What eats a bank vole?

The bank vole is plentiful during much of the year and plays an important part in the diet of various predators including the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), the stoat (Mustela erminea), the least weasel (Mustela nivalis), the European mink (Mustela lutreola), the common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), the rough-legged buzzard ( ...

1. What animals eat bank voles?
2. Are vole predators?
3. Are bank voles carnivores?
4. Are bank voles rare?
5. Are voles tame?
6. Are bank voles endangered?
7. What grasses do voles eat?
8. What do voles eat in the garden?
9. Do crows eat voles?
10. What do water voles eat?
11. How big is a bank vole?
12. Is the bank vole nocturnal?
13. Are voles bigger than mice?
14. Are voles social animals?

What animals eat bank voles?

The chestnut-brown bank vole is our smallest vole and can be found in hedgerows, woodlands, parks and gardens. It is ideal prey for owls, weasels and kestrels.

Are vole predators?

Predators. Owls, hawks, snakes, weasels and red foxes feed on voles, who hide from predators in burrows and tunnels. They can become aggressive when trapped.

Are bank voles carnivores?

The Bank voles are generally herbivorous animals. They consume fruit, soft seeds, leaves, fungi, roots, grass, buds and moss, supplementing this diet with snails, worms, insects and other invertebrates.

Are bank voles rare?

Bank voles are common and widespread across the UK. They don't hibernate so you can spot them all year round. Bank voles produce three to four litters of between three and five young per year.

Are voles tame?

Water voles are protected so you wouldn't be allowed to keep one, but native field voles aren't and no permit is needed to keep them. They are quite docile and can indeed make good pets.

Are bank voles endangered?

Status & conservation

Native to Great Britain; populations in Ireland were accidentally introduced in the 1950s. Common and widespread. Bank voles are not legally protected in the UK and have no conservation designation.

What grasses do voles eat?

Voles, similar to other rodents, have a mainly vegetarian diet. Voles mainly eat stems and blades of lawn grass—so it's usually vole tunnels that you'll see near the surface of the yard.

What do voles eat in the garden?

Voles primarily eat plants. They like to feast on roots, tubers, or bulbs, which puts crops like onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips, and beets at risk.

Do crows eat voles?

Many predators consume meadow voles. Hawks, owls, herons, crows, and blue jays along with skunks, weasels, cats, raccoons, and shrews all hunt and eat meadow voles.

What do water voles eat?

Water voles usually live beside bodies of water, where they feed on grasses and herbs growing on the banks. They dig their burrows here too. Water voles prefer sites with steep or stepped bank profiles into which they can burrow to create nest chambers above the water table.

How big is a bank vole?

Size: Head and body length 9-11cm, tail length 3-7cm. Weight: 20-40g. Distribution: Found across mainland UK and in the south of Ireland. Bank vole distribution (in green), taken from 'Britain's Mammals 2018: The Mammal Society's Guide to their Population and Conservation Status.

Is the bank vole nocturnal?

They have slightly longer faces than the field voles and larger eyes and ears, and longer tails. Habitat: Generally nocturnal but emerge sometimes in sunlight. Make shallow burrows, partly underground, which form runs in banks under ivy or exposed bush roots.

Are voles bigger than mice?

Since voles and mice are both around five to eight inches long and have gray or brown fur, it may take a closer look to tell them apart. Voles are stockier than mice with shorter tails, larger eyes, and smaller, less prominent ears.

Are voles social animals?

pinetorum) voles are highly social and monogamous, whereas meadow (M. pennsylvanicus) and montane (M. montanus) voles are asocial and promiscuous (Dewsbury, 1987; Insel and Hulihan, 1995; Jannett, 1982).