Island Life Magazine Ltd October/November 2006 | Page 53

COUNTRYSIDE & FARMING
William Court from Totland Bay pictured
with Samantha the cow from Chilton Farm.

Water voles rarely live
more than 5 months in
the wild, this can extend
to 18 months, if they
are lucky. Populations
appear to be decreasing
due to habitat destruction
and pollution of rivers
and other waterways.

half adult size they wean them
off. Females will usually have 3
to 4 litters a year, the first litter reproducing before the year is over.
Food mainly comprises of grasses
and waterside plants but they will
also eat twigs, buds, fallen fruit and
bulbs.
In contrast to the harmless water
vole, the more commonly spotted
weasel and stoat are real predators.
I’ve noticed a marked increase in
their population this year and this
has had a knock on effect with
nesting birds around home. We’ve
only had two clutches of pheasants
where in the past there have been
over ten.
Both have a vast range of habitats
that include woodland and
grassland, with stoats preferring to
be near moorland, marshes and the
waters edge.
Stoats eat rodents, such as voles
and mice as well as rabbits and
birds. They cover vast areas while
hunting and can travel as much as
8km in one hunt. Weasels eat the
same and supplement this by eating
eggs in season. They must eat every
24 hours to avoid starvation.

Mating for weasels is a
simple affair, the
young called kits
being born in a
litter of 4-6 in
April or May and
weaned four weeks
later.
Many not
living longer than
2 years in the wi