WATER VOLE 



War, the occupants thereof were often on more 

 intimate terms of acquaintance with it than they cared 

 to be. 



Water Vole. — It is a thousand pities that this clean 

 little British mammal (Fig. 13) is so often stupidly referred 

 to as a Water Rat. It is a Vole, an aquatic, Beaver-like 

 animal, which lives for the most part on a vegetarian diet, 



Wafer Vol 2. 



and does very little harm. As with its two succeeding 



relatives, it belongs to the separate genus MicrotuSy and 



should not on any account be confused with the species 



last under review. Our rambles by pond and stream, 



with the wind whispering through the rushes, and the 



high-pitched love-call of the Little Grebe, the cluck of a 



timorous Water Hen, and the blue flash of a Kingfisher, 



would lose much of their quiet charm if the Water Vole 



was not seen swimming across the surface, or intently 



69 



