Water Vole Field Signs and Habitat Assessment

Acknowledgements



1. Introduction

A bit of background

Personal experience

Legal protection in the UK

Competence



2. Habitat

Where do you find water voles?

What does 'ideal' habitat for water voles look like?

Habitat requirements

Dry areas for burrows or above-ground nests

Herbaceous vegetation as food and cover

Water

How to assess likely value of habitat

Water voles in terrestrial habitat



3. What does a water vole look like?



4. Looking for field signs

Different field signs

When to search

Where to search

How to search

Other factors to consider

Health, safety and biosecurity



5. Droppings and latrines

Characteristics of water vole droppings

Latrines

How many droppings constitute a latrine?

What can latrines tell us?

Terrestrial, or fossorial, water voles

Rat droppings

Field vole and bank vole droppings

DNA analysis



6. Feeding remains



7. Burrows

Characteristics of 'active' water vole burrows

Burrows of similar species

Detailed examination of burrows



8. Nests



9. Other field signs

Footprints

Runs through the vegetation



10. Other species

Droppings

Footprints



11. Recording the information

What information needs to be recorded?

How to record the information

What happens next?



Bibliography

Index