Help endangered water voles

Keen animal lovers in Renfrewshire are being asked to participate in an endangered species survey beginning next week.

The People’s Trust for Endangered Species’(PTES) annual water vole survey begins on Monday, April 15 and runs until Saturday, June 15.

Volunteers across Scotland, Wales and England are needed to survey a local waterway in a bid to help endangered water voles, which have experienced the most serious decline of any native wild mammal.

To help, volunteer‘water vole watchers’are asked to visit their nearest stream, river, ditch or canal in search of water voles (or their signs) and record what they find online.

The data produced is crucial so that PTES can understand where water voles need the most help and implement targeted conservation measures, such as restoring degraded rivers and improving connectivity between wetlands.

Last year various sites were surveyed across Scotland, in Aberdeenshire (one site showed water vole presence), the Highlands, Denbighshire, Fife (also one site had water vole presence), South

Lanarkshire, Stirlingshire and West Lothian, but none in Renfrewshire.

Emily Sabin, water vole officer at PTES, said:“With their glossy dark brown fur, blunt snouts and furry tails, water voles are incredibly cute, but the decline they continue to experience is nothing short of alarming. Thankfully, in some areas water voles are starting to make a comeback due to habitat restoration work and increased mink control, but their numbers are still much lower than they should be.

To become a water vole watcher visit www.ptes.org/watervoles

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