Ratty's return

'There is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats," says Ratty in Wind in the Willows. But this much-loved creature, in reality the native water vole, has been in serious decline for many years, largely because of the introduction into the wild of the North American mink, now its principal predator. Among native species, herons, pike, pole cats and otters also like to feast on the hapless beast. However, a waterways survey published today suggests that the vole's numbers are continuing to improve, with twice as many sightings as in previous studies, the result of a successful captive breeding programme. A century after Kenneth Grahame immortalised in fiction what was then a common animal, it is fervently to be hoped this marks a revival that can be sustained.