We’re not sure what this field vole was doing out in the open, but he seemed chirpy enough and scuttled away after his photoshoot.
But firstly, is it a vole or a mouse? Voles have much shorter tails than mice, smaller ears and rounder, blunter faces.
Secondly, what type of vole is it? There are three to choose from. The water vole is much larger, about the size of a rat, but with a shorter furry tail. It is also darker in colour. The bank vole is brown, rather than grey-brown, and smaller with a slightly longer tail.
So, this is a field vole, gray-brown, with a paler grey belly and noticeably shaggy fur. It lives in grassland, so probably has a hole in our bank, but voles prefer to make runs through the grass, rather than tunnels through the earth. They eat plant matter – seeds, roots, leaves – and can have up to six litters of up to seven babies a year. Unfortunately, that’s 42 snacks for a lot of animals and birds. Their average lifespan is only one year.
