Funny thing is, scientists have shown that the mink never has had any real long term effect on the water vole population. It's human destruction of habitat that has reduced the water voles numbers. It has been shown that areas void of mink have just as many water voles as in areas with high numbers of mink. Like almost all rodents, water voles are very prolific and have no trouble keeping up with the pressure placed on them by predators. Habitat is what determines if they can survive in an area, not the predators in it. This fact has been proven time an time again my multiple studies done by