The field mouse stocks up for the winter. mouse vole

Winter pantry mink

A mink is able to store several kilograms of fish.

Live canned moles

Feeding during hibernation in chipmunks

forest mouse- representatives of the genus of forest mice are more dexterous and nimble animals than the house mouse, and even more so the voles. The length of the tepa is 7-10 cm. The tail is equal to the length of the body. Red fur. The belly is light.

• Habitat biotope. Cluttered areas of mixed and broad-leaved forests.
• What does it eat. Greens, seeds, insects.
• Ecology of the species. Active at night. Good for climbing trees. Spends the day in simply arranged burrows, hollows. Makes stocks for the winter - up to 9 kg of seeds. Up to five broods per year.

Many of them are good tree climbers and can climb to great heights. About 10 species of wood mice live on the territory of Russia, which can be found in almost all forests south of the 60th parallel. Only a few species penetrate further north. Three species of wood mice are common in the middle lane.

Most different from other mice. On her red fur coat from the crown to the tail there is a clearly visible black stripe. On average, this mouse is slightly thicker and heavier than the forest mouse of equal length and with a shorter tail. It is always slightly shorter than the length of the animal itself.

Body length 10–12.5 cm, tail 6.6–8 cm, body weight 16–25 g. vegetable gardens and forest edges. In winter they live in stacks of straw, and sometimes (especially closer to spring) they penetrate into the cellars of village houses.

It's easy to meet us small wood mouse. She lives in the forests of the western part of Russia and is not found east of the Yenisei. Its body length is 7–11 cm, the tail is the same length, body weight is 14–25 g.

This rodent is a common inhabitant of deciduous and mixed forests. But often settles in thickets of weeds or in clumps of bushes in the middle of fields. Constantly penetrates into human housing, especially if it is located near the forest.

It is very similar to the small forest mouse, but larger: length 11–14 cm, weight about 50 g. The tail of this animal is especially long and often slightly exceeds the body length.

This mouse settles in deciduous forests. He especially loves oak forests, therefore it is most often found in the southern regions of the European part of Russia. The size of the imprint of the front paw is 1x0.8 of the back 3x1.3 cm.

Wood mouse footprints at different gaits (a, b, c), lower surface of the front (above) and hind legs (d), footprints of the animal (e) in shallow snow

A characteristic way of movement of all wood mice is long jumps. Groups of prints of all 4 paws are arranged in the form of a trapezoid. Larger five-fingered hind footprints are in front of smaller four-fingered front footprints.

Reference books often indicate that behind the paw prints of all wood mice, a strip left by a long tail is visible. This is a good sign. And if on the traces of mouse jumps we see a long dash of the tail, then we have the traces of a mouse, and not a vole. But only in practice, the mouse does not often leave this peculiar flourish on its tracks.

Walk along the trail of mouse tracks that have run along a dusty road or even on lightly snowed ground, and you will see that the tail is not visible on most of the print tracks. The mouse keeps its tail extended above the ground, rather than dragging it along. Another thing is when the snow is loose and deep enough. That's when she touches the surface of his tail with almost every jump.

Mice do not always move in the most typical jumps for them. Often they run in the same way as voles, leaving behind a paired chain of tracks. A less nimble field mouse usually makes shorter jumps. The average length of the jump of the animal is about 9 cm, the width of the trail is about 3.2. The length of the jumps of the small wood mouse is from 13 to 30, the width of the trail is 3.2–4 cm.

The yellow-throated mouse is the best runner of the genus of forest mice. It can move in large leaps, up to 1 m long, and sometimes a little more. But the length of the jump, when determining the trace, can serve only as a hint, but not the final answer.

Undoubtedly, in most cases, the field mouse jumps with shorter jumps than the wood mouse, and that, in turn, cannot make such long jumps as its yellow-throated relative. But on the other hand, both yellow-throated and other mice can move in very short leisurely jumps. So, without seeing the animal itself, it is very often difficult to say with certainty which of the closely related species belongs to the trace seen.

Sometimes the litter found on the tracks helps the correct identification. In the wood mouse, these are dark elongated grains, slightly pointed on one side, about 5 × 2 mm in size. Yellow-throated litter is more elongated and large - 12 × 5 mm.

Wood and other mice often leave traces of their activities on feeding grounds. In those cases where it is possible to find out who the traces belong to, one can collect very interesting material regarding the nutrition of one species or another. Forest mice tend to store acorns, nuts and other food for the winter.

In forest and yellow-throated mice, these reserves can reach impressive sizes. A.N. Formozov mentioned a stock of acorns with a total weight of 47 kg found in Belovezhskaya Pushcha. Workers of the former Tulskie Zaseki nature reserve told me that from the reserves of the yellow-throated mouse you can get up to several kilograms of selected hazelnuts.

Mice hide their supplies in underground burrows, birdhouses, in the dust of rotten trunks of fallen trees or in cracks in living trees. Once in the spring, at the foot of a cracked aspen, I found many empty nut shells with a characteristic gnawed hole in the side, and in a small grove in the middle of a field in a thin, rotten birch stump at a height of 1 m from the ground, I found a whole bunch of peeled ripe peas. If the stock of nuts belonged to a wood mouse (I did not see yellow-throated mice in that forest), then the field mouse most likely stocked up peas.

Forest mice live in burrows up to 3 m, with 2–3 passages. Nest chambers are lined with dry grass blades and moss. Before entering the hole, you can often see the ejecta of the earth. They can make nests in hollows of trees, and in birdhouses - at a height of up to 10 m. Repeatedly, I found residential nests with cubs under a board or a piece of plywood lying in the forest.

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. On clear autumn days, the 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.

Field mice for many centuries are unpleasant "neighbors" of rural residents in many countries. Sweden is no exception. Here, too, the villager is forced to wage a constant struggle with these harmful voracious animals.

From my own experience of living in a rustic wooden house and from the conversations of neighbors, I can say that none of them complained about the presence of these unwanted guests, field mice in residential buildings.

Where do field mice winter?

With the onset of cold weather, field mice "occupy" outbuildings: barns, woodsheds, garages. So, if in the summer several mousetraps placed by the husband in the wood warehouse remained empty, in the winter he had to throw out the caught animals every day.

When gathering for firewood, he was forced to wear a gauze mask and gloves so as not to contract a dangerous infectious disease, mouse inflammation (sorkfeber), which can result in serious damage to the liver and kidneys.

If you do not seek medical help in a timely manner, even a fatal outcome is possible. So the neighborhood with field mice brings not only material losses, but is also dangerous for human health.

The reader can learn about the danger of infection with a dangerous virus, which is carried by field mice, by reading the article

Being harmful and dangerous to human health, however, field mice serve as an important source of food for a number of animals and birds "useful" for humans: owls, foxes, lynxes.

According to the Swedish press, as well as our own observations, the number of field mice continues to increase dramatically over the past few years.

This spring was no exception. In our garden, I constantly discover new moves. Customers complain about the shortage of mousetraps, which quickly disappeared from store shelves!

We continue our fight against field mice

Despite the daily "trophies" it was clear that with only a few mousetraps we would not be able to catch all the wintering field mice in our neighborhood. Last summer, these gluttonous animals already ruined some of the cucumber and zucchini crops in my garden.

They tried to repeat their experience of the "gas attack". For a while it seemed to us that the field mice left our garden, but, unfortunately, in late autumn they returned!

Therefore, it was decided this spring to try other ways to deal with field mice. Online stores offer various models of ultrasonic mole and mouse repellers.

The principle of operation of the devices is based on the generation of ultrasonic vibrations that cause a feeling of fear and anxiety in animals. It is alleged that in a short time they will leave the territory that has become dangerous for them.

The effectiveness of the devices depends on the composition of the soil, the greatest effect is achieved on heavy, clay soils, well transmitting the sound vibrations of the device.

On sandy soils, the efficiency is significantly reduced. In the north of Sweden, the soils are mostly clayey. I hope the electronic scarers will work effectively.

However, it has been noticed that with the termination of the device, the rodents return! Ultrasonic mouse and mole repellers are, so to speak, products of scientific and technological progress.

On the other hand, there is a natural remedy for combating field mice - a herbaceous plant black root. Since ancient times, the roots and leaves of this plant have been used in the preparation of various medicinal decoctions and ointments.

It turned out that rodents do not tolerate the smell of this plant. It is recommended to dry the "Black Root" and scatter it along the mouse passages.

In addition, its seeds are also effectively used to control mice. The seeds have hooks that cling to the skins of animals, irritate and scare them away.

This "ecological" way of dealing with field mice looks very tempting. Guess it should be tested.

Several animals are stocked up for the winter, such as squirrels, minks, moles, bears, chipmunks, and other rodents, insects, and even birds. Each species has its own escape routes. For example, bears hibernate, birds go south, and the rest prepare supplies for winter, and wait it out underground.

Minks are also engaged in collecting food for the winter, but they are a predator and their winter supply exceeds that of squirrels at times, their supply is frogs, minks bite them in the part of the head where nerves accumulate, thereby the frogs become paralyzed, after which they are lowered not deep to the bottom of the river .They also store the carcasses of birds, rodents, and fish, often stealing them from fishermen.

Moles are animals that feed on insects, and although they are small in size, this does not interfere with their huge appetite. At a time, they can eat as much food as their own weight. Therefore, they cannot do without large winter supplies, they are engaged in the preparation of canned food from their favorite food such as earthworms. Moles, like minks, bite the head nerve, immobilizing the worms and dragging them to their places where they can be stored all winter.

Chipmunks preparing for the cold make stocks of pine nuts and seeds, a few buckets are enough for them all winter. They can dig a hole for their food at least all day, however, these holes are often attacked by bears. In winter, chipmunks can wake up to have a bite and fall back into sleep. So they have enough stocks for early spring, at a time when other animals have to look for it.

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Feed stocks

How do animals store food for the winter?

A device that ensures the survival of unfavorable seasonal living conditions - stockpiling food. It is to varying degrees characteristic of different mammals.

Classical nomads - nomads - do not store food: cetaceans, pinnipeds, bats, ungulates and hibernating mammals. In its rudimentary form, this is observed in insectivores. Some shrews, such as the North American short-tailed shrew (Blarina), make only small stocks of invertebrates. Our muskrats store a certain number of bivalve molluscs in their burrows. In places, moles collect stocks of earthworms. For some time, the worms remain alive, as mole bites in the head section of the worms deprive them of the ability to move.

In the passages, stocks of 100-300, and in some cases up to 1000 worms were found.

More common is the burial of excess prey in carnivores. Weasels and ermines collect 20-30 voles and mice each, black polecats pile several dozen frogs under the ice, minks - several kilograms of fish. Larger predators (martens, wolverines, cats, bears) hide the remains of prey in secluded places, under fallen trees, under stones. Leopards often hide part of their prey in the branches of trees.

A feature of the storage of food by predators is that no special pantries are built for its burial, only one individual that built it uses the stock. In general, stocks serve only as a small help for experiencing a low-feeding period, and they cannot prevent a sudden onset of starvation.

Pictured is a Siberian tiger, Russia.

Various rodents and pikas store their food in a different way, although in this case, there are also different degrees of perfection of storage and its significance. Flying squirrels collect several tens of grams of terminal branches and catkins of alder and birch, which they put into hollows. Squirrels are buried in fallen leaves, in hollows and in the ground acorns and nuts. They also hang mushrooms on tree branches.

One squirrel in the dark coniferous taiga stocks up to 150-300 mushrooms, and in the ribbon forests of Western Siberia, where food conditions are worse than in the taiga, up to 1500-2000 mushrooms, they mainly oil. The reserves made by the squirrel are used by many individuals of this species.

In Eastern Siberia and Kamchatka, large stocks of rhizomes, tubers and seeds (up to 15 kg) are made by a small animal, the housekeeper vole.

In the western parts of the range of this species, where the winter is shorter and milder, this vole does not stock. The same is observed in the water vole, which makes large stocks in the east of its range (in Yakutia) and almost does not make them in the western areas of distribution. Large stocks of food for the winter in the form of grass and onion bulbs are made by an inhabitant of the continental steppes of Transbaikalia and Northern Mongolia - Brandt's vole.

Greater gerbils and pikas store grass or dried hay, put them in burrows, under ground shelters or on the surface of the earth in stacks. Beavers collect branch food for the winter, which is often removed into the water near the nest, less often stored outside the water. Found reserves of branches up to 20 m3.

Characteristic features of stockpiling are the multiplicity of stocks that provide animals with food during the hungry period, the arrangement of special storage facilities for stored food and its collective, often family consumption.

Feed is also stored by a few species of animals that hibernate for the winter. Such are chipmunks and Siberian long-tailed ground squirrels. The food collected in the places of hibernation is used by these species in the spring, when the awakened animals are not yet provided with newly appeared food.

Adaptations of mammals to the experience of seasonal unfavorable living conditions are more diverse and perfect than in other vertebrates. Gathering food stocks deserves special attention. Among other vertebrates, only a few phylogenetically young and progressive groups of birds (passerines, owls, woodpeckers) collect food for the winter, but the size of their reserves and the adaptive significance of this activity are negligible compared to mammals.

Squirrels, mice, mole rats and many other rodents store food for the winter.

They do this because their favorite foods are not available at all times of the year. Because of the habit of stocking rodents, farmers do not like: the animals stuff their underground bins with much more food than they can eat in a whole year, so that most of their food supplies are wasted. But it is not all that bad. When storing nuts for the winter, squirrels, for example, bury them in the ground. Nuts not eaten by animals germinate in the spring and turn into young hazel plants.

Winter stocks of mole rat food sometimes weigh 100 times more than the animal itself!

When storing food for the winter, some rodents seem to lose all sense of proportion. Finding a rich food source, such as a regularly replenished bird feeder, chipmunks and wood mice will empty it again and again.

What animals store food for the winter

Without supplies, many animals cannot survive the long winter, and the animals have learned to prepare in advance. As soon as it gets dark and the rumble of cars subsides in the fields, rodents carefully emerge from their holes: mice, voles, hamsters drag and drag the best, selected grain into their underground storages. By winter, 3-4 kilograms will be neatly folded in each hole of the hamster.

When the cold hits and the fields are covered with snow, the little parasites will not need to get out to the surface. Warm, satisfying, and most importantly, safe.

Forest inhabitants do not lag behind their fellows. At the edge of the clearing, in the thick branches of a withered Christmas tree, someone hung mushrooms. What kind of mushroom picker is this and why does he dry them in the forest? It's a squirrel! Running through the forest, she either sticks a ripe nut or acorn into a hollow, or hangs a fungus on a branch - everything will come in handy in winter.

A small striped animal - a chipmunk loves to store pine nuts. Only the baby does not always get his supplies. Everyone likes tasty nuts, but picking them out of a cone is hard work. The clumsy owner of the taiga - the bear prefers to tear open the chipmunk's pantry and have breakfast without the hassle. And if the storekeeper gapes, then the robber will slam him.

In Altai, with the onset of autumn, small piles of hay appear. Look closely at the little stacks. Hay in them is not sketched at random, but neatly stacked. There are not many herbs growing in the meadow, but only the most delicious and nutritious. The owner of the reserves is a small rodent haystack. With the approach of autumn, the animals begin hay harvesting. Having cut the best stems, the animals scatter them to dry, and then put them in stacks. Excellent hay for the winter is provided.

Bees begin to stock up already in the spring. As soon as the sun warms the soil, the first flowers will bloom around, fly out to collect nectar and start cooking their bee jam - honey. And to cook his business is not easy: how much raw material is needed, and the qualifications of the cooks must be high enough, otherwise the cooking will fail.

Nectar collected from flowers contains 40-60 percent water. The bees must “boil” it so that no more than 20 percent of the water remains. A healthy, strong family is able to collect 150-250 kilograms of honey per season, which means that 180-350 liters of water should be evaporated. It's not easy. It's good if the weather is warm. When the temperature drops, the bees gather in masses on the combs and warm them with their bodies.

Completely ready honey is reloaded into a special cell, sealed with wax, and a jar of jam is ready. Here the honey will be stored until the bee colony needs it. And if it is well cooked, it will not ferment or sugar.

Why bee jam can be stored for years, scientists do not know for sure. Microorganisms are usually the culprits for spoiling any food, including jam and canned food. They are destroyed by prolonged boiling, and the dishes are tightly sealed so that they cannot penetrate from the outside. Bees preserve honey without boiling it. It contains some substances that are harmful to microorganisms. This property has been used in folk medicine: since ancient times, wounds have been treated with honey.

It is even more difficult to protect jam from robbers. It is not surprising that the owners vigilantly guard their treasure. The guard at the letka does not sleep. At the slightest danger, a cloud of defenders flies out to meet the enemy and, not sparing their own lives, stings him. The smell of a freshly torn sting serves as a signal for battle, it excites the bees, enrages them, and woe to those who at that moment are near the hive. Even Toptygin, the clumsy owner of the forests, happens to retreat before their friendly onslaught.

It seems that there is no such force that would stand against the bees. But the temptation to eat honey is so great that there are daredevils. Day and night, in the heat and in bad weather, by force or cunning, robbers are selected for honey. The smallest insects are especially scary. You just can't follow them.

Man fights insects with the help of chemistry. Moths are repelled by the smell of naphthalene. Insects are poisoned with DDT, chlorophos and other toxic substances. Bees invented chemical protection many thousands of years before humans did. There are a lot of poisonous plants in nature. The bees know them very well and collect nectar from some of them. Poisonous nectar can kill the bees themselves (although they are not very sensitive to it), but in honey the poisonous addition is in concentrations that are not dangerous for the owners of the jam. However, woe to the robbers who have eaten poisoned honey, they will die. A timely disinfestation saves the bee family its jam.

It is much more difficult for predators to prepare food. Small, slightly larger than a sparrow, shrike-shrikes string beetles, lizards, young frogs on the thorns of prickly bushes and dry them in the sun. No one knows whether they do this from an excess of feed or really store up for a rainy day. Homemade pemmican is an inedible food. Very few people know how to make real canned meat.

Horse riders invented an original way of preparing food. In fact, they do not care about themselves, but about their offspring. Small tender larvae need live food, but their mothers do not smile at the prospect of nursing and feeding their children. They try to provide their offspring with housing and food, and prefer to refrain from personal meetings.

Building a home for children is not difficult. This is a deep mink, the entrance to which the mother will subsequently carefully close up. Difficulty with food. How to keep it fresh, because there is no refrigerator in the mink. Riders learned how to make canned food. Finding a suitable caterpillar, spider, beetle or its larva, a caring mother pounces on prey. The fight is useless. Having saddled her prey, the predator plunges her sting, and victory is assured. The wasp transfers lifeless prey to a burrow, lays one or more testicles on its body, seals the burrow, and ... goodbye, dear kids, live as you know.

The prey will lie in the mink until the larva hatches from the testicle, and during this time it will not deteriorate. The fact is that canned food is alive. Riders, attacking their prey, strike it not anywhere, but in a strictly defined place. The sting, having pierced the body, reaches the ganglia of the nervous system and, as if from a syringe, injects a drop of poison there, causing paralysis. Some people only make their canned food out of spiders. Even such dangerous creatures as tarantulas could not escape this sad fate. To cope with the formidable prey and protect himself and his offspring, the rider must first put the spider on the shoulder blades (only mothers can be so selfless) and, sticking the sting in the right place, paralyze the nerve ganglion that controls the poisonous tentacles.

Then the winner, no longer in a hurry, stings the spider, now in the chest, to cause general paralysis of her victim.

The fight against a spider for a wasp is so dangerous that many of them do not dare to attack themselves, but prefer to wait until one of the comrades does it and, seizing the moment while the winner is looking for a suitable mink, steal ready-made canned food or lay their testicle on them .

The stock is sufficient. The mother lays her testicles in such a way that the larvae first of all eat those parts of the victim, the absence of which will not cause her death. When the prey is 1/2–3/4 eaten, it will still be alive.

Live canned food keeps well. They are better, more nutritious than those that we make. People have not yet mastered such conservation.

No less original canned food, which feed on the larvae of some species of gall flies. The relationship between parents and children of gall flies is probably the most striking example of the dedication of parents: the mother becomes the canned food for their children in gall flies.

The life of these insects goes like this. In the spring, gall fly larvae hatch from the testicles. They will never become adults, but they will still have time to acquire offspring. The larvae do not lay eggs, they remain in the mother's body and develop there.

And when 8-13 tiny daughters hatch out of them, they will gradually, slowly, eat their mother right from the inside and only after that will they leave her empty skin. There is no need to accuse them of ingratitude and cruelty, because in their body, in turn, a dozen “tender” daughters will grow up, to whom mothers will give themselves to the end. Only the autumn generation of larvae-mothers will escape death from the jaws of larvae-daughters. This last generation of larvae will successfully turn into pupae, which will hatch into adult gall flies. In the spring, adult flies will lay their eggs, and everything will start all over again.