Water vole skull

After yesterday's sunshine it was cool, grey and somewhat blowy today and I was quite happy to be at my desk, report writing. I was so engrossed I nearly forgot Alex was supposed to be going to the dentist for a filling but luckily my phone reminded me and we got there five minutes early!

Pete and I had arranged to visit Orton Pit with the warden at 4 pm, but after waiting for fifteen minutes I texted to check whether we were in the right place. He'd forgotten the meeting - perhaps he needs a phone alert too! He turned up fairly quickly and we had a good walk round deciding on ponds that'll be managed next year. While we were discussing the merits of one set of ponds, Pete found this water vole skull.

Voles have very characteristic zig-zag teeth, but this skull is about 5cm long, about twice the size of a bank or field vole. The front incisors are huge and dark brown - they could really inflict some serious damage!