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There was another small guest who wasn’t so welcome when the canals were first constructed. It challenged the talent and might of the canal engineers and navvies with its own digging prowess! The water vole – this is Ratty from ‘The Wind in the Willows’ - seen as a pest for burrowing through the waterproofed, clay-lined canal walls causing the odd leak or two. But today canals have become a sanctuary for what’s now one of our rarest mammals, and with sharp eyes you might spot Ratty.