NearbyWild's video: A Bark-Stripping Water Vole At Eventide

This is the first time I have ever managed to film a water vole bark-stripping without vegetation in the way! It was a delightful moment, as I watched the deft hands of this charismatic wild kin moving a branchlet through his hands to reach more of the choicest bark. It was one of the Beatrix Potter moments and my heart sang as I watched. It has been a long, cold, wet spring. Willow is known to contain salicylic acid (used for skin conditions by humans) which the water vole may be using to self-medicate, as there was plenty of vegetation along other parts of the river that could have been consumed. The water vole had also been stripping the bark from branchlets behind it, at some point, as you can see. His supper was interrupted by another water vole who swam towards our bark-stripping friend and gave it a fright by slapping the water as it dived!