I came across a bank vole not long ago that had fallen into an old victorian well thats in my garden. The well has claimed the lives of many small creatures including frogs and small mammals over the years. I try to check it as much as I can to make sure there is nothing that has fallen in and cant get out.
This was the first mammal that I had found that had survived the fall or at least starvation. As soon as catching the vole with a small net, I placed it in a tank with some fresh and dried grass. It instantly started eating the fresh grass. It must have been starving and also dehydrated. Even though it was eating you could tell it didn’t look well. I was convinced it was going to die.
I collected a few blackberries which I thought would help as they contained plenty of moisture. They seemed to work a treat as it ate them all. It was definitely perking up.
As it made a clear recovery I set up my field studio and hung a bunch of blackberries over the surface where I placed the vole. It went strait to them and reared up and even climbed up into the bunch an started nibbling the fruit. It was a real joy to see this behaviour and even made some great images. I later released the vole back into the garden.
High resolution images can be viewed with the following link:-