Rat Reprise

I've covered this subject before but it bears repeating: water voles are not rats. The chap in the photo immediately above is a common rat, Rattus norvegicus, with grey fur, prominent ears, a pointed pink nose, white feet and (if you could see it) a naked grey/pink tail.

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Our water vole, top photo, has brown fur, tiny ears set close to the head, a blunt black nose, black feet and a dark furred tail.

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If you need to get rid of rats in a water voley area, you need to seek professional advice as it's an offence to harm water voles even accidentally during genuine pest control.