Hunter and the Hunted

[Bushwhacker]

Tawny owl, *vole, *vole, common shrew, pygmy shrew.
*Can't find my magnifying glass to check the vole teeth yet, not sure if they're field or bank voles.

 

[shaggystu]

....*Can't find my magnifying glass to check the vole teeth yet, not sure if they're field or bank voles.

How do you tell the difference between the two?

Cheers,

Stuart

 

[Bushwhacker]

The pattern of the teeth are ever so slightly different.
The lobes on the inside of the upper middle tooth of a bank vole are rounded and there are 2 of them, the field vole has 3 lobes and are more jagged.
Much kudos to my partner in crime for her knowledge on such matters - she's been doing a paleo-ecology study on small mammal remains on a 25,000 year old human inhabitation.

 

[shaggystu]

Thanks for that, I think I understand. Don't suppose you have a link to an illustration do you?

 

[Bushwhacker]

Found quite a good pic here.
The left shows a bank vole and the right arrow shows the extra lobe on a field vole, the teeth are more jagged too.

 

[shaggystu]

Thanks for that mate, really interesting

 

[Dougster]

You really know your pellets mate.

 

[Elen Sentier]

Fascinating! I must find some time to catch up a bit on this topic. Any book suggestions to help me along?

behind every creative woman there's usually a very talented cat ...