Vole message. Common or gray vole (Microtus arvalis). Water voles: how to get rid of pests

The forest vole is a small mouse-like rodent that is a relative of the hamster.

forest voles represent an important link the food chain, as they feed on a huge number of predators.

Description of the forest vole

The body length of the forest vole is 8-11 centimeters, the weight ranges from 17 to 35 grams. The length of the tail is 2.5-6 centimeters. The auricles of forest voles practically not noticeable. Their eyes are small.

The color of the back is red-orange or rusty-orange. And the belly is white or gray color. In winter, the hair becomes thicker and redder. hallmark forest voles from other species is that their molars have roots. They have 56 chromosomes.

Lifestyle of forest voles

The presence of a huge number of enemies in forest voles made these animals very secretive. During the day they hide in their burrows, under snags, between roots, under fallen leaves. And at night they come out in search of food. They live from 5 months to 1 year. They are active throughout the year.

Forest voles are difficult to spot, but there are many of these animals. Forest voles live in North America and Eurasia. In North America, they live in the Carolinas, Colorado, British Columbia, Labrador, Alaska.

They are ubiquitous in deciduous forests, in the taiga, in the fields. Even in a city park, you can hear the rustling of leaves and quiet fuss at night, these are forest voles. They also live in swampy areas of the forest-tundra. They can climb mountains to a height of up to 3 thousand meters.

Wood vole survival tools

Nature did not equip voles with sharp teeth, large claws, or muscular legs, but these animals have found a way to survive - they are extremely prolific.

Annually forest voles produce 3-4 offspring.

At one time, a vole brings about 11 babies. Already at 1.5 months, young voles are also ready for breeding.

One pair of these rodents reproduces up to 1000 times during its life, giving birth to an entire army. This is one of the most the best means survival.

The diet of forest voles

The diet of forest voles consists of plant food. Seeds, tree buds, grass, berries, nuts, mushrooms are used. And in winter they eat bark and lichens. Forest voles crush rough food with large front teeth, which wear down rather quickly. However, the front teeth grow throughout life.

Voles, like other rodents, are voracious. They do not hibernate, so they have to stock up for the winter.

Each vole collects up to 500 grams of seeds.

They crawl into barns and visit grain fields, causing significant damage to agriculture.

But without forest voles, they would die of hunger predator birds. And birds destroy harmful insects. Therefore, by giving part of the harvest to the voles, people save a large share from insect pests.

Types of forest voles

In the genus of forest voles, 13 species are distinguished, among them bank voles, red-gray, red-backed voles and Tien Shan voles.

bank vole or European forest vole does not exceed 11.5 centimeters in length, its weight is 17-35 centimeters. Her back is rusty-brown in color, and her belly is grayish. The tail is two-tone - dark above, and whitish below.

Red voles live in the mountain forests of Europe, in Siberia and Asia Minor. They settle in broad-leaved and mixed forests, giving preference to linden-oak plantations. They live alone, but winter time can get together in groups. The bank vole is a numerous species.

The red-gray vole reaches a length of approximately 13.5 millimeters, and its weight ranges from 20 to 50 grams. The upper body of this vole is red-brown, the belly is light gray, and the sides are gray-blue. These rodents live in China, Japan, Finland, Mongolia, Sweden, Norway and Russia. They settle in birch and coniferous forests.

Distributed throughout the European part of Russia, the Caucasus, Western Siberia(except tundra) and south Central Siberia. This is a medium-sized animal of a typical brownish-gray color.

Body length 9–12.5 cm, tail 3–4.5 cm, body weight from 14 to 50, but more often about 20 g. Occurs in fields, meadows, forest clearings and edges, also in settlements. In winter, it often penetrates into cellars of houses or into haystacks and stacks of straw.

The size of the imprint of the fore foot of this vole is 0.9×0.7, the hind foot print is 1.6×1.1 cm.

The way of movement is typical for all gray voles. She usually runs rather than jumps like a mouse. At the same time, it leaves 2 rows of frequent prints located in a snake. Step length 2–4, track width 2.5 cm.

However, both the length of the step and the width of the track may be somewhat different, depending on the size of the animal. If the animal jumps, then the footprints fall in pairs, like a little weasel. The length of the jumps is about 5, the width of the trail is 2–3 cm. And the paw prints of the gray vole never lie down.

Traces of a common vole: a, b - respectively, traces during a mincing run and a two-step pattern of short jumps: c - an imprint of the paws of a vole moving in long leaps; d - a hole in the snow - an outlet of a snowy mink: d - the front and rear paws of a vole from below; e - animal litter

When winter sets in and deep snow falls, the animals rarely appear on the surface. Living under the snow, they dig long winding passages. Above the settlements of voles, one can notice vents dug in the snow (about 1.5 cm in diameter) - vertical passages from the ground itself to the snow surface.

At the top, the animals are shown only during the relocation from the field to the villages or to other areas. If the weather is mild, then during the night they can move 500–1500 m. In frosty and windy weather, during forced relocation, many voles freeze or die from feathered or terrestrial predators.

Voles feed mainly on green parts of plants, cereals, legumes, and rosaceae. Occasionally they eat mollusks, insects and their larvae. In winter, they gnaw on the bark of shrubs and trees, including fruit trees. They begin to gnaw at the very ground, then rise higher, to the surface of the snow. There are traces of sharp narrow incisors on the sapwood.

In autumn, when the snow barely covers the ground, or in spring, as soon as it melts and the ground is exposed, one can see whole placers of droppings in the passages of voles. The sizes of individual grains can indicate which voles the discovered labyrinths belong to. The common vole has smaller droppings than other voles very similar to it, - (4–3.5) x (1.5–2.2) mm.

These animals live in complex shallow burrows, between which they tread noticeable paths, which turn into snowy passages in winter. In summer, nesting chambers are arranged at a depth of up to 30 cm, in winter they make nests from dry grass, which are located directly on the surface of the earth under a thick layer of snow. Many such nests can be found in the spring when the snow melts.

Under favorable conditions, a female vole can sometimes produce up to 7 broods per year, continuing to breed even in winter. There can be from 5 to 15 cubs in one litter. They are born naked and blind, but they develop very quickly and after 2 months they themselves are able to reproduce.

Small animal; body length is variable, 9-14 cm. Weight usually does not exceed 45 g. The tail is 30-40% of the body length - up to 49 mm. The color of the fur on the back can vary from light brown to darkish gray-brown, sometimes with an admixture of brown-rusty tones. The abdomen is usually lighter: dirty gray, sometimes with a yellowish-buffy coating. The tail is either single or slightly bicolor. The most lightly colored voles 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 occurs in clearings, clearings and forest edges, in light forests, in riverine thickets of shrubs, forest belts. It prefers places with well-developed grass cover. In the southern part of its range, it gravitates towards more humid biotopes: floodplain meadows, gullies, river valleys, although it also occurs 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 round-the-clock, but intermittent. Lives in family settlements, as a rule, consisting of 1-5 related females and their offspring of 3-4 generations. The sites of adult males occupy 1200-1500 m² and cover the sites of several females. In their settlements, voles dig complex system burrows and tread a network of paths, which in winter turn into snowy passages. The animals rarely leave the paths, which allow them to move faster and easier to navigate. The depth of the holes is small, only 20-30 cm. The animals protect their territory from alien individuals of their own and other types of voles (up to killing). During periods of high abundance, colonies of several colonies often form in grain fields and other feeding places.

The common vole is distinguished by territorial conservatism, but if necessary, during harvesting and plowing fields, it can move to other biotopes, including stacks, haystacks, vegetable and granaries, 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. Characterized by a seasonal change in diet. In the warm season, it prefers the green parts of cereals, Compositae and legumes; occasionally eats mollusks, insects and their larvae. In winter, it gnaws at the bark of shrubs and trees, including berries and fruits; eats seeds and underground parts of plants. Makes food stocks reaching 3 kg.

reproduction

The common vole breeds throughout the warm season - from March-April to September-November. There is usually a pause in winter, but in closed places(haystacks, stacks, outbuildings) in the presence of sufficient food can continue to multiply. In one reproductive season, the 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. The litter has an average of 5 cubs, although their number can reach 15; cubs weigh 1-3.1 g. Young voles become independent on the 20th day of life. They begin to breed at 2 months of age. 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 of the voles die, the young of the last litters hibernate and start 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.

conservation status

The common vole is a widespread and numerous species that easily adapts to economic activity human and the transformation of natural landscapes. The number, like many fertile animals, varies greatly by season and year. Characterized by outbreaks of numbers, followed by prolonged depressions. In general, fluctuations look like a 3- or 5-year cycle. In the years of the highest abundance, the density of populations can reach 2000 individuals per ha, in the years of depressions falling to 100 individuals per ha.

It is one of the most serious pests Agriculture, horticulture and horticulture, especially during the years of mass reproduction. Harms grain and other crops on the vine and in stacks, gnaws bark 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.

Sources

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See what the "common vole" is in other dictionaries:

common vole- Microtus arvalis see also 11.10.3. Genus gray voles Microtus vulgaris microtus vole arvalis (except north): in the Caucasus and south of Central Siberia, in fields, meadows, clearings, forest edges, in settlements. 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 dark above and light below). There are 6 tubercles on the feet of the hind legs, 3 of which are covered with rare ... ... Animals of Russia. Directory Agricultural dictionary-reference book

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

East European vole- Microtus rossiaemeridionalis see also 11.10.3. Genus Gray voles Microtus Eastern 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

community 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. Light sand color, sometimes yellowish, whitish belly. Ears 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, with a tail half the length of the body. Distributed in Transbaikalia ... Animals of Russia. Directory

Introduction

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

1. Appearance

Small animal; body length is variable, 9-14 cm. Weight usually does not exceed 45 g. The tail is 30-40% of the body length - up to 49 mm. The color of the fur on the back can vary from light brown to darkish gray-brown, sometimes with an admixture of brown-rusty tones. The abdomen is usually lighter: dirty gray, sometimes with a yellowish-buffy coating. The tail is either single or slightly bicolor. The most lightly colored voles from central Russia. There are 46 chromosomes in the karyotype.

2. Distribution

Distributed in biocenoses and agrocenoses of forest, forest-steppe and steppe zones 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, the Crimea and the north of Asia Minor. It is also found in the Caucasus and Transcaucasia, in Northern Kazakhstan, in the southeast Central Asia, 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. It avoids solid forests, although it is found in clearings, clearings and edges, in light forests, in riverine thickets of shrubs, and forest belts. It prefers places with well-developed grass cover. In the southern part of its range, it gravitates towards more humid biotopes: floodplain meadows, gullies, river valleys, although it also occurs 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 round-the-clock, but intermittent. Lives in family settlements, as a rule, consisting of 1-5 related females and their offspring of 3-4 generations. The sites of adult males occupy 1200-1500 m² and cover the sites of several females. In their settlements, voles dig a complex system of holes and tread a network of paths, which turn into snowy passages in winter. The animals rarely leave the paths, which allow them to move faster and easier to navigate. The depth of the holes is small, only 20-30 cm. The animals protect their territory from alien individuals of their own and other types of voles (up to killing). During periods of high abundance, colonies of several colonies often form in grain fields and other feeding places.

The common vole is distinguished by territorial conservatism, but if necessary, during harvesting and plowing fields, it can move to other biotopes, including stacks, haystacks, vegetable and granaries, 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. Characterized by a seasonal change in diet. 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 at the bark of shrubs and trees, including berries and fruits; eats seeds and underground parts of plants. Makes food stocks 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 (haystacks, stacks, outbuildings), if there is sufficient food, it can continue to breed. In one reproductive season, a female can bring 2-4 broods, a maximum in the middle lane - 7, in the south of the range - up to 10. Pregnancy lasts 16-24 days. The litter has an average of 5 cubs, although their number can reach 15; cubs weigh 1-3.1 g. Young voles become independent on the 20th day of life. They begin to breed at 2 months of age. 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 of the voles die, the young of the last litters hibernate and start 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 activities and the transformation of natural landscapes. The number, like many fertile animals, varies greatly by season and year. Characterized by outbreaks of numbers, followed by prolonged depressions. In general, fluctuations look like a 3- or 5-year cycle. In the years of the highest abundance, the density of populations can reach 2000 individuals per ha, in the years of depressions falling to 100 individuals per ha.

It is one of the most serious pests of agriculture, horticulture and horticulture, especially during the years of mass reproduction. It harms grain and other crops on the vine and in stacks, 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.

The common vole (lat. Microtus arvalis) belongs to the subfamily Vole (Microtinae) from the Hamster family (Cricetidae). It is one of the most common rodent species in the Northern Hemisphere, playing important role in the ecosystems of the temperate zone.

This small animal reproduces exponentially, forming the basis of the diet of many feathered and mammalian predators. In some regions, its reproduction is cyclical. A sharp increase in the population leads to serious losses in agricultural sector, therefore, in most of its range, it is considered a dangerous agricultural pest.

In favorable years, the number of rodents per 1 ha increases from 5-10 to 200-1000 individuals. In 2007, in the Spanish province of Castile-Leon in the valley of the Duero River, on 2 million hectares of cultivated land, their number exceeded 750 million.

Spreading

The common vole is widespread in the western and central regions of the Palearctic. The habitat ranges from Spain and France to the west of Mongolia. Its northern border runs through the north of Denmark and southeast Finland, and the south through the Iberian Peninsula, Italy, Bulgaria and northeast Turkey.

There are isolated populations in the Orkney Islands, Siberia and central regions Mongolia.

To date, 10 subspecies are known. The nominate subspecies is distributed in France and in the Dniester River basin in Ukraine and Moldova. M.a lives in Russia. obscurus, which has a darker color.

Presumably, the massive fragmentary dispersal of animals across Eurasia occurred after the end of the last ice age. They were probably brought to the Orkney Islands by humans about 5,000 years ago.

Behavior

Rodents settle in parks, gardens, on plains with grassy vegetation, preferring wet areas. In the mountains they are found in alpine and subalpine meadows. They avoid dense forests and urban areas. IN countryside willingly move from the fields to granaries and vegetable stores.

Activity can occur at any time of the day as the feeling of hunger sets in, especially in winter period. In summer, the animal is active mainly from evening to morning. Labor activity lasts 3-4 hours, followed by a rest phase.

Voles live in small colonies of several females and their offspring up to 4 generations.

Males tend to keep apart. Their home plots can cover up to 1500 square meters. m and will include land 3-6 females.

Rodents dig through a complex system underground passages and tread many paths that facilitate movement in the grass. Burrows usually lie shallow from the soil surface to a depth of no more than 30 cm. Underground shelters have up to a dozen entrances and exits.

Animals protect their possessions from fellow tribesmen. Clashes between them often end in the death of one of the duelists. During the period of a sharp increase in the population, in the presence of a sufficient food base, they become more peaceful and can form numerous colonies.

The diet consists of various herbaceous plants and their seeds. Cereals, artichokes (Cynara), chicory (Cichorium) and lettuce (Lactuca) are especially popular. In autumn, the menu is dominated by berries and fruits, and in winter, roots, dry branches and tree bark remain in the ground.

reproduction

Voles become sexually mature already in the second month of life. From spring to autumn, females are able to bring offspring three times. Pregnancy lasts about 20-21 days. In straw stacks and on elevators, animals breed all year round.

Childbirth takes place in a nesting chamber located at a depth of 40-50 cm. There are 6-8 (maximum 13) cubs in one litter. The babies born weigh about 1.4 g. They open their eyes after 11 days. Being 12-14 days old, females are already physically ready for fertilization, although they continue to feed on mother's milk for about a week. If they are fertilized, they can already acquire offspring themselves at the age of 33 days.

Under favorable conditions, females are fertilized immediately after the birth of offspring. In this case, they are able to give birth every 3 weeks.

Because of this fecundity, the population of common voles can increase exponentially, most often at a frequency of once every three years.

Having reached its peak, it rapidly falls due to lack of feed. Such sharp fluctuations are typical for agrarian regions located in flat areas and having no natural barriers to rodent migration. The main natural enemies are birds of prey and mammals. Pests are effectively destroyed (Falco tinnunculus), (Asio otus), (Buteo buteo) and (Mustela nivalis).

Description

The body length of adults is 90-120 mm, tail 25-38 mm. Weight 18-40 g, occasionally up to 51 g. The color of the fur in the central regions of the range is yellowish-gray, brownish in the west, and gray in the east. The lower part is whitish or with a yellowish tint.

The body is relatively massive, the head is wide. The ears are short, 9-12 mm long. The hind limbs are larger than the front ones. There is no sexual dimorphism in color or size.

The life span of a common vole is 8-9 months, only some individuals reach the age of one year.