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Bank voles  belong to the Cricetidae family of hamsters and related species (also called New World Mice and Rats). They are at their most active when dusk arrives but seeing them in action in daytime is not unusual.

 

In the coat of the bank vole we notice reddish brown on the back, grey on the belly. The lighter back of the ears is a characteristic feature. Body length 8 to10 centimetres, tail about half the length of the body. The weight of course depends on the age of the animal, varying from 18 up to almost 40 grams. Four toes on the forelegs, five on the hind ones, and on the ground they move by leaps.

 

Mostly a herbivore, as a skilled climber it is also active in trees. It feeds on the green parts of plants, seeds, nuts; the acorn crop failed this year, mushrooms were beset by drought. To some small extent they look for invertebrates as well as insects. They gather some winter stores.

 

In order to survive bank voles have to feed at least ten times during a 24-hour period, and eat an amount corresponding to 80% of their weight.

 

Originally bank voles were forest creatures but they inhabit clearings because among the brushwood it is easy to live and thickets, but they have also appeared in city parking lots. They construct systems of burrows between the roots of trees, move in mole tunnels, use suitable refuse heaps, sometimes the skilled climbers even utilise the nest boxes of birds, but in grasslands we will not find them – these are avoided.

 

They may be one of Europe’s most numerous mammals. To some small extent bank voles have thought to damage forests since they use the bark of young trees for food. Regrettably they contribute significantly to the spread of different strains of tick encephalitis and hanta virus.