Water voles back in Scottish Highlands

This is a video from England about a water vole (and a male mallard).

From Wildlife Extra:

Water vole returns to RSPB site in Scottish Highlands after 20 year hiatus

The endangered water vole has returned to RSPB Insh Marshes after 20 year absence.

The small chubby rodent, which inspired the character Ratty in the children’s novel Wind in the Willows, was last seen at the reserve in Strathspey more than two decades ago and ecologists believe its reappearance is a result of work to eradicate American mink.

Predation by the American mink and habitat loss has led water vole to being the UK’s fastest declining mammal with numbers having dropped by 90 per over the last 40 years.

However, since 2011 the Scottish Mink Initiative has worked alongside organisations and landowners like the RSPB to eradicate mink from large parts of northern Scotland, including the Cairngorms National Park and Insh Marshes. This has allowed water voles to re-establish themselves in those areas.

RSPB Officer, James Silvey, said: “Water voles are extremely important mammals because they’re a really good sign of a healthy wetland environment.

“ It’s great to see them returning to Strathspey and we are hopeful this population will go from strength to strength. However, we have to remain vigilant to ensure that mink remain absent from the area.

“RSPB Scotland will continue to support the Scottish Mink Initiative in its efforts to remove mink from as much of the site as possible. People in the area can help protect water voles too, by looking out for them and reporting any sightings to us so we can monitor their populations.”