Water Vole Babies

Our water voles on the display island have been on top form over recent weeks, and we may have the answer to why... Babies!

Last weekend one of our regular visiting photographers saw a young water vole at the end of the day and called me over, sure enough it was a kit and not many weeks old. This is great news, and it is nice to see this new family breed out on the island as many others have done in the past.

We are not sure how many are out there, but the ones we have seen are looking in very good health... as are the adults. These youngsters will stay out on the island for the rest of the season, before possibly being released on to our nature reserve.

Our breeding pens off display are also doing well, with several water vole kits currently out there. We are hoping to use these to continue our success of water vole releases on our nature reserve by encouraging them to spread further up the tributary through our reserve.

If you want to try and see our youngsters on the island, the best time would be either first thing or last thing in the day. These are the times when it is a little quieter around that area of the centre, and so they are a little more relaxed in showing themselves..