which are removed to somewhere safer which won’t be developed), which forms a large part of my job, I occasionally come across small mammals, often they are under carpet tiles which they lie to hide under (as do the newts, hence why they are there!) and immediately run away from as I flip the tiles up. Very occasionally they end up in the buckets. This was the case this morning when today’s subject turned up. I do have a history with small mammals, I have spent many an hour ‘removing’ (in this case removing them to another plain) rats from small islands in order to preserve specialist island species, so to accidentally trap mammals in my current job brings back some memories.
What: Bank Vole Myodes glareolus (Schreber, 1780) – I am willing to be corrected, going off my field guide for the ID.
When: 28th June 2020
Where: Winsford, Cheshire, UK.
Who saw it? Me.
How was it recorded? Noted down and sent to my employees for their site records.
Is it bigger than a blackbird? No, it’s a vole. Mouse/hamster size.
What is it? A small mammal in the rodent order. A very common species in the UK (not native to Ireland strangely, but introduced there) and is allegedly the most easily seen member of the vole family, although I haven’t seen one close up outside of a live trap. It is similar looking to the more abundant Field Vole Microtus agretis, but has darker, more warm coloured brown fur, compared to the lighter fur in the Field Vole. Bizarrely – given its name, another fully terrestrial vole, the Common Vole doesn’t occur in the UK except in Orkney. The Bank Vole is a common prey species and are a common target of birds such as Kestrels, or mammals such as stoats or foxes. According to my reference book (Britain’s Mammals, 2017, Princeton University Press) they prefer woodlands and scrub areas, although I caught mine in grassland.
A fact I did not know about this species: There is an endemic sub-species of Bank Vole which lives on Skomer Island in Wales, which is redder in colour than the mainland Bank Voles.
Is it charismatic in my opinion? All rodents are charismatic. Anything that the word ‘scurry’ can be used to describe surely has a bit of personality?!
A Species a Day 