Ratty’s return: Water voles thrive in lake

IMMORTALISED as river-loving Ratty in Wind in the Willows, the water vole has had a tough time in the past few decades.

Numbers fell by around 90 per cent during the 1980s and 1990s, with many slaughtered by American mink living in the wild after escaping from fur farms. But, against all the odds, water voles, pictured, are flourishing in England’s highest freshwater lake – where they had not been seen for more than 50 years.

The voles have been reintroduced by the National Trust, which put more than 100 in streams around Malham Tarn in the Yorkshire Dales last August.

Now they have spread around half a mile from the original site of their release. Mink have not been spotted in the lake for around ten years, so the Trust is hopeful that it will be a relatively safe environment for the water voles.

Roisin Black, Malham Tarn’s ranger, said: ‘With a mild, wet winter, we were worried the water levels would rise too high and flood the burrows. But the voles have spread out across one side of the tarn.’

A further 100 of the voles, including siblings and breeding pairs, are set to be released this week – starting today.