The scientific name of this animal is 𝘈𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘴.

Ratty, from Wind in the Willows, was really a water vole. Water voles have rounder noses than rats, deep brown fur, chubby faces and short fuzzy ears; unlike rats, their tails, paws and ears are covered with hair.

Water voles like to live in burrows, which they dig in the banks of rivers, ditches, ponds, and streams. They are the largest vole species found in Great Britain and can weigh up to 350 grams.

They eat grasses, flowering plants and other vegetation found near water. On the European continent, where their population can reach more than 500 per hectare, they have caused extensive damage to crops and severe economic losses to farmers.