A strange streak of luck - Dee Estuary - Dee Estuary

Water vole’s odd hairdo puzzles experts...

A water vole with a distinctive difference has been caught on a hidden camera at RSPB Dee Estuary nature reserve on the Wirral.

This curious cutie has a Mohawk-style white stripe on the top of its head, leaving experts scratching their own heads for an answer.

Even more intriguing is the fact that almost four years ago a visitor took a picture of a water vole with the same strange white stripe. Experts are baffled as to whether this is the exactly the same water vole or whether it is one of its offspring.

Picture by L. Greenstreet

Tim Melling, RSPB casework and species protection officer said: “It’s fascinating to see this as such a small and distinct amount of partial albinism is very rare. There is a chance that this could be exactly the same individual, albeit a very old one, as they usually only live for about five months in the wild and generally for no more than three years.”

He adds: “On the other hand, it could also be related to the one which was seen previously, as genes for partial albinism can persist for a while until natural selection sees them off. With this particular case we may never find the correct answer.”

Water voles are very shy and seeing them is very difficult, you’re more likely to hear a ‘plop’ or see a pile of poo. The latest footage was taken using bespoke hidden stealth cameras developed by Ron Thomas ARPS and was put in place to show how conservation work is benefitting these rare mammals.

Water voles are legally protected in Britain and recent evidence shows that they have suffered a long-term decline in numbers, with disappearance from 94% of their former sites. Predation by the introduced American mink has had a severe impact on water vole populations as well as habitat degradation and pollution.

The part of the nature reserve which is home to water voles has recently undergone large scale wildlife conservation management work by the RSPB. This exciting project includes the building of new visitor facilities and will be finished and open to the public as ‘RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands’ later in the year. This work has been carried out with generous funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, The Rural Development Programme for England, WREN, SITA Trust, BIFFaward, Natural England and English Heritage.

To find out more about RSPB Dee Estuary nature reserves please visit www.rspb.org.uk/deeestuary or phone 0151 336 7681.

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