The Water Vole is a small, semi-aquatic mammal with large orange teeth and is also known as the European Water Vole. It is also called the ‘water rat’ because people think it looks similar to a rat, although a rat has a smooth-looking tail and the Water Vole has hairs on its tail. The Water Vole is a leading character in a children’s book called the ‘Wind in the Willows’ and interestingly enough the name of the character is ‘Ratty’.

The Water Vole has a coat of silky chestnut-brown fur and its body can be as long as twelve to twenty centimetre. Its tail can be six to twelve centimetres long. Its face is short and fat-looking with quite a blunt nose. It has small, sticky-out eyes and its short ears have flaps inside to keep water out when the Water Vole is swimming.

Water Voles can be found throughout the country along rivers, streams, canals and lakes where they like to build burrows in sloping waterside banks. The burrows usually have a number of entrances so that Water Voles can escape from danger more easily. When a Water Vole jumps into the water, you can hear a very clear ‘plop’ sound.