But will they hang around when the cut vegetation dies off? These are animals so vulnerable to predation they need every scrap of cover going...
2 comments:
Anonymous
said...
I would think that one of the reasons the voles do so we’ll on the brook is, other than rats, an absence of natural predators. Owls and other birds of prey would be put off by the bustle of the supermarket; foxes and cats may not like the steep banks and I’m sure there’s no mink or pike.
It’s probably against nature, and also not necessary if the site was more sympathetically treated, but is there ever any call for landscaping and introducing some extra cover and food for the creatures in places like these?
I'm sure the relative lack of predators is a crucial part of this colony's past success. The main problem the voles have to contend with here - aside from human stupidity - is flash flooding. Not an issue for the adults, but certainly a cause of infant mortality.
I've been trying to contact Derek Gow about sympathetic planting. I'll perhaps try him again today.
This blog charts the fortunes of water voles in and around the Whitchurch area, North Shropshire. Water voles are one of the UK's most threatened mammals, extinct in many counties, and so it's vital they receive as much monitoring and protection as there is going. Here in Whitchurch we're lucky enough to have them right in the middle of town - how cool is that?
2 comments:
I would think that one of the reasons the voles do so we’ll on the brook is, other than rats, an absence of natural predators. Owls and other birds of prey would be put off by the bustle of the supermarket; foxes and cats may not like the steep banks and I’m sure there’s no mink or pike.
It’s probably against nature, and also not necessary if the site was more sympathetically treated, but is there ever any call for landscaping and introducing some extra cover and food for the creatures in places like these?
I'm sure the relative lack of predators is a crucial part of this colony's past success. The main problem the voles have to contend with here - aside from human stupidity - is flash flooding. Not an issue for the adults, but certainly a cause of infant mortality.
I've been trying to contact Derek Gow about sympathetic planting. I'll perhaps try him again today.
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