Several animals stock 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 also collect food for the winter, but they are a predator and their winter supply is many times greater than that of squirrels, 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 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 reserves; they prepare canned food from their favorite food such as earthworms. Moles, like minks, bite the brain nerve, immobilizing the worms and dragging them to their places where they can be stored all winter.
Chipmunks, preparing for the cold, make reserves of pine nuts and seeds; several buckets are enough for them throughout the winter. They can dig a hole for their food all day long, but these holes are often attacked by bears. In winter, chipmunks can wake up to have a snack and go back into sleep. So they have enough reserves for early spring, at a time when other animals have to look for it.
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Hello guys! What time of year is approaching us? That's right, winter! We're now in late fall and getting ready for winter, right? How can we humans prepare for it? (We buy warm clothes, prepare supplies for the winter, insulate our houses, close up the windows, etc.). Guys, do you know that animals living in forests prepare for winter almost the same way as we do! They also make edible reserves, insulate their burrows, exchange their summer skins for winter ones, and some animals even spend the entire winter in deep sleep! Today we will talk to you about how different animals prepare for the coming of winter. You tell me something, and I tell you something! The first animal that we will talk about today is the owner of all forests - the bear. What do you know about him? (children's answers) The bear's main food is berries, nuts, roots, bulbs, ants, beetle larvae and fish. This helps him accumulate fat for the winter. Brown bears make their den in a hidden, inaccessible place. Most often, it is under the root of an upturned tree or in a windfall. In November, the bears climb there and fall asleep. Bears sleep restlessly. If they are disturbed by something, they can abandon the den and build another one. In a mother bear's den, cubs are born, usually 1-2, rarely 3. They are very small, the size of a mitten. Mother bear feeds them milk for 8 months. and even when she sleeps in winter.
The next animal we will talk about is the lynx. Lynx does not hibernate. Among all representatives of the cat family, the lynx is best adapted to cold weather. She moves excellently in deep snow and climbs trees. Favorite prey of lynxes are hares, black grouse, and hazel grouse. Sometimes she attacks young wild boars; in a hungry winter, she can feed on small rodents. In winter, moose especially suffer from lynxes, when it is difficult for these long-legged animals to move through deep and loose snow. By winter, the lynx's fur becomes thick, fluffy and soft, and the lynx's paws are heavily furred so as not to feel the cold.
Hare. As we know, before the onset of winter, the hare changes its gray skin to white. In winter they feed on bark, small twigs of aspen, willow, and birch. In winter, a fallen tree can become a real hare's dining room, where the animals visit every day until they gnaw off all the bark. They have no permanent home. In extreme cold, they hide under snow-covered bushes.
Hedgehog. When it gets cold, hedgehogs need to accumulate fat, and in the fall, hedgehogs have little prey. Worms hide in the ground, nimble lizards hide. It's hard to find bugs and frogs. On clear autumn days, the hedgehog prepares a warm nest for wintering. Night and day, it drags dry leaves and soft forest moss into the hole. The hedgehog spends more than six months in hibernation. During this time he does not eat anything or move. He sleeps curled up in a ball, in a den, under a deep snowdrift, as if under a thick, fluffy blanket. And he sleeps like this all winter, until the spring sun.
Squirrel. Many rodents also make winter reserves. Squirrels, which sleep in winter only in very severe frosts, need capital reserves. Unlike many other animals, squirrels use their reserves together. In the fall, they hide acorns and nuts in the forest floor, in hollows, and in the ground. Not only the owner herself, but also any other squirrel can get them from there. They also store mushrooms in a special way: they string them on tree branches or stuff them into forks between the branches. By winter, the coat of this animal becomes very soft and fluffy, and the color is grayish. She builds her nest on tall spruce or pine trees. Inside the nest there is soft grass, moss, and balls of wool. In severe frosts, the squirrel does not crawl out of its hollow, and may even fall asleep.
Foxes and wolves. These predators certainly don't sleep. By winter, these animals' fur becomes thicker. In winter, wolves unite in large packs. Their victims are wild boars, hares, and roe deer. And foxes attack smaller animals - hares, small rodents, birds. Burrows are usually dug in groves, on the slopes of hills and ravines.
Beavers. In autumn, the beaver family is busy preparing food. Alone, and sometimes together, beavers easily fell aspen and willow. They build themselves strong huts. The entrance to it is always located under water so that the enemy does not get close. In winter, it is warm inside the beaver’s home, the temperature is above zero.
Hamsters. As autumn approaches, hamsters begin to actively organize pantries in preparation for winter. And most place them right in the mouth, where they hide the food behind the cheeks. These animals are rightfully considered the most thrifty.
Elk. They live in the forests. Closer to autumn, when lingonberries and blueberries ripen, moose love to eat them directly with the twigs; they also love mushrooms, even looking for them specifically. In winter, moose gnaw the bark of aspen, rowan and willow trees. At the end of autumn it sheds its antlers, and by spring it grows new ones. They are not preparing a permanent home. It is difficult for them in winter, when the snow floor is very deep, because it is not easy to cross it with such long legs.
Wood mice, voles. All of them are very voracious, stocking up on seeds and berries. In winter, when everything around is covered with snow, the animals dig tunnels in the snowdrifts, and can also live in haystacks and buildings.
Quiz “How animals winter”
1. What do animals do to protect themselves from the cold? - fly to warmer climes - change their summer coat for a warmer and lighter winter one - change their summer coat for a warmer and brighter winter one
2. What animal does not change its coat in winter? - squirrel - hare - hedgehog
3. Which other animal sleeps all winter? - badger - fox - wolf
4. What is the first thing that animals hibernating need? — Fat reserves under the fur coat — silence — peace
5. The hare has no fat reserves. What does he eat in winter? — Tree bark and twigs — carrots — cabbage
6. What do predators eat in winter: wolves and foxes? - tree bark and twigs - small animals - starve
Who's the odd one out here?
Having eaten enough over the summer, bears, badgers, mice and hedgehogs hibernate at the beginning of winter. (Mice don’t sleep in winter, and you can’t see them because they move under the snow. But foxes always know where the mouse is, they can smell it through the snowdrift)
A wolf, a fox and an elk roam the snowy forest in search of prey. (The elk is not a predator. Like all ungulates, it is a herbivore, and when there is no fresh grass, it eats branches and last year’s grass)
Elks, wild boars, weasels, hares and roe deer in winter feed on branches, roots, plant bark and fresh leaves. (Weasels are predators, they catch mice and birds. Unfortunately, there are no fresh leaves in the forest in winter, so it’s difficult for them)
Well done guys! They told me everything correctly! Well, now I will show you a cartoon!
Mink winter storage
Mink, a small animal of the mustelid family, also stores for the winter. But since it is a predator, its larder is not as harmless as that of a squirrel. This fur-bearing animal stores live food - frogs. Minks bite their prey in the area of nerve accumulation on the head, and the frogs remain immobilized. The mink stores the frogs in a shallow place at the bottom of the river. These animals also store carcasses of small rodents, birds and fish, often stealing prey from fishermen’s nets.
A mink can store several kilograms of fish.
Live canned moles
These small insectivores, despite their size, are quite voracious. At one time, a mole can eat an amount of food approximately equal to its own weight. Therefore, winter supplies are a necessary condition for the survival of moles. These animals make a kind of live canned food from their favorite food - earthworms. Moles, like minks, bite their prey in the head area, cutting through the motor nerve. Fixed but still living worms are taken to an underground chamber, where they are stored throughout the hungry winter.
Diet during hibernation in chipmunks
Chipmunks would be the envy of women who are always losing weight, because the ban on eating before bed is not about these animals.
Despite the fact that this animal hibernates, it still stores several buckets of seeds and nuts. Chipmunks' storerooms are located right in their nest - after waking up in winter, the animals have a light snack and go back to sleep. In addition, reserves help chipmunks feed in early spring, when the animals wake up and there is no food yet. However, chipmunk nests are often attacked by bears. These predators simply adore pine nuts, which are stored by economic chipmunks. A bear can work all day to dig a deep hole, but will not stop at the opportunity to eat deliciously. And the little animals can only watch as their hard-collected supplies perish. In winter, wild animals have a hard time.
Everyone has their own plan for how to survive the winter; they prepare for severe frosts in different ways. Someone is stocking up on food, someone is changing clothes, and someone is preparing a warm home for themselves.
Do they all spend the winter where they live?
Not all types of flying animals spend the winter where they spend the summer months. Some varieties fly to warmer places, just like birds. But many species of these animals remain to spend the winter where they live.
Among the mice remaining for the winter, the following species are most common:
- nocturnal;
- earflaps;
- nightlights.
Animals of these species find suitable secluded places and fall into long suspended animation, lasting up to six months. However, if a person manages to find a place where a bat hibernates and accidentally or intentionally disturbs the animal, then the animals, despite the cold weather, fly away in search of a new shelter. Such forced migrations significantly harm the health of animals and can cause the fact that with the onset of warmer weather, some animals will not wake up, that is, they will die.
How squirrels prepare for winter
Squirrels prepare for winter throughout the year. They stock up on nuts, acorns, mushrooms, berries, and pine cones, as they feed only on plant foods. They carefully dry the obtained food on branches and stumps and store it in their home. Squirrels overwinter in hollows, but do not hibernate. They do not tolerate frost well, so they spend most of the winter in their houses. Squirrels equip the hollow in advance with tree bark, moss, found feathers, etc. In winter, squirrels change their color from red to grayish for camouflage purposes.
How beavers prepare for winter
Beavers prepare their homes in advance. They can place it at water level or underwater. To do this, they take down sticks and branches, which are masterfully tied with seaweed, grass or held together with clay. The house built by beavers under the ice is warm and safe. They do not freeze in 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 feeding on food.
How to get rid of field mice in the house?
If you have mice in your home, use time-tested, traditional methods.
:
- Mousetraps. At the same time, do not forget about safety measures so that people and pets do not get hurt.
- Repellers. Special devices are safe for people and pets, but have a negative effect on mice.
- Poisons can be used if all precautions are taken.
- Cat. The most effective, proven and safe “remedy” for mice. If you don't have a cat at home, borrow one from friends for a while.
Thus, it is quite possible to get rid of mice on your property or in your house. It is enough to create unbearable living conditions for them. And to prevent voles from appearing again, prevention is needed - maintaining cleanliness in the area, timely removal of plant debris and food waste.
How foxes prepare for winter
Preparation for winter begins with insulating your fur coat. Their fur becomes thick, fluffy, and bright. It perfectly protects them from severe frosts. Foxes live in burrows all year round. Often the place for digging a hole is some kind of hill. So that the fox could survey the entire forest. If she has moved far from her hole and a strong snowstorm begins, the fox may temporarily settle in another abandoned hole. Before returning to the hole, she carefully covers her tracks. The fox does not stock up for the winter, but regularly goes hunting. Its prey most often are rodents. In the absence of meat, she can eat berries or vegetables found. Nature has it this way that in winter, foxes have a reduced metabolism. Subcutaneous fat is wasted on keeping them warm in severe frosts. Fluffy paws allow foxes to move silently when hunting prey. The fox is resistant to severe frosts.
How bears prepare for winter
With the arrival of autumn, the bear is puzzled by finding and preparing housing for the winter. An ideal den would be a crevice in the mountain, a hole in the ground. He carefully insulates it with branches, leaves, moss, etc. Before hibernating, the bear eats subcutaneous fat at an accelerated pace. This fat is gradually lost throughout the winter. During a thaw, a bear may wake up for several days and begin searching for food.
Wild animals prepare for and survive winter in different ways. Some people live through severe frosts on the move, others sit them out by hiding in their homes, while others hibernate. Nature has wisely distributed features to all animals.
Among small rodents, widely distributed on almost all continents, the field mouse stands out. It belongs to the largest class of mammals and, according to scientific classification, belongs to the mouse family. There are more than 100 on the planet that can cause irreparable harm to crops and winter supplies. In addition, such as leptospirosis, tick-borne typhus fever, tularemia and other diseases.
Prevention measures
Cats and dogs will help prevent field mouse attacks in the fall. Also, if owls have chosen your yard, you should not drive them away. If the garden is full of holes, you can loosen the soil more often and disturb their tunnels, then the mice will begin to look for other places to store food for the winter.
You should not litter the yard with rags, or the garden with branches and garbage, or heaps of leaves. Only by approaching the problem in a comprehensive manner can voles be repelled.
Field mice can cause significant damage to crops during the growing period; they are also dangerous when settling in warehouses and cellars in winter.
Good to know!
Centuries-old practice has taught people to deal with annoying neighbors. Preventive measures and simple actions can easily get rid of rodents in the house. Sometimes, simply by spreading garlic and ash, you can scare away unwanted visitors.
Funny, smart animals and at the same time malicious “biters” of everything and everyone. They are often unfairly confused with their closest sisters - house mice. However, residents of free fields bring no less concern and harm to agriculture and households. Animals that are loved by cats and not loved by women and farmers are part of natural diversity.
The world is big enough for all species, we just need to coexist intelligently. Let's learn more about the field mouse, its habits, possible dangers and methods of control.
Characteristics of a small rodent
Field mice differ from their relatives in their small size. Miniature animals reach a maximum length of 13 cm. The long thin tail of an adult is 70% of the previous parameter. Its dimensions can be 7-10 cm. The animal has many names - field vole, meadow vole, striped vole, little one. The field mice in the photo seem harmless and quite charming creatures. Their appearance is familiar to almost every person, because field mice can often be found in outbuildings, granaries, vegetable gardens, personal plots, warehouses and residential buildings.
In nature, the most common types of pests are:
- common vole;
- underground;
- campagnol;
- steppe and yellow variegation;
- red and ginger mouse.
Specific features of external appearance are determined by belonging to a particular species. But despite this, they all have common features. The field mouse has a pointed muzzle ending in a neat nose. Miniature round eyes are almost black in color. Dense leathery ears are tilted slightly forward and are located in the upper part of the head, which is clearly visible in the photo of field mice. The dimensions of the auricle with a poorly developed blade on its outer edge vary between 9-14 mm. The animal's foot is quite wide and short (1.7-2.1 cm). Small claws on the paws are blunt.
On a note!
The well-developed legs of field mice allow them to run quickly, and their long tail serves as a kind of balancer.
The round body of the mouse, which is called a vole, is covered with thick hair. Short fur, tougher than that of other mouse representatives, becomes coarser in older individuals and peculiar soft needles are formed in it. The color of the fur coat can change depending on the region where it lives. It can be gray, brown, red, ocher. The whitish abdomen is covered with light hairs with a dark base. A clearly visible, distinct black or brown stripe runs along the entire back, which is a characteristic feature of this species of mouse.
Interesting!
The intensity of external coloring depends on the age of the rodent. The older the field mouse, the lighter the color of its fur. Individual hairs become gray with age.
The small skull of rodents is distinguished by an elongated nasal part with well-developed alveolar tubercles. Its dimensions are in the range of 2.5-2.8 cm. The oval, slightly flattened braincase of a mouse with a black stripe is limited by extensions of the frontal ridges. The wide interorbital space has well-developed ridges located along its edges. In rodents, the occipital and parietal bones touch.
A description of the field mouse would not be complete without noting the unique feature of the animal’s teeth. On the lower jaw of the animal there is a pair of long incisors. They erupt in the 2nd month of life of mice and grow constantly. Every day their size increases by 1-2 mm. Rodents have to wear them down all the time by biting various hard objects.
Quite often you can hear the question - how much does a field mouse weigh? The weight of a small animal ranges from 15 to 30 g. On average, an adult gains approximately 20 g in weight.
Lifestyle and behavioral characteristics
The distribution area of fauna is extensive. in Western and Eastern Europe, Asia. In the Russian Federation, the rodent lives in Primorye, Siberia, and the Urals. The pest is found near the Black and Azov Seas; the vole takes root well in moist interfluves. Mice feel comfortable at heights, rising above sea level to a height of up to 1.35 km, and also live in the field. In addition to these places, animals can be found:
- in overgrown meadows and small depressions;
- on collective farm fields and sunny edges of deciduous forests;
- in protective forest belts and copses;
- in residential and commercial buildings, basements, granaries;
In autumn, the meadow mouse moves into haystacks, stacks or stacks of straw.
Animals live in natural conditions in natural shelters or in self-dug holes, which are located at a depth of up to 1 meter. In size, the dwellings stretch 3-4 m in length. Mostly they are equipped with several outlets (from 2 to 4), one of which leads to a water source. The hole has a nesting chamber and several storerooms where it is convenient to store supplies for the winter.
Interesting!
In some behavioral features, field mice are similar to moles. When setting up a home, a male is able to throw away almost 60 kg of soil in a month.
In areas with warm climates, rodents are active throughout the year. In other countries, with the onset of cold weather, the processes of reproduction of the new generation slow down in animals. Field mice adapt to low temperatures and spend the winter in their burrows, but do not hibernate. The bravest individuals can overwinter in haystacks left in fields, in barns, outbuildings with available food, and even in people’s homes. The animals, which can be distinguished from other breeds of mice by a clear line on the back and a reddish nose, are extremely careful. They move silently, and upon noticing the slightest danger, they quickly run away.
On a note!
Mice are most active during twilight hours, but in the fall and winter they are awake throughout the day.
How field mice overwinter largely depends on the characteristics of the pest’s living conditions. Hibernation is not typical for this representative of the mouse family. The inhabitants of Russian open spaces cannot hibernate. During the summer, they manage to stock up on enough food for the winter. If the supply turns out to be insufficient, the vole risks dying. In winter, but only during a thaw, the rodent comes to the surface.
Pests that live in swampy areas build small spherical nests from grass and place them on fairly tall bushes. In nature, there are varieties of voles that can sleep in their burrow in winter. They begin to accumulate fat and nutrients in the summer. They need it to survive the winter safely and wake up with the onset of spring. All this information makes it possible to get an answer to the question of where restless field mice live in winter.
Reproduction
The breeding season for the vole mouse is from early spring to mid-autumn. In one season, the animal is capable of producing 3-4 offspring
. In rare cases, up to 5-6. Gestation of the cubs lasts 21-23 days. One litter usually produces 5-7 babies.
Babies are born helpless and blind, but they develop very quickly.
:
- 12-14 days after birth they begin to see clearly.
- 30 days after birth they become independent.
- Young individuals are capable of giving birth to cubs within 90-105 days after birth.
How long does a field mouse live? The lifespan of a field mouse can reach 7 years, but in the wild the animals usually live for a year or two.
Now imagine how quickly rodents can multiply in just one summer season, provided there is an abundance of food and sun.
Nutrition
Field mice are highly selective when it comes to nutrition.
They will never bring low-quality food into the hole. The summer period allows you to fill the animals' pantries with selected grains of wheat, rye, oats and other edible food, because its life in winter depends on what the rodent stores. The main food of field mice are products of plant origin:
- with great pleasure they gnaw young shoots, bark, and roots of herbaceous plants;
- spoil seedlings;
- mature vegetables, fruits, nuts.
The mouse with a stripe on its back willingly includes small insects, larvae, worms, bird eggs and even helpless chicks in its diet. Once in a person’s home, the pest no longer needs to stock up on food, because it is always available to them in large quantities. The question that interests many people about what the field mouse eats can be answered unequivocally - everything that can be eaten.
Interesting!
During the day, the animal must eat approximately 5 g of any food and drink 20 ml of liquid. The animal can replenish its missing water reserves through succulent vegetation.
What's best for them to sleep in?
Mice that stay for the winter in the climatic conditions of the middle zone prefer to do this in the following places:
- abandoned adits and mines;
- insulated attics of non-residential old houses and basements;
- deep and dry wells;
- large hollows;
- branched grottoes or caves.
Mice can spend the winter in any other suitable places. For example, among the shelters where bats spend the winter in Russia, one of the first positions is occupied by abandoned pipelines and buildings. Large pipes under rural bridges, in which streams or rivers used to flow, can also become a haven for animals. True, only in the southern regions of the country. They also make their winter quarters in the ruins of churches, estates and other ancient buildings.
