European Gardening: Vole?, 0 by philomel

philomel wrote:
Here's some info from the Mammal Society's "How to Find and Identify Mammals"

Water vole and brown rats
Water voles and brown rats create burrows of similar size, within about 1 metre of river banks.
Breeding water voles have a 'lawn' of nibbled grass in front of the entrance due to their habit of grazing in close proximity to their burrow. Brown rats, however, tend to have a fan of excavated soil in front of the entrance holes and are joined by well worn 'rat runs' which may even pass under water. In the breeding season water voles also have several 'latrines' within their territory, which have a pile of dark green droppings, some of which may have been trodden into a mush. Rats generally make their burrows near a food source and may also leave droppings nearby.