Well friends, after my thrillingly close encounter with a field vole last week, who can blame me for wanting to devote this week's Nature Friday post to the exciting topic of rodents?
I have been doing some research.
First, let's find out which rodents I might see out in the wild in the UK. Here's a list I found on the Mammal Society's website:
Rodentia (Rodents)
- Red squirrel – Sciurus vulgaris (N)
- Grey squirrel – Sciurus carolinensis (I)
- Eurasian beaver – Castor fiber (N)
- Hazel dormouse – Muscardinus avellanarius (N)
- Edible dormouse – Glis glis (I)
- Bank vole – Myodes glareolus (N)
- Field vole – Microtus agrestis (N)
- Water vole – Arvicola amphibius (N)
- Harvest mouse – Micromys minutus (N)
- Wood mouse – Apodemus sylvaticus (N)
- Yellow-necked mouse – Apodemus flavicollis (N)
- House mouse – Mus musculus (N)
- Brown rat – Rattus norvegicus (I)
- Black rat – Rattus rattus (I)
You'll have guessed, correctly, that (N) denotes a native species and (I) introduced.
Now I think we can all agree that the native red squirrel, pictured below, is much cutest of our two 'tree rat' species.
%20Mark%20Hamblin%202020VISION.jpeg)
The North American grey squirrel, first introduced into parks and gardens in the 1870s, has come to dominate in most areas, but I am pleased to report that it has been all but eradicated from Aberdeen (how I would love to have helped), and the pretty little reds, prolific in the hinterland, are slowly returning to the city.
Let's now consider the voles. Three species here, field, bank and water. Gail's favourite book from childhood was Kenneth Grahame's 'Wind in the Willows', and she says she wouldn't forgive me if I ever harmed 'Ratty', pictured below on the river with his dear friend 'Mole'.
'Ratty' is misleadingly named, being in fact a water vole and not a rat. In the story he claims "there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats". However I do not believe that this is an accurate representation of normal water vole behaviour.
Sticking with literature for a moment, you might remember the Dormouse from 'Alice in Wonderland', present but mostly asleep at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party.
In this case, it seems the author, Lewis Carroll, got it right. Hazel dormice not only hibernate but go into a state of 'torpor' when the temperature drops, and so spend up to three-quarters of the years in some form of 'sleep' state. Also, they only come out at night, so are rarely seen.
Lastly, we turn to the beaver. These largest of our rodent species were hunted to extinction in the UK 400 years ago but have now been successfully reintroduced (albeit not without controversy) in several parts of the country. Gail and I would both, perhaps for different reasons, love to see beavers in the wild in our part of Scotland. We suspect they would be more active than the one featured in this Gary Larson cartoon...
Happy Nature Friday friends! Thanks to the LLB Gang for once again hosting our favourite blog hop.
wow that was interesting... we had no idea that even a bank vole exists... the hunting season for that is only monday with a bank holiday ?
ReplyDeleteNobby, thank you for your post. You just reminded me I grew up in NZ "in the early 70s with UK books called "The Adventures in the Little Woods"
ReplyDeleteand "More adventures in the little woods" with all sorts of strange plants and animals pictured in the books. Happy nature Friday.
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteWell, Nobby, this was most interesting! An excellent post for NF. Hugs and wags, YAM-aunty xxx
Great research, Nobby. How I envy you your red squirrels - such pretty little creatures.
ReplyDeleteWe have mostly gray squirrels here and there a billions of them everywhere. They are not nice to dogs as they love to tease us. We have beaver here but we don't see them often as they are usually by water. Enjoy your critters and happy hunting!
ReplyDeleteThat's quite the list of rodents that you can hunt for, Nobby! We have way too many grey squirrels here and they can be soooooooo annoying!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting, Nobby, and I can see why you would want to chase them. some mice and voles are so cute they look like a pet, some are ugly. we have only grey squirrels here, i have never seen a red one, but they are in some of the usa. we have moles, voles, rats, mice here too. goog job on reporting. i had no idea you have a laptop
ReplyDeleteOMR(ODENT)S
ReplyDeleteNobby there are certainly a lot of dormouse in the UK. In fact I am quite astounded at the variety of RODENTS you have. Here in at the homestead we have way tooooooooooooo many Gray squirrels and chipmunks. And let me add all of them and their cussin's are cheeky and know NO boundaries. The red squirrel is adorable. In the NC mountain city of Brevard they have white squirrels.
I do so love the Wind in the Willows characters. This is actually the first time I've heard of that book. I will be asking Gigi Google for more information.
Now that you are a seasoned rodent wrangler, I look forward to reading more about your adventures. Thank Gail for all the wonderful research
Hugs Cecilia
That was quite an informative post about the rodents around you, Nobby. Our mom had to evict a mouse from our mailbox a few days ago. It seemed she thought it would be a good place to build a nest. We don't think our mailman would have liked to open the box and see the mess she created in there. So far, the eviction has stuck, but we are keeping a close eye on the situation.
ReplyDeleteWOW! So many rodents and so little time!
ReplyDeleteWe think maybe you should start a spread sheet Nobby. You could note "catchability", "taste" and other important statistics!
xoxo,
Rosy & Sunny
That's quite a list Nobby! We have lots of grey squirrels here and they hang about on the telephone wires! We probably have mouses too but I've never seen one. Carol says we have tree rats and she has occasionally found a dead one in the garden - eugh! She rescued a hedgehog from drowning not long ago, but I don't think they are a species to be included in your list? I quite like the hedgehog, but I can't get to the food she puts out for it each night - it's yummy dog food!
ReplyDeleteLove,
Paca xx
That's a lot of information, Nobby. Good job researching! We enjoyed learning about some rodents in literature too! We've found a guy on youtube who knows everything about catching all kinds of rodents. Here's a link if you're interested: https://www.youtube.com/@ShawnWoodsMousetrapMonday
ReplyDeleteWow, that is very well researched and presented. I never knew there were some many critters. I don't know if we will ever defeat them.
ReplyDeleteThat was so informative! We only have grey squirrels here, would love to see a red one one day! And of course, living in the city, we have some HUGE rats, Yikes!
ReplyDeleteWe here catch a lot of moles and voles...and an occasional deermouse. Strangely even the mice we see in our house...yup, we do, its an old rickety frame house from 1907, and mice are smart in finding even the teeniest hole to find a warm place when the seasons change to the cold ones...are nott house mice, bt deer mice.
ReplyDeleteAnd we have both kinds of squirrels here, the red ones are the naughtiest ones, BOL!
We hope ypu'll hone your hunting skills and add to your trophy listings!
Nobby, as one who also loves "The Wind and the Willows", thank you for setting me straight that "Ratty" is actually a water vole. It seems so much more socially acceptable, doesn't it, if one must be a rodent. I don't see chipmunks on your list. They certainly are evident here in coastal Northern California and are quite charming. Not so charming is their campaign to eat every cherry tomato and berry we have.
ReplyDelete