Description
The Water Vole (Arvicola terrestris) is an aquatic mammal that resembles a rat. In fact, water voles have often been mistermed, "water rats". Water voles have rounder noses than rats, deep brown fur, chubby faces, and short fuzzy ears. In the wild, they survive as long as 5 months.
These voles can grow from 6-9 inches in length, and weigh from 5-11 ounces. The tail can grow up to 6 inches long.
Range
The water vole is found in much of Great Britian, northern and central Europe, northwestern United States, and southwestern Canada. It is also located in parts of Russia.
Habitat
In Britain, water voles reside in burrows that they excavate from the banks of relatively calm rivers, ponds, and streams. In Europe and Russia, they may venture into woods, fields, and gardens. American and Canadian water voles dig burrows that are connected to water sources. They live under the snow during the winter.
Diet
Water voles mainly eat grass and plants near the water. At times, they will also consume fruits, bulbs, twigs, buds, and roots. In Europe, when there is enough food to last water voles a long time, water vole "plagues" can take place. Water voles eat ravenously, destroying entire fields of grass and leaving the fields full of burrows, during these plagues.
Breeding
The mating period lasts from March into late Fall. The female vole's pregnancy lasts for approximately 21 days. Up to 8 baby voles can be born, each weighing close to two-tenths of an ounce. The young voles open their eyes three days after their birth. They are half the size of a full grown water vole by the time they are weaned.
Behavior
Water Voles are expert swimmers and divers. They usually don't live in large groups. Adult water vole each have their own territories, which they mark with a secretion from their bodies. They will attack if their territory is invaded by another vole.
Conservation
The water vole population in the UK has fallen from 2.3 million in 1990 to 354,000 in 1998. This was mainly caused by the mink, an aggressive predator of the vole, and farming, which destroyed parts of the water vole's habitat. In the UK, efforts are under way to protect the water vole and its habitat from further destruction.
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