Where do voles live? Gray vole: common and arable and their characteristics. Vole mouse and man

The animal is small in size; body length is variable, 9-14 cm. Weight usually does not exceed 45 g. The tail makes up 30-40% of the body length - up to 49 mm. The color of the fur on the back can vary from light brown to dark gray-brown, sometimes mixed with brownish-rusty tones. The abdomen is usually lighter: dirty gray, sometimes with a yellowish-ochre coating. The tail is either single-colored or weakly two-colored. The lightest colored voles are from central Russia. There are 46 chromosomes in the karyotype.

Spreading

Lifestyle

In its vast range, the vole gravitates mainly to field and meadow cenoses, as well as to agricultural lands, vegetable gardens, orchards, and parks. Solid forest areas avoids, although it is found in clearings, clearings and forest edges, in open forests, in riverine thickets of bushes, and forest belts. Prefers places with well-developed grass cover. In the southern part of its range, it gravitates towards wetter biotopes: floodplain meadows, ravines, river valleys, although it is also found in dry steppe areas, on fixed sands outside deserts. In the mountains it rises to subalpine and alpine meadows at an altitude of 1800-3000 m above sea level. Avoids areas subject to intense anthropogenic pressure and transformation.

In warm weather, it is active mainly at dusk and at night; in winter, activity is around the clock, but intermittent. Lives in family colonies, usually consisting of 1-5 related females and their offspring of 3-4 generations. The home ranges of adult males occupy 1200-1500 m² and cover the home ranges of several females. Voles dig in their settlements complex system burrows and trample a network of paths, which in winter turn into snowy passages. Animals rarely leave paths, which allow them to move faster and navigate more easily. The depth of the burrows is small, only 20-30 cm. The animals defend their territory from alien individuals of their own and other species of voles (even to the point of killing). During periods of high abundance, colonies of several families often form in grain fields and other feeding areas.

The common vole is distinguished by territorial conservatism, but if necessary, during harvesting and plowing fields, it can move to other biotopes, including haystacks, stacks, vegetable and granary warehouses, and sometimes to human residential buildings. In winter, it makes nests under the snow, woven from dry grass.

The vole is a typically herbivorous rodent whose diet includes a wide range of food. Seasonal changes in diet are typical. In the warm season, it prefers the green parts of cereals, asteraceae and legumes; occasionally eats mollusks, insects and their larvae. In winter, it gnaws the bark of bushes and trees, including berries and fruits; eats seeds and underground parts of plants. Makes food reserves reaching 3 kg.

Reproduction

The common vole breeds throughout the warm season - from March-April to September-November. In winter there is usually a pause, but in closed places(stacks, stacks, outbuildings) can continue to reproduce if there is sufficient food. In one reproductive season, a female can bring 2-4 broods, a maximum of middle lane- 7, in the south of the range - up to 10. Pregnancy lasts 16-24 days. A litter averages 5 cubs, although their number can reach 15; the cubs weigh 1-3.1 g. Young voles become independent on the 20th day of life. They begin to reproduce at 2 months of life. Sometimes young females become pregnant already on the 13th day of life and bring the first brood at 33 days.

The average life expectancy is only 4.5 months; By October, most voles die; the young of the last litters overwinter and begin breeding in the spring. Voles are a major food source for a variety of predators - owls, kestrels, weasels, stoats, ferrets, foxes and wild boars.

Conservation status

Common vole- a widespread and numerous species that easily adapts to economic activity people and the transformation of natural landscapes. The number, like that of many fertile animals, fluctuates greatly between seasons and years. Characteristic outbreaks of numbers followed by long-term depressions. In general, the fluctuations appear to be on a 3- or 5-year cycle. In years of greatest abundance, population density can reach 2000 individuals per hectare, while in years of depression it drops to 100 individuals per hectare.

Is one of the most serious pests Agriculture, gardening and horticulture, especially during the years of mass reproduction. Damages grains and other crops standing and in stacks, nibbles bark fruit trees and bushes. It is the main natural carrier of plague pathogens in Transcaucasia, as well as pathogens of tularemia, leptospirosis, salmonellosis, toxoplasmosis and other diseases dangerous to humans.

Sources

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See what “Common vole” is in other dictionaries:

Common vole - Microtus arvalis see also 11.10.3. Genus Gray voles Microtus Common vole Microtus arvalis (except in the north): in the Caucasus and south Central Siberia, in the fields, meadows, clearings, edges, in populated areas. In winter it is often found in... ... Animals of Russia. Directory

Brandga's vole- Lasiopodomys brandti see also 11.10.5. Genus Central Asian voles Lasbpodomys Brandga's vole Lasiopodomys brandti (in gray voles it is dark above and light below). There are 6 tubercles on the feet of the hind legs, 3 of which are covered by sparse... ... Animals of Russia. Directory Agricultural dictionary-reference book

Common vole Scientific classification Kingdom: Animals Type: Chordata ... Wikipedia

Eastern European vole- Microtus rossiaemeridionalis see also 11.10.3. Genus Gray voles Microtus East European vole Microtus rossiaemeridionalis (Table 53) There are fourteen species in Russia, many of which are reliably distinguishable only by structural details... ... Animals of Russia. Directory

Social vole- Microtus socialis see also 11.10.3. Genus Gray voles Microtus Social vole Microtus socialis (body length 8-12 cm, tail length about a quarter of the body length. The color is light sandy, sometimes yellowish, the belly is whitish. The ears are very ... ... Animals of Russia. Directory

Mongolian vole- Microtus mongolicus see also 11.10.3. Genus Gray voles Microtus Mongolian vole Microtus mongolicus (Table 53) Similar to the common vole, but darker, the tail is half the length of the body. Distributed in Transbaikalia... Animals of Russia. Directory

Common vole. The sizes are relatively small. Body length up to 130 mm, tail length up to 49 mm (its length is 30-40% of body length). Hind foot with six longitudinal tubercles. The color of the upperparts is brownish or brownish-ochre, the tail is vaguely two-colored, blackish or brownish above, whitish or yellowish below.

Skull with a low but clearly defined crest on a relatively narrow interorbital space. The auditory tympani are relatively small. The posterior upper molar (M3) usually has three well-developed teeth on the outside and four on the inside; less often, their number is 3 and 3 or 4 and 5, respectively. Anterior upper molars (M1-M2) without an additional (third) internal tooth at their posterior end. Anterior lower molar (M1) with four teeth on the outside and five on the inside. The opposing triangular loops of its chewing surface alternate and are completely separated, with the exception of those lying at the base of the anterior unpaired loop, “cast both among themselves and (in the overwhelming majority of cases) and with this latter. The outer one of these teeth cannot be reduced.

Reliable fossil remains of common voles have been known since the late Pleistocene (Crimea, eastern Transcaucasia). It is likely that the species existed earlier, but fossil remains are represented in most cases only by halves mandibles, which makes accurate species identification impossible.

Spreading. Most of Western Europe, northern and central parts of Asia Minor, northwestern Mongolia, northwestern China. In the USSR - from the western state borders to the Ob-Yenisei interfluve and Altai. North to Leningrad region, southern parts of the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, north to the latitude of the city of Kondopoga, Arkhangelsk (Veliky Ustyug) region, Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Children's region), northern part of the Sverdlovsk (Karpinsk) region, Tobolsk, upper reaches of the river. Taza and Novosibirsk. The southern border reaches the coast of Black and Azov seas and Transcaucasia. It is found in flat Dagestan, from where the border, skirting the semi-deserts of the northwestern Caspian region, descends along the valley p. Volga to its delta; found in the Volga-Ural sands and in the lower reaches: r. Ural. To the east the southern border runs along central regions Aktobe region (between Aktobe and Temir) across the lake. Chelkar-Tengiz, Karsakpai and the central part of the Karaganda region to Semipalatinsk, from where it descends to the south, covering the Zaisan and Alakol basins. Further along Tarbagatai and the ridges of the Tien Shan system, the range extends to the mountains of northern Fergana inclusive. An isolated location is known near the city of Kulyab, Tajik SSR (Sary-Khosor tract).

Biology and economic importance. The common vole reaches its highest numbers in the forest-steppe and its modern anthropogenic zonal variant - forest field. Does not avoid wet habitats, but does not tolerate extreme dryness; penetrates deeply into the taiga zone through floodplain meadows and areas developed for agriculture, and into the semi-desert through wet areas; in the desert zone it is found only in the mountains, where it is found up to altitudes of 3000 m above sea level. m. (Chatkal ridge).

In the mountain meadows of Main Caucasian ridge found only in the east (its central and western parts are inhabited by the bush vole); in Transcaucasia, on the contrary, it lives mainly in mountain meadows, giving way to steppe areas of slopes and mountain steppes to the social vole. Inhabits large numbers of forb, feather grass and grass steppes, forest glades and edges, thickets of bushes, especially in river valleys (including mountain ones), pine forests, juniper and walnut-fruit forests of the mountains Central Asia.

The vole is common in gardens, including on the outskirts of cities, and sometimes in their centers, on estate lands and vegetable gardens, and in autumn time, after harvesting - in stacks, straw sweeps, in threshing floors, and sometimes in residential buildings. Burrows are usually arranged in colonies; feeding passages are laid in and under the turf layer; each burrow has several chambers (nesting and for storage) and several exit holes. Along the edges of the colony there are often simply constructed temporary burrows, which eventually merge with it. The burrow openings and feeding areas are connected by paths. In winter, they dig tunnels under the snow and make spherical nests on the surface of the earth, from which they move underground during the snowmelt period. They come out of their holes often and in different time days, but each time for a short time.

The food is varied; the basic composition of food consumed varies depending on the nature of the landscape and the time of year. In warm weather, green parts predominate, mainly succulent ones. herbaceous plants, especially some legumes and cereals, in autumn and winter - seeds and root parts. They make small winter reserves.

Reproduction occurs during almost the entire warm season. During this period there are up to 7 litters, with an average of 5 cubs each. In stacks, reproduction can occur in winter. The number of the common vole is subject to significant fluctuations, but quickly recovers after a decline.

In a significant part of its distribution area, it finds optimal living conditions on economically developed lands and is one of the most serious pests of agricultural crops in the central zone of the European part of the USSR and in places in Northern Kazakhstan. It is most harmful to standing and stacked grain crops, garden plants, orchards, as well as shelterbelt plantations and tree and shrub crops by gnawing bark in winter time. Damages products stored in barns, cellars and other outbuildings. Natural carrier of pathogens of plague, tularemia, leptospirosis diseases, erysipelas, lymphocytic choriomeningitis, brucellosis, listerrelosis, etc.

Geographical variability and subspecies. The first is to increase in size in the direction from west to east and less distinctly from north to south; animals from the eastern parts of the range and mountain forms are darker colored than the western and lowland ones, and those from the southeastern parts are lighter and more reddish than those from the northwestern ones. According to some data, there is a complication in the structure of the posterior upper molar in the direction from west to east, and, apparently, from north to south. The most strongly isolated populations of the eastern (Transbaikalia, Mongolia) and southern (Central Asia) parts of the range are considered here, following B.S. Vinogradov, as independent species. Up to 20 subspecies have been described, of which 12 are indicated for the USSR.

Literature. Mammals of the fauna of the USSR. Part 1. Publishing house of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Moscow-Leningrad, 1963

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Appearance

The animal is small in size; body length is variable, 9-14 cm. Weight usually does not exceed 45 g. The tail makes up 30-40% of the body length - up to 49 mm. The color of the fur on the back can vary from light brown to dark gray-brown, sometimes mixed with brownish-rusty tones. The abdomen is usually lighter: dirty gray, sometimes with a yellowish-ochre coating. The tail is either single-colored or weakly two-colored. The lightest colored voles are from central Russia. There are 46 chromosomes in the karyotype.

Spreading

Distributed in biocenoses and agrocenoses of forest, forest-steppe and steppe zones of mainland Europe from Atlantic coast in the west to the Mongolian Altai in the east. In the north, the border of the range runs along the coast of the Baltic Sea, southern Finland, southern Karelia, the Middle Urals and Western Siberia; in the south - along the Balkans, the Black Sea coast, Crimea and the north of Asia Minor. It is also found in the Caucasus and Transcaucasia, in Northern Kazakhstan, in the southeast of Central Asia, and in Mongolia. Found on the Korean Islands.

Lifestyle

In its vast range, the vole gravitates mainly to field and meadow cenoses, as well as to agricultural lands, vegetable gardens, orchards, and parks. Avoids continuous forest areas, although it is found in clearings, clearings and edges, in open forests, in riverine thickets of bushes, and forest belts. Prefers places with well-developed grass cover. In the southern part of its range, it gravitates towards wetter biotopes: floodplain meadows, ravines, river valleys, although it is also found in dry steppe areas, on fixed sands outside deserts. In the mountains it rises to subalpine and alpine meadows at an altitude of 1800-3000 m above sea level. Avoids areas subject to intense anthropogenic pressure and transformation.

In warm weather, it is active mainly at dusk and at night; in winter, activity is around the clock, but intermittent. Lives in family colonies, usually consisting of 1-5 related females and their offspring of 3-4 generations. The home ranges of adult males occupy 1200-1500 m² and cover the home ranges of several females. In their settlements, voles dig a complex system of burrows and trample a network of paths, which in winter turn into snow passages. Animals rarely leave paths, which allow them to move faster and navigate more easily. The depth of the burrows is small, only 20-30 cm. The animals defend their territory from alien individuals of their own and other species of voles (even to the point of killing). During periods of high abundance, colonies of several families often form in grain fields and other feeding areas.

The common vole is distinguished by territorial conservatism, but if necessary, during harvesting and plowing fields, it can move to other biotopes, including haystacks, stacks, vegetable and granary warehouses, and sometimes to human residential buildings. In winter, it makes nests under the snow, woven from dry grass.

The vole is a typically herbivorous rodent whose diet includes a wide range of food. Seasonal changes in diet are typical. In the warm season, it prefers the green parts of cereals, asteraceae and legumes; occasionally eats mollusks, insects and their larvae. In winter, it gnaws the bark of bushes and trees, including berries and fruits; eats seeds and underground parts of plants. Makes food reserves reaching 3 kg.

Reproduction

The common vole breeds throughout the warm season - from March-April to September-November. In winter there is usually a pause, but in closed places (stacks, stacks, outbuildings), if there is enough food, it can continue to reproduce. In one reproductive season, a female can bring 2-4 broods, a maximum of 7 in the middle zone, and up to 10 in the south of the range. Pregnancy lasts 16-24 days. A litter averages 5 cubs, although their number can reach 15; the cubs weigh 1-3.1 g. Young voles become independent on the 20th day of life. They begin to reproduce at 2 months of life. Sometimes young females become pregnant already on the 13th day of life and bring the first brood at 33 days.

The average life expectancy is only 4.5 months; By October, most voles die; the young of the last litters overwinter and begin breeding in the spring. Voles are one of the main food sources for many predators -

Introduction

Common vole ( Microtus arvalis) - a species of rodents of the genus gray voles.

1. Appearance

The animal is small in size; body length is variable, 9-14 cm. Weight usually does not exceed 45 g. The tail makes up 30-40% of the body length - up to 49 mm. The color of the fur on the back can vary from light brown to dark gray-brown, sometimes mixed with brownish-rusty tones. The abdomen is usually lighter: dirty gray, sometimes with a yellowish-ochre coating. The tail is either single-colored or weakly two-colored. The lightest colored voles are from central Russia. There are 46 chromosomes in the karyotype.

2. Distribution

Distributed in biocenoses and agrocenoses of forest, forest-steppe and steppe zones of mainland Europe from the Atlantic coast in the west to the Mongolian Altai in the east. In the north, the border of the range runs along the coast Baltic Sea, southern Finland, southern Karelia, the Middle Urals and Western Siberia; in the south - along the Balkans, the Black Sea coast, Crimea and northern Asia Minor. It is also found in the Caucasus and Transcaucasia, in Northern Kazakhstan, in the southeast of Central Asia, and in Mongolia. Found in the Orkney Islands.

3. Lifestyle

In its vast range, the vole gravitates mainly to field and meadow cenoses, as well as to agricultural lands, vegetable gardens, orchards, and parks. Avoids continuous forest areas, although it is found in clearings, clearings and edges, in open forests, in riverine thickets of bushes, and forest belts. Prefers places with well-developed grass cover. In the southern part of its range, it gravitates towards wetter biotopes: floodplain meadows, ravines, river valleys, although it is also found in dry steppe areas, on fixed sands outside deserts. In the mountains it rises to subalpine and alpine meadows at an altitude of 1800-3000 m above sea level. Avoids areas subject to intense anthropogenic pressure and transformation.

In warm weather, it is active mainly at dusk and at night; in winter, activity is around the clock, but intermittent. Lives in family colonies, usually consisting of 1-5 related females and their offspring of 3-4 generations. The home ranges of adult males occupy 1200-1500 m² and cover the home ranges of several females. In their settlements, voles dig a complex system of burrows and trample a network of paths, which in winter turn into snow passages. Animals rarely leave paths, which allow them to move faster and navigate more easily. The depth of the burrows is small, only 20-30 cm. The animals defend their territory from alien individuals of their own and other species of voles (even to the point of killing). During periods of high abundance, colonies of several families often form in grain fields and other feeding areas.

The common vole is distinguished by territorial conservatism, but if necessary, during harvesting and plowing fields, it can move to other biotopes, including stacks, stacks, vegetable and granary warehouses, and sometimes to human residential buildings. In winter, it makes nests under the snow, woven from dry grass.

The vole is a typically herbivorous rodent whose diet includes a wide range of foods. Seasonal changes in diet are typical. In the warm season, it prefers the green parts of cereals, asteraceae and legumes; occasionally eats mollusks, insects and their larvae. In winter, it gnaws the bark of bushes and trees, including berries and fruits; eats seeds and underground parts of plants. Makes food reserves reaching 3 kg.

3.1. Reproduction

The common vole breeds throughout the warm season - from March-April to September-November. In winter there is usually a pause, but in closed places (stacks, stacks, outbuildings), if there is sufficient food, it can continue to reproduce. In one reproductive season, a female can bring 2-4 broods, a maximum of 7 in the middle zone, and up to 10 in the south of the range. Pregnancy lasts 16-24 days. A litter averages 5 cubs, although their number can reach 15; the cubs weigh 1-3.1 g. Young voles become independent on the 20th day of life. They begin to reproduce at 2 months of life. Sometimes young females become pregnant already on the 13th day of life and bring the first brood at 33 days.

The average life expectancy is only 4.5 months; By October, most voles die; the young of the last litters overwinter and begin breeding in the spring. Voles are one of the main food sources for a variety of predators - owls, kestrels, weasels, stoats, ferrets, foxes and wild boars.

4. Conservation status

The common vole is a widespread and numerous species that easily adapts to human economic activity and the transformation of natural landscapes. The number, like that of many fertile animals, fluctuates greatly between seasons and years. Characteristic outbreaks of numbers followed by long-term depressions. In general, the fluctuations appear to be on a 3- or 5-year cycle. In years of greatest abundance, population density can reach 2000 individuals per hectare, while in years of depression it drops to 100 individuals per hectare.

It is one of the most serious pests of agriculture, gardening and horticulture, especially during years of mass reproduction. It damages grain and other standing crops and in stacks, and gnaws the bark of fruit trees and shrubs. It is the main natural carrier of plague pathogens in Transcaucasia, as well as pathogens of tularemia, leptospirosis, salmonellosis, toxoplasmosis and other diseases dangerous to humans.

Probably everyone has heard about the common vole. This small rodent- the curse of vegetable gardens and industrial agricultural land. Possessing the ability to reproduce quickly, the common vole can cause irreparable damage to a garden plot in a very short period of time.

Description and habitat

The common vole belongs to the hamster family. This one is no different large sizes or remarkable appearance. They closely resemble mice or rats, but have a blunter muzzle and small, rounded ears.

The body length of the vole is small - only 10-12 cm, the tail is up to 5 cm. The maximum weight of the rodent does not exceed 45 g.

The fur on the back, neck and upper part of the head has a gray-brown tint, the belly, chin and lower part of the tail are yellow-grayish. It's interesting that with age hairline Voles tend to lighten, and gray hair can often be observed.

The habitat covers forest, forest-steppe and steppe zones the European part of the continent from the shores of the Atlantic to Altai mountains. Voles are found in southern Scandinavia, Western Siberia and the Middle Urals. Colonies of these rodents live in the Caucasus, the Balkans, Crimea and northern Kazakhstan. They feel great in the Mongolian steppes and inhabit Central and Asia Minor.

Despite all the control measures taken by man, common voles remain one of the most common species of rodents.

Common gray vole: features of behavior and lifestyle

They live in family communities in which several adult females and 3-4 generations of their offspring coexist. Despite such a peaceful appearance, male voles are very territorial. Thus, the possessions of one male are about 1-1.5 km in radius and affect several settlements of females.

Voles are very emotional - they can show both friendliness and open aggression. Quarrelsomeness is mainly observed in males, in in some cases mouse fights end with the death of one of the participants.

For supporting constant temperature Vole bodies adhere to a certain regime, which is cyclical. In an interval of 3 hours, these little ones manage to sleep 2-4 times, clean their coats 3 to 9 times, and begin repairing and expanding their passages 2 to 6 times. The number of feedings during the same time varies from 6 to 20.

Home of the common vole

It's hard to imagine best architect than the common vole. Describing her home is not an easy task. The labyrinths of passages are so ornate and thoughtful, as if they were created not by a small voracious rodent, but by a team of metro workers.

Each burrow has a network of narrow corridors that lead to several chambers. The purpose of these unique rooms is different: some serve as storerooms for storing grain and other food, while others serve for rest and breeding.

The underground abode of the vole has several levels: on the top (about 35 cm deep) there are chambers with food, while these mice make nests on the floor below at a depth of about half a meter.

In winter, the common vole rarely leaves its home. Constantly staying underground and in the snow, this cunning animal also took care of the ventilation of its catacombs. For this purpose, voles make narrow (up to 1.5 cm) vertical shafts, which can be seen above their colony.

Nutrition

The vole's diet can be called quite varied. These small rodents eat nuts, berries, young shoots and roots of about 80 plant species. On occasion, they will not refuse small insects and snails.

Preference is given to cereals and legumes, and in any form: both young sprouts and mature grains are used. IN winter period These well-known agricultural pests often live in the basements of private houses and in granaries, and also like to gnaw the trunks of fruit trees, feeding on their young bark.

The damage that the common vole annually inflicts on gardeners can only be compared to a locust attack. To scare away these small rodents, ultrasonic devices are used, as well as plants whose smell they cannot tolerate. These include mint, thuja, and garlic. Many also fill the discovered holes with water, but this will not rid the garden of the mouse scourge once and for all.

It’s good to make 2-3 poles on the site that will attract birds of prey, since they will be an excellent observation point for them. For example, an owl can destroy up to 1,200 small rodents in a year. What can we say about a ferret being able to catch 10-12 pieces per day?

Reproduction

To say that the common vole is very prolific is to say nothing. The speed of reproduction under favorable conditions is simply amazing.

The mating season begins with the arrival of spring (March-April) and ends in autumn (November). One female gives birth 3-4 times per year. Although some colonies that have chosen a grain barn can breed all year round.

The female's pregnancy lasts about 20 days, then an average of 5-6 mice are born, absolutely helpless and bald. However, the vole's offspring develop at incredible speed. Already at the age of 2 months, the cubs become not only completely independent, but also sexually mature.

The lifespan of a vole mouse is very short - a rare individual lives to be one year old.

There is a lot of interesting information about these rodents:

• The common vole is a good swimmer.
• If it lives in wetlands, instead of underground burrows, it builds round nests of straw or moss on the branches of bushes.
• The pantry of this type of hamster can contain up to 3 kg of various supplies.
• A female vole can become pregnant on the 13th day of her life.
• An animal can eat as much food in a day as it weighs.
• A vole's teeth grow throughout its life.

This tiny creature is not only a great digger and a hated rodent: the common vole is an important link in the food chain a number of predators, many of which are on the verge of extinction. So, in addition to harm, it also brings benefit in some way. In nature, everything is interconnected.