25.10.2019
Rodent dormouse: general characteristics of animals and types of these mice. Rodent dormouse, little wood lover
Dormouse (Glis glis) is a common inhabitant of European broad-leaved forests, but little known due to its natural secrecy and nocturnal lifestyle. Today, dormouse can also be found at home, although quite rarely, because the animals spend 7-8 months a year in deep hibernation, and during the active period of their lives they are awake only at night and are not too inclined to communicate with humans.
The dormouse family, or dormouse, is one of the most ancient groups of modern rodents, currently numbering 28 species and living in Europe, Asia and Africa. Four species of dormouse live in Russia: hazel dormouse, garden dormouse, forest dormouse and dormouse. Today we will talk specifically about the dormouse - the largest representative of the family.
Habitat of the Dormouse
The dormouse is found throughout most of Europe and Asia Minor. In Russia, this species inhabits the middle zone and more southern regions. It is most numerous in the Caucasus, Transcaucasia and the Carpathians. Lives in dense forests with a predominance of oak, beech, hornbeam, with an admixture of wild fruit trees and with a rich undergrowth of hazel, hawthorn, and dogwood. Often found in gardens and vineyards. Avoids forests with high humidity, young plantings and bush thickets, except nut trees. Prefers large forest areas, very rarely found in island forests.
Description of Sonya Polchka, photo
The dormouse is the largest representative of the dormouse; it looks like a squirrel, but without ear tufts. The body length is up to 18 cm, the tail is 10-15 cm, the animal weighs about 170 g. The head is rounded, the muzzle is sharp, the eyes are large and bulging, the ears are short and round. Their paws have sharp claws that help them climb trees better.
The fur of the dormouse consists of a shiny awn, the height of which ranges from 19 to 23 mm, and thick, rather high underfur. In different specimens, the color of the fur undergoes strong changes, which are also observed depending on the geographical habitat, the time of year and the degree of hairiness of the animal. The photo of the dormouse shows not long, but rather lush fur.
Typically the overall tone of the entire upper body is ash gray with a darker ridge. On the sides it is somewhat lighter, with a slight brownish tint. The underfur of the upper side of the body is colored in dark brownish-gray tones. The guard hairs of the back, excluding the completely dark hair along the ridge, are slate-gray, but many of them have brown tips. An abundance or insignificant amount of the latter changes the color from more uniformly gray to gray with a strong brown coating. The gray coloration of the entire upper half of the body and head with narrow stripes also extends down the outer side of the front and hind limbs. In contrast to the color of the back, the animal's belly, chest, throat, cheeks and the inside of the limbs are light gray, almost white. Through the general light and sometimes white tone of the lower ventral side, the slate-gray color of the basal parts of the hair is slightly visible. The long tail, densely covered with fluffy hair, on the upper side in its basal half usually matches the color of the back, while the rest of it is distinguished by either an intensely dark or, on the contrary, light brown tone. The lower part of the tail is much lighter with an even lighter stripe along the parting.
Lifestyle of Dormouse
A characteristic feature of the regiment's biology is the short active period - only 4 months a year (in some cases a little more), the regiment spends the remaining 8 months in deep hibernation. The animal goes into hibernation in October-November, and awakens in May-June, sometimes even in July.
Dormouse is more adapted than other dormouse to woody image life, rarely descends to earth. They usually make nests in hollows or use old nests of squirrels; sometimes squirrels settle in old rotten stumps, under fallen trunks or in voids among stones.
Shelves prefer to lead a solitary lifestyle, but often spend the winter in groups, gathering in one hollow - it’s warmer.
Dormouse Polchok is a nocturnal animal. Unlike the “twilight” species, the activity of the regiment intensifies with the onset of complete darkness and continues until the first signs of dawn. As a rule, there is no interruption of activity during the night. Nocturnal lifestyle, i.e. the activity being confined only to the time of complete darkness makes the flight dependent on the length of the night, the value of which fluctuates quite sharply in the summer-autumn period. If in the second half of June the regiment can be active for an average of six and a half hours, then subsequently its activity gradually increases and already in mid-August it is 9 hours, and by the time it goes into hibernation, the time of possible activity increases to 13 hours. Can the dormouse be active in daylight? This question can be answered positively. Young animals are especially common during the day at the beginning of their independent life. A small wolf kept at home often comes out of its hiding place during the day and feeds.
The nocturnal lifestyle of the wolf, the short duration of its active periods and its habitation in the upper tiers of the forest determine that the wolf occupies far from the first place in the diet of almost all predatory animals and birds. Nevertheless, the dormouse has plenty of enemies: martens, weasels, ferrets, lynxes, and cats near human habitation. Among the birds, owls and owls hunt the animal.
Reproduction
Soon after emerging from hibernation, the dormouse begins its breeding season. At this time, areas of the forest inhabited by a regiment are filled with noise and squeaks of running and fighting males. The lively state of the regiments is observed throughout July.
The duration of the gestation period in the dormouse can be considered equal to 20-25 days, which makes it significantly different from the other two forest rodents - (30-35 days) and squirrel (35-40 days). There are usually 3-5 babies in a litter. The average weight of newborns is 2.5 g, body length is 30 mm. Cubs grow and develop very quickly; on the seventh day of life, they increase in weight by more than 4 times and are already beginning to grow hair. Teeth erupt early: in a baby that is a week old, the lower incisors are already showing, on the 20th day the upper incisors are showing, the ears open and the eyes begin to open. At the same time, rapid growth of fur and growth of hair on the tail occurs. For approximately 25-30 days, babies feed on mother's milk, and then switch to independent feeding and differ from adults only in their small size and character hairline, as well as the condition of the dental system.
What does the dormouse eat?
The basis of the regiment's diet is plant food - vegetative parts of plants, seeds and fruits (beech nuts, acorns, hazelnuts, apples, pears, cherries, grapes, etc.).
The animal begins to eat beech fruits while they are still unripe, during the period of kernel formation, and uses this food until they fall. Eating only the seed, the fly very characteristically gnaws the plus from its cone-shaped side. Acorns are also included in the animal’s diet, but to a lesser extent than beech nuts.
Dormouse eat apples and pears with appetite, and just like beech fruits, they can eat them completely unripe. In the second half of June in southern regions The main food for the regiment is already ripe cherries. Eating only the pulp of the berries, the grasshopper destroys them extremely quickly. Hazel nuts are eaten in bulk from the beginning of full ripening until they fall off. Dormouse eats walnuts and walnuts very readily. The animal also does not ignore the green parts of plants on which the shelf collects fruits. From animal food, the shelf sometimes eats slugs, caterpillars, beetles and centipedes.Under natural conditions, dormice rarely live more than three years; at home, their lifespan is somewhat longer.
In contact with
Just look at these cute little orange-brown ones. Although they belong to the rodent family, they are easily distinguished from their cousins by their bushy tail.
Dormouses are nocturnal animals. They hold the palm in terms of sleep duration, carefreely sleeping during the day in a hollow, or a cozy and well-hidden nest. As soon as dusk falls, these funny animals wake up for 2-3 hours to move around and eat. If she smells something nearby, she will go back to sleep. Bad weather It is unlikely that the little “sloth” will be able to get out of his hiding place. It’s better to stay warm and dry, even if not completely full.
In autumn, the animals hibernate as a friendly family in underground burrows or hollows. The animals lie on their backs, covering their bellies with their fluffy tails, like a blanket. Dormouses sleep for a long time - up to 8 months. During hibernation, the animal's heart rate slows down and the animal's body temperature drops, which helps conserve energy.
They wake up hungry in the spring and go for food to gain weight and replenish lost energy. Animals are good at climbing trees. They happily eat swollen buds on trees and young green shoots. Dormice feed on a variety of foods: nuts and berries, insects and aphids, and destroy the nests of small birds, feasting on delicious eggs.
The habitat of the animals is Europe (except the North) and Africa. They prefer deciduous and mixed forests. They spend most of their life above the ground, on tree branches.
In appearance, they are similar to squirrels, only smaller in size. The body length is 7 – 18 cm, and one animal weighs about 50 grams. The tail is quite long, 6–7 cm. The muzzle has small rounded ears, a long mustache, and large, round, black eyes. The paws have long toes with sharp claws. The nose is pink-brown. The dormouse's belly and neck are lighter than the main color.
These are territorial animals. The animal's well-developed hearing will let its owner know about encroachments on the property. They are solitary animals, and a pair is created for procreation. Offspring are born 1–3 times a year, depending on the species. After winter sleep, having found each other, the female prepares to become a mother. She looks for a secluded place, then builds a nest, lovingly covering it with down and soft grass.
The pregnancy will last about a month, and the little cubs will be born. Usually there are from 3 to 10 babies in a litter, they are born naked, blind and completely helpless. They will feed on mother's milk for about a month; the eyes open only after 2.5 weeks. Mom's care and affection will not last long, after 35 - 40 days, the children should leave native home, and after some time find a suitable territory for yourself. It should be noted the efforts of the father of the family, he also takes care of the offspring.
In the wild, dormice live for about three years.
Origin of the Dormouse, known species and their features, advice on keeping and feeding a rodent at home, the right purchase of a dormouse and the price.
It is a pleasure to keep such a pet; it is easily tamed and even goes into your arms. Having brought such a pet into your home, you can be sure that it will never make you bored or sad. With her activity and perky disposition, Sonya is sometimes simply infectious, and looking at this little “engine” you want to live and work.
But before you run to a pet store in a neighboring area in search of such a furry friend, it’s better to get to know him better, because after all, he comes from the wild and is not very used to home conditions.
The origin of the dormouse and its native habitats
Sonya is a cute little thing Living being, which is a representative of the large animal kingdom. In the process of studying these tailed animals, scientists classified them into the class mammals, the order rodents and the family dormouse.
The natural distribution area is quite wide and depends on the specific type of dormouse, but if you have such a desire to visit this rodent, then you won’t have to travel far; these animals are found almost throughout Europe and Asia.
Description of dormouse varieties and their characteristic features
According to some scientific sources, there are approximately 25–30 species of the most diverse representatives of the dormouse family in the world, including several varieties that, unfortunately, did not survive into our modern era. We present to your attention several species that live near us and that are best suited as pets.
Forest Dormouse
This native of the genus of forest dormouse of the same name lives in Europe and, as far as is known, settles near oak plantations. But in Transcaucasia and Asia, this animal is associated with a wide variety of trees and shrubs. It is possible to see the miniature rodent throughout the territory Balkan Peninsula, in Greece, on the lands of the Apennine Peninsula, where this animal lives mainly in the Calabrian mountains. As for the Eastern part of the European continent, such a small animal is found almost everywhere there; it bypassed only the northern part of Poland and the Ukrainian lands, near the Black Sea. Large populations of dormouse inhabit the lands of Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Turkmenistan and many other countries of Asia Minor.
On the territory of Russia, this forest rodent lives in the Tver region and in the western part of the Kirov region. In the lands of the Caucasus, these animals are distributed almost everywhere.
For their comfortable living, small mammals prefer deciduous forests with fairly dense undergrowth; occasionally they can settle in mixed forests, dense gardens and in areas rich in bushes. As your personal living space forest dormouse they choose hollows made in advance by other forest inhabitants, abandoned bird nests, and if she has time and inspiration, then sometimes she can construct a nest for herself, with her little paws.
These tiny animals almost never have problems with food; they can be content with both plant-based food and live food. The forest dormouse likes to eat fruits and seeds of plants, for example, acorns, various nuts, apple seeds and even juicy fruits, if they are lucky enough to get them. As for products of animal origin, they happily and with great pleasure eat various insects; in difficult times they can afford to eat bird eggs and even small chicks without remorse.
If speak about appearance this animal, then it is a rather small-sized animal. The length of its miniature body reaches approximately 10–12 cm, the tail process grows to 9–10 cm, and body weight varies from 30 to 45 grams.
The forest dormouse, of course, is not a chameleon at all, but its color tends to change, depending on the territories in which the animal lives. Most often, the coat of these mammals is presented in grayish tones. But in some areas, dormouse can be painted in slightly brownish colors; there are locations where animals of yellowish-gray shades live, and on their bodies you can easily notice the boundary between the color of the upper part of the body and the lower. If this forest animal settles in mountainous areas, then usually their fur is decorated with a white-gray color scheme.
The tail process is usually very fluffy, its color is most often represented by dark shades of gray. The dormouse's tail has a very good blood supply, for this reason, if the animal gets into some kind of unpleasant situation, the hair on the tail rises strongly, and blood flows into the tail vascular network, then you can see how gradually this part of the dormouse's body changes and becomes reddish.
On the cute face of the animal there is a dark stripe, which is located from the nose to the auditory organs. These animals have very well developed whiskers and, moreover, they are quite long, their length is approximately equal to the total body length.
Sonya the Regiment
This representative of the world fauna differs from all its relatives in its dimensions - it is the largest dormouse. The body of an adult animal grows in length from 15 to 20 cm, their body weight ranges from 150 to 200 grams. The length of the tail is approximately 10–13 cm. If you do not look very closely at this fluffy, you can suspect him of the nearest family ties with squirrels and indeed they are somewhat similar to each other. Only the ears of the small regiments are devoid of peculiar tassels.
The body of this mammal is wrapped in a fairly thick, lush layer of fur, but the fur is relatively short. Compared to its forest relative, the coloring of this animal is always the same and is not influenced by either geographical or climatic conditions. Usually the dormouse is painted in grayish-brown shades with a slight smoky tint. The abdominal area is usually lighter than the back area and is traditionally colored in white-yellowish tones. On the cute face of this living creature, its “natural accessories” immediately catch the eye in the form of dark rings around the eyes, which somewhat resemble Sunglasses, but in some representatives of their genus they are hardly noticeable.
This medium-sized rodent was first described in Great Britain, although its natural distribution area is quite extensive and extends far beyond Asia. These fluffy-tailed eccentrics can be seen while traveling in France, Italy, Spain and even in coastal Mediterranean areas.
Due to the fact that by nature these beautiful animals are strict vegetarians, they choose for their residence wooded areas where a large number of fruit trees grow, they cannot eat acorns and nuts all their lives, they do not mind eating some juicy fruit. Shelves can settle near agricultural properties, such as vineyards or orchards. The animal does not eat that much, so it will not cause significant damage to the harvest, and it will remain full and satisfied. He really loves apples, pears, dogwoods, plums, cherries and even raspberries and blackberries. Before eating, the animal must first make sure that its food is ripe; it will never eat if its dinner is not ripe enough.
The period of activity for these fluffies falls at night; with the onset of twilight, these nimble little animals come out of their small cozy houses and begin searching for a variety of goodies. They spend most of their time in trees; they rarely walk on land. But they are not active for long, since already from mid-September they begin to go into winter sleep. A very interesting fact is that the first to winter holidays mature mature males leave, and then according to seniority.
For wintering, pods usually dig deep holes, which reach approximately 180–200 cm in length. But if they have no desire to engage in construction, and there are human settlements nearby, then these cunning creatures can winter in the hay lofts and even under the attics of houses. They never make reserves for the winter, for this reason, during cold weather, a large number of animals die, which did not have time to properly fatten up over the summer, because if their sleep is disturbed, they immediately wake up, and they have nothing to eat in the winter.
garden dormouse
This is a medium-sized rodent, its muzzle is slightly pointed, and its large ears are round in shape and noticeably narrow near the base. The tail process is also remarkable - it is covered throughout its entire length with fairly thick fur, and ends with a wide fluffy tassel. The dorsal part of the garden dormouse's body is colored gray-brown, but the neck, abdomen, rib cage, limbs and ears are usually white. Several stripes are drawn from the visual organs to the ears, which are painted in dark shades.
On the territory of Russia, this mammal is widespread not only in dense wooded areas, but also in various forest edges, in orchards and even city recreation parks.
By nature, it is an omnivore; it can satisfy a bout of hunger with a variety of seeds, nuts, and fruits, but its favorite dishes are animal products, for example, dung beetles, beetles, click beetles, and other insects. With pleasure, this furry sly creature also absorbs small defenseless chicks.
If they are very lucky in life and people live near their place of residence, then garden dormice can sneak into their premises. Of course, they don’t climb onto the bed and don’t turn on the TV, but they can afford to treat themselves lightly to various foods. Bread, milk, sour cream are some of the most favorite delicacies of little thieves.
These cunning representatives of the dormouse family are not at all afraid of dying during the fierce winter cold, since they are the most gluttonous among all their relatives, so their fat reserves are quite enough for the entire winter period, some individuals even practically do not lose weight during hibernation.
Spectacled, South African Dormouse
This species is distributed far beyond the borders of our homeland; they mainly inhabit rocky locations located in the western part of the hot African continent.
The African dormouse is a small animal, the length of its miniature body does not exceed 15 cm, weight approximately 25–45 grams. The fur of this eccentric from Africa is very pleasant in texture, soft, and colored in smoky-grayish shades. The projection of the tummy of this mammal is painted white, occasionally with a slight ashy tint. In some individuals, against this background, it is possible to notice a certain pattern formed by small specks of a brownish-reddish color. The same patterns can be on the animal’s face.
Unlike their domestic relatives, this African rodent does not tolerate loneliness at all; for this reason, in the wild, they usually live in fairly large social groups.
When bringing a pet like a dormouse into your home, first of all you need to take care of his personal roof over his head. A nickel-plated cage is perfect as a house for such a comrade; it is desirable that it be quite spacious. As for the living space, these cute animals do not make any special demands; they feel great even in modest conditions, but the larger their personal apartment, the more active your pupil will be. And since movement is life, physical activity will not only lift your furry friend’s mood, but also improve his health.
At first, you may experience some inconvenience associated with the nocturnal activity of this rodent. To avoid lack of sleep, it is best to move the cage with the dormouse at night to the place furthest from the bedroom. If you pay enough attention to your friend, he will easily change his usual schedule for you. And if you also pamper him with goodies throughout the day, you can be sure that your rest will not be disturbed by a well-fed and happy pet.
Usually, dormice quickly get used to people and, some time after they start living together, they happily make contact with their owners, especially if they have prepared something tasty for them.
In the animal’s house it is necessary to place a feeding trough, a container with drinking water, and also make a place for rest, preferably in the form of a shelter. This little tenant also sometimes wants privacy.
Cleaning his home must be done regularly, not only to avoid unpleasant odors, but also to prevent various diseases of your friend.
If you stay at work for a long time, think about your furry friend, he will be bored, if you cannot allow this, then make sure that your pet has something to do in his free time. For entertainment, you can install a running wheel in the cage; believe me, your sleepyhead will race like mad in it. In addition, it is advisable to build a place intended for climbing from various branches and trunks. It is recommended to put some straw or dry leaves on the animal, in case it has a desire to build itself a place to sleep with its own paws.
Dormouse family
(Myoxidae)**
* * Dormice are one of the most ancient groups of modern rodents. A large number of subfamilies and genera with low species richness indicates the relict nature of the group. Arboreal forms are more like squirrels, terrestrial forms are more like mice, arboreal forms have developed plantar calluses for better climbing, and the outer toes can be opposed to the rest. In nature, dormouse live 2-6 years. The skins of large dormouse are considered secondary fur.
In their appearance and lifestyle, dormouse are close to squirrels, but differ significantly from them in some features in their body structure. They have a narrow head with a more or less pointed muzzle, rather large eyes and large bare ears, an elongated body, small limbs and thin legs, on the front paws of which there are four toes, and instead of a big one there is a wart with a flattened nail, and on the hind paws - five fingers. The tail is medium in size, thick and feathery; the fur is also thick and soft. The front teeth are flatly rounded, the lower ones are laterally compressed, the four molars of each jaw have sharply prominent roots and several fairly evenly ground transverse grooves that cut deeply into the enamel surface. The skull looks more like a mouse than a squirrel.
Until now, no more than a dozen individual species of this family are known, all of them belong to the inhabitants of the Old World. They choose hilly and mountainous areas, forests and shrubs, groves and gardens as their habitat. Dormouses live in trees and in hollows, less often - in earthen burrows dug by themselves, as well as between the roots of trees or in crevices of rocks and stone walls, and they try to hide as deep as possible and as far from sight as possible. Most sleep during the day and only early in the morning and in the evening twilight they go out for prey. Therefore, it is quite difficult to get this animal and you can only see it by chance. But after sleeping, they become extremely mobile: they run well and climb even better, although they cannot make such large jumps as squirrels.
In temperate countries, with the onset of the cold season, dormice fall into torpor and spend the winter in a sleepy state in their nests. Many of them collect food supplies for this time and eat them during breaks from sleep; others do not need this, since they fatten up over the summer and autumn and can survive on accumulated fat. Their food consists of fruits and various seeds; many also eat insects, eggs and young chicks. When eating, they sit squirrel-style on the back of their body and use their front paws to bring food to their mouth.
Some dormouse live in societies, or at least in pairs; others in highest degree quarrelsome. In the summer, the female lays 4-5 cubs in a beautiful nest, which she raises with great love. When caught young, all dormouse become quite tame, only they do not like to be touched, and old animals cannot stand it at all. Dormouses do not bring significant benefit, but rather even harm, since they are engaged in predation in our gardens; but their cuteness makes us forget various offenses and wins our favor, which the majority do not deserve.
The dormouse family is divided into four genera, three of which have their representatives in Europe, while the fourth genus belongs to Africa*.
* Six species of African dormouse of the genus Graphiurus inhabit sub-Saharan Africa, the rest of the dormouse live in extratropical Eurasia: 7 species live in Europe and the Mediterranean, in arid regions internal parts Asia - 4 species, in the mountains of China - 1 and in Japan - 1. In the mountains, dormouse rise to 4500 m above sea level. In Russia - 4 species from 4 genera.
Belongs to the first genus dormouse(Myoxus glis)**.
* * Polchok is the largest representative of the family. Body length up to 19 cm, tail up to 16.5 cm, weight about 170 g. Soft, rather thick fur on the back is one-color ash-gray, sometimes with a lighter, with a darker blackish-brown tint; it is lighter on the sides of the body. On the stomach and inside legs, milky white coat with a silvery sheen. There is a dark brown ring around the eyes. The thick and feathery tail is brownish-gray with a white longitudinal stripe at the bottom.
This animal is well known by name, but not many have been able to take a close look at it. Anyone who has studied ancient history knows this dormouse as a favorite of the Romans, who even had special institutions for raising these animals. Oak and beech groves were surrounded by smooth walls that dormouse could not climb, and various holes were built there for nesting and sleeping. The regiments were fed with acorns and chestnuts, and later for final fattening they were placed in clay vessels or tubs called gliraria. The excavations of Herculaneum introduced us firsthand to these gliraria: they were small, semicircular bowls with partitions in the form of protrusions on the inner walls and closed on top with a lattice. Several regiments were planted in them, and they were given food in excess. After being properly fattened, the animals were killed in order to be served as a particularly tasty dish to the table of wealthy gastronomes. Martial even sang the praises of these little animals, into whose mouths he put the following words: “Winter, we wake you up and boast of our stature just in those months when nothing but sleep feeds us!” The shelf is 16 cm long and has a tail of 13 cm.
The regiment's real homeland is southern and Eastern Europe. Its distribution area covers Spain, Greece, Italy, southern and middle Germany; in Austria, Styria, Carinthia, Moravia, Silesia, Bohemia and Bavaria this animal is very numerous, and in Croatia, Hungary and southern Russia it is distributed absolutely everywhere. In northern Europe, even in northern Germany, England and Denmark, it no longer exists. He lives mainly in mountainous areas; dry oak and beech forests are his favorite habitat. All day long he lies hidden in hollow trees or in rock crevices, in holes dug in the ground between tree roots, in abandoned hamster holes, or, finally, is placed in the nests of magpies and crows; in the evening it leaves its shelter and prowls all night, looking for food; from time to time he runs into a hole to digest the food he has eaten and rest a little, after which he sets off again for prey and only in the morning, rarely after sunrise, having usually united with a female or some comrade, returns to his shelter to lie down in silent for the whole day. During night marches, the regiment displays greater mobility, agility and lively activity; With the agility of a real squirrel, he climbs trees and rocky ledges, confidently jumps from branch to branch, from top to bottom, and quickly skips along the ground. However, all this can be seen only in those places where its location has already been discovered in advance, since the night completely hides it from the eyes of humans and many other enemies.
There are few rodents that would surpass a regiment in gluttony. He eats as long as he can eat. The main food consists of acorns, beech and other hazelnuts; does not refuse walnuts, chestnuts, sweet and juicy fruits. The regiment also, apparently, feels the need for animal food, because it attacks every small animal that it is able to catch up with, kills and eats it, ruins it, destroys nests, strangles chicks - in a word, it shows its predatory inclinations. He drinks little water, and when he has juicy fruits, he doesn’t drink it at all.
Throughout the summer, the regiment searches for prey every night, unless the weather is very bad, throughout its possessions. During such trips, he constantly sits down like a squirrel and puts something edible in his mouth with his front paws. You can constantly hear the clicking of nuts, which the shelf gnaws, or the fall of eaten fruits, which it throws down. By autumn, the animal collects food supplies and stores them in its burrows. At this time he still eats while he can; then he begins to take care of the arrangement of his winter home, prepares a deep hole or finds a suitable place in cracks and crevices of rocks and old walls or in deep tree hollows, where he makes a warm nest from delicate moss. Here he curls up in company with a few companions and falls into a deep sleep long before the time when the thermometer drops to the freezing point; in harsh mountainous areas this time comes already in August, in warmer plains - around October. At this time, the regiment exhibits the same insensitivity as other animals subject to hibernation; his sleep may even be more sound than everyone else's. You can safely take him from the nest and take him anywhere: he will still sleep and remain in an unconscious state. In a warm room, gradually awakening, he begins to move his limbs and little by little begin to move, although he still looks sleepy. When free, he sometimes wakes up on his own and, as if unconsciously, begins to eat the supplies*.
* Dormice do not store any food for the winter, they just get very fat. Their winter hibernation is very deep - real suspended animation with a strong decrease in body temperature and a sharp decrease in the metabolic rate. Only such hibernation allows sleepyheads to “hold out” on fat reserves for more than six months.
The little ones that Lenz raised, keeping them in a cold room in winter, woke up almost every four weeks, ate and went back to sleep so soundly that they seemed dead; others, brought up by Galvagni, woke up only every two months to eat. In freedom, our regiment wakes up only in late spring, rarely earlier than the end of April. Thus, the duration of their winter hibernation reaches a full 7 months.
Soon after awakening, the chicks mate, and after about six weeks of pregnancy, the female gives birth in a soft nest of a hollow tree or some other burrow (in the vicinity of Altenburg, very often in birdhouses that are placed on high poles above or on fruit trees) 3-6 naked blind cubs that grow up unusually quickly and feed on their mother’s milk only for a very short time, and then begin to get food themselves. The shelf never makes nests openly in trees, like our squirrel, but, if possible, in a hidden place. Where there are many beech trees, this animal reproduces very quickly, since its well-being depends on the fruit harvest.
Numerous enemies cause significant damage to the regiments. Their most formidable persecutors are pine martens and ferrets, wild cats and weasels, eagle owls and owls; although the regiment bravely defends itself against the most strong enemies, snorts at them, bites viciously and even uses his weak claws, nevertheless he has to give up in the end*.
* For passive protection The regiment, like other sleepyheads, has one remedy against enemies. The skin on the tail is very fragile and is easily torn off by a “stocking” when a predator grabs the dormouse by the tail. The exposed tail dries out and dies; the animal, having lost its balance, becomes more clumsy, but remains alive.
Man also diligently pursues a regiment in those places where there is a lot of it, for the sake of meat and for the sake of fur; the animal is lured into artificial winter dwellings, that is, into holes built for this purpose in the forest, between bushes and rock slopes in dry, south-facing places; these pits are treacherously covered with moss, covered with straw and dry branches, and abundantly supplied with beech nuts. In addition, other traps are set. In Bavaria, peasants catch the chickadee in ordinary tit traps, in which hemp seed is scattered as bait. In other places, peasants catch small animals with traps, which they either hang on branches, or place in front of the tracked holes of these animals, placing a juicy pear or plum in them for bait. In addition, sometimes tubs filled with fruits are buried in the ground, which have only one exit from the top, covered with a mesh of iron wire so that the animal can slip inside the tub, but will not come out in any way. In such traps, there are so many small birds that some hunters collected from 200 to 400 of them throughout the fall.
Shelves are relatively rarely kept in captivity. It could have been foreseen in advance that such a glutton would not show any special development of mental abilities or any good qualities. His lifestyle and character traits are not pretty; the greatest virtue in him is his cleanliness; otherwise he is intolerable. Always irritated, he does not get close to his teacher at all and angrily, with some special snoring, grumbles at everyone who dares to approach him. Anyone who clumsily grabs him, he bites painfully several times in a row, which makes it clear that he does not intend to allow his person to be disturbed. At night, like a madman, he begins to frantically jump around the cage and this alone can get boring to the point of disgust. With all this, he requires the most careful supervision and plentiful food, otherwise he will gnaw through the cage or eat one of his comrades. As soon as a regiment lacks food, without further consideration it attacks one of its relatives, kills it and eats it with complete equanimity. Even those born in captivity do not lose the unpleasant properties of their relatives and always remain as unsympathetic as the old ones.
Forest Dormouse(Diyomys nitedula) is the link between the dormouse and the garden dormouse; it is 17 cm long, almost half of which is on the tail**.
* * The body length of the forest dormouse is up to 11 cm, the tail is the same length. The tail is evenly pubescent, like a regiment's, but the hair on top seems to be combed in the middle. On the hind legs, not only the outer, but also the inner toe can be opposed to the rest.
The color of the fur on the head and back is reddish-brown or brownish-gray, on the belly it is completely white; a black stripe begins under the eyes, which, expanding, covers the eyes and continues to the ears; behind the ears lies a dirty grayish-white spot. The tail is dark brown-gray on top, slightly lighter at the end, and white below.
Southern Russia should be considered the homeland of the forest dormouse; from here it spread west to Hungary, southern Austria and Silesia, but is quite rare there*. In terms of lifestyle, as far as is known so far, it does not differ in any significant way from the regiments and garden dormouse.
* The forest dormouse has the widest range among dormouses; to the north and northeast it reaches Sweden, the Volga region, Altai, to the south - to Italy, the forests of Western and Central Asia, to the East - to Mongolia. In the west it reaches only Austria and Southern Germany. Prefers broad-leaved and hard-leaved forests of the Mediterranean type.
garden dormouse(Eliomys quercimts) reaches a maximum length of 14 cm, with a tail length of 9.5 cm. The head and back are reddish-gray-brown, the belly is white; the eyes are bordered by a shiny black ring that continues under the ears to the neck; there is a whitish spot in front of and behind the ears, and a blackish one above the ear. The tail at the root is gray-brown, and at the end it is two-colored - black on top, white below. The hair on the belly is two-colored - it is gray at the roots, white at the tips, and in some places it is yellowish or grayish. The ears are meat-colored, the mustache is black, with white tips; the claws are the color of a light horn, the upper front teeth are light brown, the lower ones are light yellow. Beautiful dark black-brown eyes give the garden dormouse an intelligent, lively expression.
Garden dormouse, already known to the ancient Romans under the name Nitella, belongs mainly to the temperate zone of central and western Europe; France, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Hungary, Galicia, Transylvania and the Russian Baltic provinces** are considered her fatherland.
* * Garden dormouse is largely associated with coniferous trees; it penetrates further to the north than other species - to Karelia, the Vologda region, to the east - to the Urals, but is absent from the Balkans, the Caucasus, and Asia Minor.
It lives both on plains and in hilly countries, but still prefers to huddle in mountainous areas and here mainly in deciduous forests, although it also comes across coniferous ones, and sometimes enters low bushes and gardens. In Switzerland it rises to high glaciers. It feeds on the same thing as the elk; but, in addition, he carries lard and butter, lard and ham from the houses of mountain residents; Apparently, she eats young birds and eggs even more willingly and more than the chick, which she certainly surpasses in climbing and jumping. Its nest differs from the shelf's nest in that it is located in open place; however, sometimes the garden dormouse uses cracks in walls, old rat holes, mole holes and other depressions between stones and in the ground; she gently covers the nest with moss and arranges it as comfortably as possible. Squirrels are especially willing to settle in empty nests; if necessary, she can build a nest herself, which she hangs in a visible place between the branches of a tree.
The time of love for the garden dormouse begins in the first half of May. Several males often start a heated argument over the possession of a female, chasing each other, while hissing, sniffling and rushing through the trees like crazy. As peaceful as they are in ordinary times, they now become perky, angry and pugnacious; real battles take place between them, and with such fury that it was difficult to expect from them; It often happens that one of the opponents is fatally bitten by the other and is immediately eaten. After a 24-30 day pregnancy, the female lays 4-6 naked, blind young, in most cases in a perfectly prepared and openly placed nest in a tree; To do this, she often uses an old nest of a squirrel, crow, or blackbird and common blackbird, which she sometimes captures by force, then lines it with moss and wool and closes it tightly. The mother feeds the cubs for quite a long time and, when they grow up a little, brings them food in abundance. If at this time you approach her nest and try to take the cubs out of there, then the alarmed female with sparkling eyes begins to hiss at the enemy, bares her teeth, rushes straight into his face and frantically tries to bite. It is remarkable that the otherwise clean garden dormouse keeps its nest extremely untidy. Smelly feces accumulate in the nest in whole heaps and spread such a strong stench that not only dogs, but even an ordinary person at a distant distance is able to recognize the presence of such a nest. After a few weeks, the cubs reach the size of their mother and after some time they begin to run near the hole in order to find food under the supervision and guidance of the mother. Subsequently, they start their own homes and the next year they become capable of reproduction. Especially when favorable weather the female gives birth twice in one year.
During hibernation, the garden dormouse looks for dry and protected holes in trees and walls or settles down in mole holes, sometimes entering forest guardhouses, garden gazebos, barns, haylofts, coal miners' huts and other residential buildings, where it hides . Usually they are found several in one nest, pressed so closely together that they form, as it were, one ball. Sleepyheads sleep without interruption, but not as soundly as others; When there is a thaw, they wake up, eat from food reserves, and when the cold returns, they hibernate again. In contrast to other animals subject to hibernation, garden dormice exhibit a certain sensitivity to external irritation at this time. They rarely emerge from their burrows in the spring before the end of April; First they eat the entire winter food supply and then resume summer activities.
Garden dormouse is hated by all gardeners who grow tender fruit trees. It is enough for just one dormouse to get into such a garden to destroy the entire collection of peaches or apricots. When choosing a treat, the garden dormouse reveals a lot of subtle taste. She chooses only the best and juiciest fruits, which she recognizes not by appearance, but by taste, so that she spoils much more than she eats*.
* Plant foods do not occupy a leading position in the diet of this dormouse; the basis of nutrition is invertebrates and small vertebrates. More than other relatives, the garden dormouse spends time on the ground in search of food. In a number of areas of Europe, it prefers to settle near humans, competing with rats and even displacing them due to its aggressiveness. In some places it actually causes significant damage to gardens. In the east of the range it is rare and needs protection.
There is no way to get rid of a harmful guest who has entered the garden, since he knows how to overcome all sorts of obstacles; climbs palisades and trees, slips through the loops of nets that protect trees, or gnaws through them if they are too dense: and can even get through wire mesh.
Only late-ripening fruits can be saved from dormice, since at this time the animals are already in their burrows. The garden dormouse brings only harm and only the slightest benefit with its meat and skin, so it is diligently pursued and exterminated, especially by gardeners, who have to suffer the most from it. The best traps are wire snares that are hung on fruit trees, or small traps. But the best defender of gardens against these robbers is a cat. Martens, weasels, eagle owls and owls also diligently pursue the garden dormouse; therefore, landowners living near forests act quite reasonably in providing protection to these natural enemies of harmful rodents.
The garden dormouse is just as unsuitable for keeping in captivity as the dormouse. She rarely gets used to a person and whenever he appears unexpectedly, she bites so hard that the pain is very sensitive. At the same time, she has the same unpleasant quality that is inherent in a regiment - she sits quietly during the day, and rebels in a cage at night; tries to gnaw through the bars and bars in order to break through it and, if she succeeds, then she rages as if there were a dozen sleepyheads in the room; in this case, everything that stands on the road is overturned and destroyed. It is not easy to catch a garden dormouse running out of its cage again. It is easy to verify her predatory inclinations by making observations of animals in captivity. She displays the bloodthirstiness of a weasel coupled with the gluttony of a regiment; furiously attacks every small vertebrate animal brought into a cage, strangles a bird in an instant, deals with a perky mouse in a few minutes, no matter how it resists, and does not spare even its equal... Hunger entails an inevitable internecine struggle, which ends the fact that one kills and eats the other, and hibernation leads to the triumph of the strong, who abstains from hibernation, and the death of the weak, who succumbs to it. As soon as one of several garden dormice kept together falls into hibernation while the others are still awake, it can consider itself already dead: insidious comrades attack the sleeping ones, bite them to death and eat them. The same thing happens when several garden dormice that were in hibernation begin to wake up one after another; the one who wakes up before others kills her helpless comrades. An ordinary daytime nap does not pose such a danger, because a sleeping dormouse quickly wakes up and protects its skin.
Hazel Dormouse(Muscardinus avellanarius) - one of the cutest, cutest and playful European rodents; She is liked not only by her external beauty, but also by her cleanliness, comeliness, and gentleness of character. The animal is approximately the same size as our house mouse; its total length reaches 14 cm, of which almost half is the tail. The thick and smooth fur consists of medium-length shiny and soft hair of a yellowish-red color, the fur is slightly lighter below, white on the chest and throat; the eye sockets and ears are light reddish, the legs are red, the toes are whitish, the upper side of the tail is brownish-red. In winter, the upper side of the last half of the tail is covered with a light blackish coating. This occurs because the new awn hairs have blackish tips, which subsequently wear off. Young animals are bright red in color. The homeland of the little hazel dormouse is central Europe: Sweden and England apparently constitute the northern border of its distribution, and Tuscany and the northern part of Turkey constitute the southern border; in the east it does not go beyond Galicia, Hungary and Transylvania. The hazel dormouse is especially numerous in Tyrol, Carinthia, Styria, Bohemia, Silesia, Slovenia and northern Italy, since it is found in greater numbers in the southern regions than in the northern ones *.
* This smallest species of the family (weighs 15-35 g), preferring broad-leaved forests, is nevertheless absent from most of Asia Minor, the Crimea and the Caucasus. The northern border in Russia coincides with the northern border mixed forests. To the east, the hazel dormouse is distributed to the Cis-Urals. The number of the species is low everywhere, and high mortality of young is noted. Systematically, the hazel dormouse, close to the regiment, like him, is the most woody appearance dormouse, which comparatively rarely descends to the ground.
Their dwellings are almost the same as those of their relatives; the lifestyle is no different from that described above. The hazel dormouse inhabits both the plains and the mountains, but it does not rise above the forest line, i.e. 1500 meters above sea level. Favorite habitats are low bushes, thorns, and mainly walnut groves.
During the day, the hazel dormouse lies somewhere hidden and sleeps; at night it forages for food, which consists of nuts, acorns, hard seeds, juicy fruits, berries and buds; but most of all she loves nuts, which she skillfully cracks and eats: she does not pick the nuts from the tree and does not take them out of the green shell. She loves rowan berries and therefore often ends up in snares set for birds*.
* The hazel dormouse feeds almost exclusively on plant foods, in the summer it is mainly succulent food, and by autumn it is high-calorie hard seeds and nuts.
Hazel dormouse live in small societies, however, not closely connected with each other. Each dormouse separately or two dormouse together builds a soft, warm, rather skillfully made nest of grass, leaves, moss, roots and wool in very dense bushes, and at night they leave it in order to get food in partnership with others living nearby. Like real arboreal animals, they skillfully climb even the thinnest branches, not only like squirrels and other dormice, but also like monkeys; You can often see her hanging from a branch with her hind legs in order to reach a distant nut and crack it, or running along the underside of a branch with the same confidence as along the top, just like the forest acrobat monkeys of tropical countries.
Even on smooth ground they run very quickly, especially when they are in a hurry to return to their arboreal possessions.
The mating time for hazel dormouse coincides with mid-summer; rarely does mating occur before July. After about a four-week pregnancy, usually in August, the female lays 3-4 naked, blind cubs in her round, very comfortable summer nest, skillfully built of moss and grass and lined inside with the hair of various animals. Dormouses try to make this nest in dense bushes at a height of one meter above the ground. The cubs grow up unusually quickly, but suckle for another whole month until they are mature enough to run for food on their own**.
* * In favorable years, the hazel dormouse brings up to 3 broods; births occur with an interval of 2 months. The mating season begins in April and proceeds very peacefully, without conflicts or fights between males. At this time, the hazel dormouse is more silent than other species; partners are guided mainly not by mating “songs”, but by scent marks. There are usually 3-4 cubs in a litter, which a month after birth stop feeding on milk and become completely independent.
It is difficult to catch the hazel dormouse when it is awake; very rarely falls into traps that are placed in the animal’s favorite places, placing bait in them - nuts or other tasty food. It can be most easily obtained in late autumn or winter in forests and gardens, while raking dry leaves and twigs. Having climbed into a nest for the winter, built under dry leaves, hazel dormouse easily fall into the hands of an experienced hunter, as they betray their presence by squeaking; then the hunter carefully digs up the nest, wraps it tightly in fur and takes it home, where he arranges the animals in a cage or gives it to some amateur. If you get your hands on a hazel dormouse, it’s easy to make it completely handmade. It would never occur to her to use violence against her master, to defend herself and to bite; in the most severe fright, it limits itself to squeaking or hissing loudly. She soon submits to her fate, calmly gives herself into the hands and submits to the will of man, abandons all wildness, although she does not lose her innate timidity and timidity. In England they are kept as pets in ordinary bird cages and sold at the market. Animals can be kept in the most elegant rooms, since they do not emit any bad odor, and only in the summer they smell a little musk, and even then so faintly that they do not cause the slightest disgust.
In captivity, the hazel dormouse undergoes hibernation if the premises are not equally maintained warm temperature. Before hibernation, she tries to make a nest and curls up in it or falls asleep in a corner of the cage. If a sleeping sleepyhead is brought back into a warm place, it awakens, but soon falls asleep again. Biological encyclopedia Wikipedia
List of species listed in the Red Book Yaroslavl region, published in 2004. The Red Book of the Yaroslavl Region includes 14 species of mushrooms, 173 species of plants and 172 species of animals. The classification is given by edition. Contents 1 Kingdom Mushrooms ... ... Wikipedia
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Description of the forest dormouse
The small poison dart frog, the forest dormouse, has much in common with mice and squirrels, and at the same time. Peculiarities appearance, namely coloring, size and behavior depend on the place of immediate habitat. Depending on the place of residence, the color of the forest dormouse’s fur may be darker or lighter, and the contrast between shades may manifest itself differently.
Appearance
Dormice are small animals with a slightly elongated body. The total body length ranges from 60 to 120 mm. The flattened tail, separately, can be the same length, the hair on it is longer. The tail serves not just as decoration, but as an important vestibular tool. It helps to balance on the branches, playing the role of a kind of rudder. Also, this part of the body may indicate the mood of the rodent. If the long hair on the tail lies smoothly, the animal feels secure. Raised hairs in this area indicate an unfriendly attitude. In anticipation of danger, the dormouse raises its hairs to appear larger to its opponent. Cats do much the same.
This is interesting! The long narrow head ends with a sharp muzzle, the rodent's eyes stand out noticeably against the general background, they are dark, round and shiny. On the head of the animal there are prominent round ears; they are quite large.
On the muzzle itself, like most species of rodents, there are vibrissae. These are additional “tools” for orienting the animal in space. With them they pick up the smallest air vibrations, as a result of which they can navigate in space in conditions of relative darkness. The length of the whiskers in relation to the body size of the forest dormouse ranges from 20 to 40%. The antennae, each individually, can make movements due to the contraction of the subcutaneous muscles of the face. This organ of touch helps to better navigate the world around the rodent.
It is interesting that the dormouse's hind legs have 5 fingers, and the front legs have 4. The legs are thin and short. The rodent's fur is short, of uniform length throughout the body, except for the tail, soft and silky to the touch.. As a rule, on the chest it is colored in grayish-yellow shades. The fur on the chest and throat is the same color. The back of the forest dormouse is brownish-reddish. On the muzzle these two colors are separated by a contrasting stripe of dark black-brown color.
Character and lifestyle
Deciduous thickets and forests are considered the favorite habitats of the forest dormouse. She is a fan of thickets with dense undergrowth and places of hollow trees. But at the same time you can meet it in a garden or park area. This funny animal is widespread in the central zone and in the west of the European part of the Russian Federation. For its home, the dormouse chooses natural shelters. These could be hollow trees, old abandoned nests of all kinds of birds. For example, forty. If there is no suitable vacant place, the dormouse will not be embarrassed by the presence of “owners” in the nest. She can settle in a hollow or birdhouse, expelling the feathered owners with a bang.
This rodent can make a home on its own. The material most often used is tree bast and other small plant “garbage”. This is grass, fluff, dry leaves; a braid of flexible branches is used as a frame. It takes approximately 2-4 days to build one dwelling. Dormouses manage to build their houses in the dense thickets of thorny bushes. Thus, they make it safer by preventing predators from getting close. The forest dormouse is an economic rodent; they devote most of their construction time to arranging the interior of the home. Sonya stuffs it with down, wool, and dry grass, which makes it not only warm and cozy, but also perfectly camouflages the chicks raised in it from prying eyes.
Therefore, if you happen to see an untidy, translucent nest without bedding, this is a bachelor’s home or a temporary overnight stay. The animal will not stay in such a house for long; it could serve as a holding point, then the dormouse will go to build a new nest. In the territory where one individual lives, you can find up to 8 such dwellings. A rodent can change apartments, even if they are clogged, in order to comply with sanitary standards. There is no separate passage into the nest. The dormouse enters and exits through any suitable gap between the bars. This structure also makes it difficult prey for predators.
This is interesting! Forest dormouses are also careful about the cleanliness of their own bodies. They can spend hours combing out each fiber of their own tail, carefully sorting through them.
Winter apartments are built deep underground in piles of brushwood or thickets of the root system of a tree. Close to the surface, the soil freezes too much, not giving them a chance to survive, so they settle with the onset of cold weather at a distance of 30 cm down from ground level.
The forest dormouse is a climbing animal. It climbs well along the branches of trees and bushes, and is active both during the day and at night. During the day, even most of the species spends sleeping. Sharp curved claws and special “calluses” allow it to easily stay on the branches without falling down. And the vibrissae help to navigate well in dense thickets.
The cold puts the animal into a stupor. In this state, the forest dormouse spends all the cold days of the year in hibernation. Such torpor lowers the rodent’s body temperature, slowing down metabolic processes, allowing for economical use of vital resources. For this period, some dormouse stock up on food, which they eat with pleasure when they wake up during thaw periods. After this, with the temperature dropping again, the dormouse can fall asleep, having refreshed itself, and continue its hibernation. The remaining representatives of the species consume only the fat reserves of their own body, accumulated during the warm seasons.
How long does the forest dormouse live?
In the wild, forest dormouse live from 2 to 6 years. This animal can be tamed if it was caught in infancy. You shouldn't take them while fishing with bare hands, sleepyheads don't like this.
Range, habitats
Forest dormouse are common in the forest zone from Central Asia to Kazakhstan and European countries. They inhabited the northern part of Africa, China and Japan. The dormouse family includes up to 9 genera. The number of their species is 28. They can be found even in Asia Minor and Altai.
Diet of the forest dormouse
The diet of the forest dormouse may include various insects. However, animals choose the preferred type of food plant foods. They happily eat plant seeds and fruits along the way, and do not disdain berry seeds. If a forest dormouse encounters a bird’s nest with small chicks or laid eggs on its way, it will happily feast on them.
This is interesting! The process of eating food by an animal itself deserves special attention and affection. Like most rodents, they pick up food in their tiny paws and then bring it to their mouths. It's nice to watch how deftly these kids handle seeds and berries with their tiny fingers.
