Wild Wednesday – Bank vole
Bank voles are common and widespread across the UK, found in hedgerows, woodlands, parks and sometimes in gardens. They don't hibernate so you can spot them all year round.
The smallest of the UK's voles, the bank vole, scientific name Myodes glareolus, has a reddish-chestnut coat with a dirty white underside, richer in colour than the similar field vole and has a proportionally longer tail. Voles have blunter, rounder faces, smaller ears and eyes, and shorter tails than mice.
Active during both the day and night, they forage over distances up to 50 metres, with males sometimes travelling further to find a mate.
They make their nests in shallow burrows that they dig just beneath the ground, lining with leaves, grasses, moss, or feathers. Producing litters of three to five blind, hairless young, born between April and October that become independent within nine weeks, but sadly, over half of those born early in the season will die before they are four months old.
Average lifespan is six months to two years, with most not lasting more than one breeding season. Bank voles mature quickly with females maturing at two to three and males maturing at six to eight weeks.
Their diet consists of grass, roots, fruit such as apples, seeds, and insects and earthworms. They are very nimble climbers and often climb up bushes to nibble fruit and buds.
Predators include tawny owls, weasels, foxes and kestrels.
Read more here: Bank vole | The Wildlife Trusts