How many members of staff do you need to evict a vole?

As part of the courses that we run at Malham Tarn Field Centre we trap small mammals using Longworth traps. They are set overnight in woodland around the centre, and staff and students go to check them in the morning. The traps used give the creatures food and a warm safe bed for the night away from predators, so they are not harmed. Species normally caught are Wood Mice and Bank Voles.


However to our surprise we found a lonely vole in the common room today. We managed to catch the vole and release him into woodlands out of the house. The only possible way the vole could have got into the centre would be via a window. Being set in the middle of woodlands in a National Trust Estate in a National Park does mean we sometimes have some interesting visitors.