Forest mouse. How animals prepare for winter (conversation) Does a vole sleep in winter or not

From what I know, stocks for the winter do:

• squirrels
• hamsters
• badger
• bee
• hedgehogs
• gophers
• bears hibernate and before that accumulate fat
• raccoons
• petting
• rodent
• the Siberian Shrike bird - uses the most terrible way to store its prey - it strings dead mice, insects, frogs on the thorns of bushes

• The following animals make stocks for the winter:

  • it's a mouse
  • voles
  • hamsters
  • squirrel
  • a chipmunk, but not always their stocks go completely to them, it happens that a bear is not averse to eating their stock, it can also slap a chipmunk.
  • bees

  nothing else comes to mind.

  In winter, many animals also want to eat.

  Because of the cold and snow, they cannot eat as they did in the warm season.

  Therefore, animals make reserves for the winter.

  Such animals include: squirrel, mink, weasel, mole, chipmunk, hamster, mice, bees and some other animals.

  I'll try to answer the question: Which animal makes stocks for the winter?

  1. Protein (forest nuts, cones, mushrooms);
  2. Mouse (grain);
  3. Badger (plant roots, acorns, seeds);
  4. Beaver (in winter it swims underwater and eats roots aquatic plants and branches stored since autumn);
  5. Bee;
  6. Chipmunk (pine nuts, acorns, etc.);
  7. Mole (worms);
  8. Hamster (grain, potatoes, carrots, corn and other products).

• Which of the animals is thrifty, which of them stocking up for the winter? First of all, these are rodents:

  • hamsters, mice, voles,
  • mole,
  • chipmunk,
  • also proteins,
  • shrikes? Shrikes, although this is a bird, not an animal, they dry their prey (beetles, small frogs, lizards) on the thorns of bushes,
  • weasel, ermine,
  • beavers.

• Here are some animals that cannot do without supplies for the winter: chipmunk, mole, haystack, squirrel, bees, mink, shrikes, mice, hamsters. Someone collects nuts, someone dries mushrooms, and some even hay (hay delivery).

  Squirrel (in our park, they take nuts right out of their hands in autumn and immediately bury them).

  Hedgehogs (in winter they hibernate and in all children's pictures on thorns they carry mushrooms and fruits and berries). All sorts of rodents make supplies (hamsters, gophers, badgers, chipmunks, mice, rats). Well, honeycombs are a super storehouse for the winter for bees.

  Probably it’s not quite possible to name bears, they have a reserve before going to bed not in the bins, but in their own home, the bear before hibernation eats up, accumulates fat, and in winter sleeps and sucks his paw.

• 1. Protein - from nuts and mushrooms.
  2. Mice - from grains and twigs of straw for warmth.
  3. Hedgehogs - see above.
  4. Weasels and ermines - from voles and mice.
  5. Black hori - from frogs hidden under the ice.
  6. Minks - from several kilograms of fish are also under the ice.
  7. Desman - from shellfish.
  8. Moles are from earthworms.
  9. Flying squirrel - from the terminal branches and catkins of alder and birch, which they fold into hollows.
  10. Beavers - from branch food, which is often removed into the water near the nest, less often stacked out of the water.

  and others…

All kinds of rodents, mice, hamsters, badgers, raccoons, ground squirrels, moles, beavers, chipmunks, voles, gerbils, pikas make stocks for the winter. And squirrels harvest mushrooms and nuts, bees harvest honey. Weasels, stoats stock mice, black polecats from frogs, muskrat and otter harvest fish under the ice.

It turns out that sometimes the most unexpected things can be learned about animals familiar from childhood.

Stocks for the winter are harvested by many rodents: mice, hamsters, squirrels, chipmunks (which sleep in winter, like bears), minks, moles, beavers.

Insects: bees always provide food for the family for the winter, harvesting honey in much larger quantities than they need for wintering. Therefore, a person also gets healthy honey for health.

wasps lay eggs in live caterpillars paralyzed by them. A gall flies feed future offspring with their own flesh.

The Bears accumulate fat reserves, diligently eating before hibernation. And during the winter season, they do not eat until spring.

How mice prepare for winter, you will learn from this article.

How do mice prepare for winter?

Bear voles living in wild nature, begin to prepare for the onset of cold weather from the end of summer. We all know that with the onset of winter, an unexpected guest in the form of a mouse may appear at home. She probably became too lazy to prepare for the winter, and she decided to make it easier for herself - to settle in a human dwelling. And what, and warmly, and there is something to refresh. But if the mouse lives in the field?

First of all, the mouse begins to expand its mink - it expands the "bedroom", as it will insulate it and pull out new pantries for supplies for the winter. Whole winter period they spend in a mink. They insulate their bedroom with dry grass, moss, wool and fluff. By itself, the animal also changes - the coat changes color, and becomes thicker. And the body accumulates nutrients and fats. It is worth noting that the body temperature of mice in winter can drop to the temperature of an icicle, but they do not die.

in winter wild animals is having a hard time. Everyone has their own plan for how to survive the winter, they prepare in different ways for severe frosts. Someone is stocking up on food, someone is changing clothes, and someone is preparing a warm home for themselves.

How squirrels prepare for winter

Squirrels prepare for winter throughout the year. They stock up on nuts, acorns, mushrooms, berries, cones, as they only eat plant food. They carefully dry the obtained food on branches, stumps and put it in their dwelling. Squirrels overwinter in hollows, but do not hibernate. They do not tolerate frost well, so most of the winter time they spend in their lodges. Squirrels equip the hollow in advance with tree bark, moss, found feathers, etc. In winter, squirrels change their color from red to grayish, in order to mask.

How beavers prepare for winter

Beavers prepare their homes in advance. They can place it at water level or underwater. To do this, they demolish sticks, branches, which are skillfully tied with algae, grass or held together with clay. The house built by beavers under the ice is warm and safe. They do not freeze in the water in winter, because their fur coat is waterproof. Beavers pre-prepare their food for the winter. In winter, they do not hibernate, but reduce their activity, while being supported by food.

How badgers prepare for winter

Winter for badgers is difficult period in life, they do not tolerate low temperatures. The beginning of autumn for badgers is characterized by the preparation of housing and the collection of food for the winter. In order to survive the winter, they equip their hole with grasses, branches, moss, etc. From food, they stock up on nuts, acorns, plants, seeds, etc. They are sensitive to frost. The winter is spent passively in a hole, eating stocks.

How do rabbits prepare for winter?

Hares do not equip holes and do not stock food for wintering. They endure severe frosts on their paws. As a disguise, starting in autumn, hares change color from gray color on white. This gives them the opportunity to camouflage themselves from predators against the backdrop of snow. Well, if a wolf or a fox noticed him, he quickly tries to escape. Winter behavior also includes digging temporary burrows in snow or hay. In such holes, he rests and gains strength.

How foxes prepare for winter

Preparing for winter begins with warming your coat. Their coat becomes thick, downy, bright. It perfectly protects them from severe frosts. The fox lives in burrows all year round. Often a place for digging a hole is some kind of hill. So that the fox could survey the entire forest. If she moved far from her hole and a strong snowstorm began, the fox may temporarily settle in another abandoned hole. Before returning to the hole, she carefully confuses the tracks. The fox does not make stocks for the winter, but regularly goes hunting. Most often, rodents become its prey. For lack of meat, she can eat found berries or vegetables. Nature is so complicated that in winter, the metabolism of foxes is reduced. Subcutaneous fat is wasted on warming them in very coldy. Furry paws allow foxes to move silently when hunting prey. The fox is resistant to severe frosts.

How do wolves prepare for winter?

Wolves endure winter easily. By cold weather, their coat becomes longer and fluffier. It keeps them warm in extreme cold. Often they run out onto roads, trails to facilitate their run. The wolves have salient feature- association in a flock. In a flock, they easily catch prey within a radius of 30-60 km, then eat it together. On average, a pack consists of 7-12 wolves.

How do bears prepare for winter?

With the arrival of autumn, the bear is puzzled by the search and preparation of housing for the winter. The ideal option lairs will serve as a crevice in the mountain, a hole in the ground. He carefully insulates it with branches, foliage, moss, etc. Before falling into hibernation, the bear eats subcutaneous fat at an accelerated pace. This fat is gradually wasted during the winter. In moments of thaw, the bear may wake up for several days and start looking for food.

Wild animals prepare and endure the winter in different ways. Someone lives through severe frosts in motion, someone outlasts them, hiding in their home, while others hibernate. Nature competently distributed features to all animals.

In winter, the volume of food is significantly reduced, which is why most animals begin to prepare for the cold in the fall, and some begin to prepare food from the summer. The very first to collect supplies are rodents:

• mouse,
• chipmunks,
• grandmothers.

Already in the summer, they are looking for seeds and nuts throughout the forest, laying them in minks. This gives them the opportunity to sit in their house all winter and not go outside. During cold weather, rodents sleep almost all the time, interrupting sleep only in order to refresh themselves.

Hedgehog

Hedgehogs need to store fat for the winter. It is difficult for them to do this, since worms, lizards, beetles and frogs hide underground. In clear autumn days hedgehog prepares its shelter for winter. Wears dry leaves, forest moss. For the winter, he needs to stock up on a large number of them so as not to freeze in the cold. The hedgehog spends about 6 months in hibernation. He doesn't wake up all winter. Thus, saving fat reserves, which should be enough for him until spring.

Who is not afraid of frost?

Chanterelles, hares and wolves practically do not prepare for frosts, as they spend the winter on their feet in search of food. The hares only change clothes: they change their gray coat to white so that predators do not notice them on a snowy carpet. It is very interesting to watch how the animals prepare for winter, because everyone has their own secret.

Chanterelles and wolves

Chanterelles and wolves do not change the color of their coats, but their fur becomes thicker and fluffier: it is easier to survive severe frosts. Wolves gather in packs because it is much more convenient to survive in winter. Cunning chanterelles are looking for any mink to rest and hide from the blizzard.

Beavers and squirrels

Squirrels and beavers do not hibernate, but preparation is done responsibly. Beavers live in large families, all together they build cozy houses near the reservoirs, next to which they put their food - twigs from trees. They also feed on the roots of plants that grow in water.

I wonder how a squirrel prepares for winter? Red forest dwellers do not hibernate, although they spend most of their time in their dwellings - hollows that they equip high in the trees.

This rodent changes the color of its coat from red to grayish to camouflage from predators. What does a squirrel eat in winter? For the period of cold weather, this rodent stocks up with such belongings:

• acorns,
• mushrooms,
• nuts,
• seeds.

Let's talk about the bear

Bears equip their home in advance. They are looking for caves, ditches, where they carry leaves, branches, moss, from above they make a soft mattress for themselves from spruce branches. When it snows, it camouflages the bear's hiding place and keeps it warm.

Bears do not stockpile food, but in autumn they feed on nuts and fish very actively in order to accumulate as much fat as possible for the wintering period. In fact, the predator does not sleep, but dozes, and if necessary, he can leave the den. It is in winter that the she-bear has small cubs.

This is how animals hibernate. Some sleep all winter, others try not to freeze and find food for themselves. But you can learn a lot more interesting about animals, birds and insects.

Winter is a difficult period for many representatives of the animal kingdom on our planet. The starting point for them is autumn. Animals prepare for winter precisely with the onset of this time of year. Each zoological species is prepared in its own way: some animals switch to "winter" fur, others have time to stock up on "food", and still others, having gained enough fat over the summer, are forgotten in their winter sleep. But what kind of animals meet the winter in full "combat readiness"? How do they do it? In this article, you will learn with a few examples which animals are preparing for winter and how they do it.

How do hamsters prepare for winter?

Winter time in the northern regions is perhaps the most stressful and responsible time in the life of small rodents. In order to avoid starvation and cold death, many small animals stock up on significant food supplies. For example, living in the steppes Western Siberia and Europe, prepares for winter in the following way: during the fall, the rodent gains several kilograms (!) of selected grains and root crops. He does it diligently and complaisantly: the hamster spends all day transporting crops from the fields to his "bins", dragging the grains in his cheek pouches.

How do voles meet winter?

It is interesting to meet winter and many voles. These cute mice start harvesting grass already in spring, putting it in small piles under certain shelters (for example, under stones). In summer, voles bring wild rose flowers, leaves, cones and needles there. Active activity of these creatures ends in autumn, when the first snow covers the mountain meadows. Scientists have calculated the seasonal supply of these animals: one family of voles stores from 5 to 10 kg of food!

Real sleepyheads!

How do animals prepare for winter yet? Some negligent animals fully justify their name, hibernating for the winter. Mother Nature decreed in such a way that these sloths do not even burden themselves with worries about Really, why? After all, you can just go to sleep! Who are these lazy little creatures? Yes, it's Sony! Small rodents that look like squirrels. They live mainly in European forests, for which they were nicknamed forest dormouse.

Before the onset of cold weather, forest dormice begin to noticeably gain weight. They get fat until they weigh a couple of times their normal weight and look like a small fur pouch. These creatures sleep in spherical nests, twisted by them especially for wintering. At least they are active! Zoologists are touched by the sight of a sleeping forest dormouse: the rodent curls up into a very tight ball, pressing its nose and small paws to its abdomen. At the same time, the fluffy tail in a semicircle covers almost the entire body of the animal.

Wild animals are preparing for winter. Brown bear

Close to forest dormouse the club-footed ones also left. In particular, the owner of the Russian taiga is the brown bear. Bears are those who do not arrange any pantries for themselves, preferring to hibernate for the winter. Speaking in the language of a metaphor, then clubfoot heavyweights are their own "pantries", because all summer and all autumn they try to eat large reserves of subcutaneous fat in their bodies. Moreover, fat is a wonderful "insulation" in the winter season!

Clubfoot begin to fatten when the berry ripens in the forest. While the animals are preparing for winter in one way or another, the bears diligently feed on plant rhizomes, berries, nuts, etc. A favorite delicacy brown bear is honey. For the sake of its sweet and alluring taste, the beast is ready to endure the stings of angry wild bees for hours. But the bearish “menu”, of course, is not limited to plant food only. Do not forget that this animal is a real predator, therefore, along with berries and nuts, these animals feed on young deer, hares, foxes, wolves and fish. It doesn't cost anything for a bear to pick up an adult elk!

But gaining subcutaneous fat is only half the battle. Before the onset of prolonged cold weather, the clubfoot must have time to find a secluded place for a future lair. Bears do it with enviable care. As soon as the place is found, the beast proceeds to “construction”: it digs a hole in the ground, insulating it with branches, moss, needles and other improvised materials. If in this or that forest the search for a place for a den was unsuccessful, the bear may covet someone else's shelter. Some of them even drive the current guest out of there and lie there themselves. Here it is - bearish preparation for winter!

Quiet in the forest: beavers, hedgehogs and badgers sleep

Speaking about how animals prepare for winter (pictures with some representatives of the fauna world are presented in the article), one cannot but say about badgers, beavers and, of course, hedgehogs. For example, beavers have been harvesting a lot of twigs since summer, taking them underwater to their huts. There they put the "building material" in piles.

Badgers, on the other hand, decided to follow the example of clubfoot: they also store subcutaneous fat for the winter. In addition, it is easier for them (than bears) to build a shelter for the winter, and, it should be noted, they are quite adept at their task. Zoologists say that some of these animals can prepare for winter in just one day! It is curious that sometimes a badger "invites" a raccoon neighbor to its shelter. Both animals get along well in the hole, while away the winter evenings together.

Hedgehogs are insectivorous, preferring to spend the winter time hibernating. To do this, they are looking for secluded holes for themselves, located at a distance of 1.5 m from the surface of the earth. Hedgehogs, like bears, sleep all winter. Before leaving for winter dream these insectivores feed diligently, accumulating the same subcutaneous fat, allowing them to sleep through the whole season without any problems. If a hedgehog goes into hibernation skinny, then he simply has no chance to survive the winter. Despite the name of their order (insectivores), these creatures eat not only insects, but also frogs, snails, lizards, mice, bird eggs.

What other animals are preparing for winter?

The pictures presented in this article are not chosen randomly: they depict the most prominent representatives animal kingdoms that are preparing for winter. This is done not only by large animals, but also by very tiny creatures - insects. Ants, for example, before the onset of severe cold weather, begin to rebuild large anthills. With the help of wax, bees close their notch more tightly, leaving only tiny holes-holes.

The question of how animals prepare for winter will not be fully disclosed, if not to mention our smaller feathered brothers. Many birds fly to warmer climes for the winter, returning to their "native land" only in spring (storks, cranes, rooks). They are called migratory. But not all birds do this. There are, i.e., those who stay for the winter in their native lands. These are predominantly urban birds (sparrows, pigeons, tits).

Hares, wolves and foxes

In autumn, some forest dwellers change "summer" furs for "winter" ones, that is, by shedding old light wool, they are overgrown with new and warm ones. In some animals, the color of fur coats also changes, for example, in hares. Their gray fur coat turns into white, which allows them to remain almost unnoticed against the backdrop of snow. These animals do not make any winter stocks. They also do not hibernate. In winter, hares feed mainly on the bark of young trees.

Wolves and foxes, like hares, do not go into winter sleep, but actively roam the forest in the cold season in search of food, for example, the same hares. These animals also molt, but the color of the coat does not change.

So, in this article, using some examples, we talked about how animals prepare for winter. As an example, we took the brightest and most famous representatives of the world of fauna.