NEW WILDLIFE – THE BANK VOLE

The Bank Vole –Myodes glareolus

Bank voles are small chestnut-brown rodents with a cream-coloured underbelly and a short hairy tail. The Bank voles has small dark eyes, a short tail typically about 30% of their body length and a rounded snout. Bank voles have the largest ears of any UK vole species. Bank voles are common and widespread across the UK. They don’t hibernate so you can spot them all year round. Their burrows are often in grassy areas buried shallowly underground but can be above ground provided there is thick cover so the meadow provides the perfect habitat.

Bank voles are good climbers and will often use the disused nest of a hedgerow bird as its larder.

Bank voles tend to appear very timid and are ever wary of danger, so most sightings are just a fleeting glimpse. If you hear a rustling in the undergrowth, stay very still and quiet and you might catch a glimpse of a foraging vole. Some bank voles become more confident in urban areas and they can often be spotted near bird feeders in household gardens looking for an easy meal. Head and body length between 8-12 cm, adult weight typically 18-20 g

Bank voles usually breed in shallow burrows. They produce three to four litters of between three and five young per year. Females tend to favour dominant males. Both males and females can be aggressive to litters that aren’t their own, with some females attacking litters in overlapping territories. Voles are born hairless and blind and are weaned after about 25 days. Parental care is provided only by the female. Females reach sexual maturity after six weeks and males after eight. Bank voles can live for around two years, but few reach such an age, with many falling victim to predators.

They are highly vocal, often squeaking and chattering, sometimes using sounds too high in pitch to be detected by humans.

Bank voles have a varied diet of vegetation, roots, fungi and a variety of fruits and nuts – blackberries are a particular favourite – as well as occasionally hunting for small insects.

Conservation status

The Bank vole population is thought to be stable with no severe threats. However, the species will be affected by damage and destruction to hedgerows and woodland, which represent important habitat. An abundant and adaptable species with a stable population that is not considered threatened and, as such, granted no specific protection in Britain. They have a wide range of predators including cats, foxes, badgers, stoats, weasels, martens, adders, kestrels, buzzards, corvids, and owls. Barn and tawny owls are probably their most significant avian predators.