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The water vole Arvicola amphibius was formerly a common sight along waterways throughout mainland Britain, and was immortalised as 'Ratty' in Kenneth Grahame's 'The Wind in the Willows'. However, changes in both land use and riparian habitat management, combined with the impact of invasive American mink Neovison vison have resulted in catastrophic declines in both site occupancy and population size, leading to the water vole now being one of Britain’s most endangered wild mammals.
Having both conducted research and provided consultancy advice on water voles for over ten years, Merryl is uniquely placed to provide advice on projects where water voles are a consideration, and to undertake licence applications and necessary works where applicable.
There are two possible Natural England licence routes available. The first is for works to be conducted under a Class licence (held by Merryl) which aims to displace water voles from up to 50m of bank, and the second is to follow the site-specific Conservation licence route. In either case, Spires Ecology Ltd can undertake the necessary survey work, apply for the licence on your behalf where required, and act as Clerk of Works to fulfil the work remit.
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Case study - Capture and translocation for development.
Case study - Capture and translocation for development.
With a strong background in capture of water voles, we have partnered up with a larger consultancy to provide specialist expertise in the survey of a large site destined for development. A large water vole presence was recorded, thus we planned a complex mitigation programme which included both displacement (encouraging water voles to move from particular areas) as well as capture and exclusion from areas directly affected by works. Animals were taken into captivity over winter, and re-released in late spring once the pertinent works had been completed. All works were conducted under a Natural England water vole Conservation Licence.
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