Whilst out in the garden yesterday, I found my cat watching a small crevice in a stone wall. On closer examination, I found this young bank vole hiding. I rescued it and could not resist taking some photos before releasing it safely back into the garden. It appeared unharmed. Bank voles are common visitors in my mousecam. After the wood mouse, they are probably one of the most abundant of British small rodents. They like to live in dense cover around hedgerows, bramble thickets and woody scrub. Each bank vole occupies a home range and apparently they do not venture much more than 50m from their nest site. In mild years, when there is plenty of food, bank voles begin breeding early and may continue well into Autumn. They may have four to five litters per season, each with 4 – 5 babies. The nest chamber is usually about 10cm below ground and reached by tunnels.
I am planning on trying to build an artificial tunnel system with a nesting chamber with a cam inside, so I can capture some images of them breeding.
Here a couple of the shots I took… lovely to be able to have a really close look at this little chap… usually it is a fleeting glimpse in the mousecam!
