Literature Network » Kenneth Grahame

Time to rescue poor old ratty

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From: Western Daily Press (Bristol UK)
Date: 20080220
Author:Tom Morris [email protected]

Many of us learned about water voles through Kenneth Grahame's Ratty in the much-loved children's book The Wind in the Willows.

When the author penned the famous novel in 1908 the water vole was prevalent along the river banks.

But while Mole, Toad and Mr Badger continue to thrive in the countryside, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust has warned that Ratty is the fastest declining mammal in the United Kingdom.

Before 1960 there were about eight million in the UK's rivers, but now the number is believed to have dropped to about 220,000.

The cute-looking creature has also disappeared from about 90 ...

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