大象传媒

Round the back of a suburban supermarket that used to be a mining site, there is now a lake - and Bill Oddie goes looking for Ratty, or more accurately, water voles. He finds signs of their presence: burrows in the bank, just above the water level, and droppings, which the voles use to mark their territory. Bits of nibbled grass near the hole give the game away. In a stream filled with bits of cardboard and discarded shopping trolleys, Bill sees first a rat, and then a ripple in the water give away a water vole, which is much plumper than the rat. A second water vole turns up - a youngster that's very bold. It eats some cardboard, then nibbles some grass. Hundreds of people probably walk past here every day and don't realise that one of the UK's mos sought after little critters is just below them.