CHAPTER II 



THE BANK VOLE 



IF you see a little red creature running hurriedly 

 along the bank of the garden hedge, or scurrying 

 away through the undergrowth, you may be 

 sure it was a bank vole, or red mouse. It has 

 been called the ' bank ' vole because it likes 

 woods, hedgerows, and sheltered places, and 

 does not care for the open fields like its relation 

 the little short-tailed field vole. Out in the 

 open there are so many enemies to be feared ; 

 the keen-eyed kestrel hovering high overhead 

 keeps watch by day for all the wee creatures 

 that move beneath him, and by night there 

 are the different owls, hunting silently like 

 winged cats, and which like nothing better than 

 a poor little mouse. The other name, red 

 mouse, refers to its colour, which is a very 

 pretty bright red-brown. Before going further 

 I had better explain that the words ' vole ' 

 and ' mouse ' mean the same thing, but in 

 books on animals it is usual to write of the 

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