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 Vole Species - Approximately 70 vole species have been discovered which include: meadow Vole, Florida salt marsh vole, Arctic voles, southern red-back voles, bank vole, water vole, CA vole and red-backed vole.
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Bank voles are found across Britain, Europe and further east into central Asia. They live in deciduous woods, hedgerow and grassland. Bank vole numbers are strong despite being hunted by species of owl, kestrels and weasels.
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Bank Vole
This species of vole is widespread across mainland Britain, but are absent from some offshore islands. They range across Europe (except for the extreme north or south) and east into central Asia. The bank vole is the smallest of the vole species in Britain and after the wood mouse it is probably Britain's most abundant small rodent. They are widely distributed throughout Britain, and were accidentally introduced to the south west of Ireland in the 1950s.
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Bank voles live in deciduous woods & hedges
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This vole species has a small, stocky body and can be distinguished from mice by their shorter, blunt, almost hamster-like noses. The upper parts may be yellowish, reddish or brown in colour, the flanks are greyish and the rump is whitish-grey. The short tail is usually slightly bushy at the tip. Length from nose to base of tail is approximately 80mms. The tail is a further 60mms long.
Found in deciduous woods, hedges, scrub, gardens banks and verges, the field vole prefers grassland but also likes hedgerows. They live in underground chambers, accessed via a tunnel with an entrance hole about 3cms in diameter. Inside the chamber they keep a store of food. Bank voles eat hazelnuts, seeds, berries, green plants and fungi. Their population is controlled by availability of food and predation. Bank voles are hunted by most species of owl, by kestrels in open areas and by weasels in woodland and hedgerows.
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GOOGLE SUCKS
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Why? Because they blocked this site without proper reason and after about one year of negotiation still have not given a proper reason nor proper instructions of how to fix any problems
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The most relevant links we could find, placed here free
 BBC Science & Nature
- This page has pictures and information about the habits and behaviour of bank voles. www.bbc.co.uk
Mammals Trust UK
- Information on the bank vole amongst other rodents. www.mtuk.org
This species of vole usually have several short periods of activity throughout the day, however they are usually most active before dawn or after dusk. The home range of a bank vole can be up to 40 metres in diameter, but the males may travel long distances. Although it is a creature of deciduous woodland and scrub, it can also be found in open places like abandoned quarries and tumbledown walls where there is plenty of cover.
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A bank vole feeding
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These voles can reproduce after just 4-5 weeks and like most rodents have a short life expectancy, perhaps as little as a few months. Breeding starts in the spring. The female builds a nest of grass, feathers and moss under tree roots and can have up to 5 litters of young per year. The numbers are governed by the availability of food, so in some years when food is plentiful there will be more bank voles.
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Site written by Richard Wedge