Water vole at Caen Hill Flight

AT THE moment the ecologists are in raptures at discovering water vole on the Cain Hill Flight on the Kennet & Avon Canal at Devizes.

Canal & River Trust (CaRT) ecologist Laura Plenty is particularly happy at having filmed the creatures with CaRT's specially purchased heat and motion sensitive camera.

Soft bank

To further introduce the water vole to the Kennet & Avon Canal, CaRT spent eight weeks this summer constructed a 550 yards length of special soft bank near Pewsey, that allows the water vole to easily tunnel into the bank.

We are told that CaRT 'spends a lot of time and money caring for the canal for the benefit of people and wildlife', and that  'everyone benefits from this important work'. The cost of the soft bank is £138,000 a mile.

Breaches

However, water vole have been responsible for breaches on the canals, one on the Kennet & Avon itself, (Not native to canals) with CaRT itself admitting that it burrows below the water level, and so from the boaters' point of view it is hardly a cause for celebration