Water Vole

Various | Curious Nature

The water vole is an iconic species native to the UK but its numbers are in serious decline. There are active conservation and breeding programmes that will benefit from the vole’s genome to help ensure genetic fitness in the species, and overcoming population bottlenecks that have emerged because of reduced options for breeding.

The Wind in the Willows

Kenneth Graeme

Kenneth Graeme’s story of the adventures of Mole, Ratty, Toad and Badger has been told and adapted ever since it was published. Despite his confusing name, the adventurous Ratty is probably the most famous water vole in the world. We first meet him when Mole describes him on the river bank:

A brown little face, with whiskers.
A grave round face, with the same twinkle
in its eye that had first attracted his notice.
Small neat ears and thick silky hair.
It was the Water Rat!