The field mouse is an animal known for its fertility and adaptability. The vole mouse is found in almost all climatic zones, but it does not live in deserts, tropical forests and the Arctic zone, does not climb high into the mountains and tries to avoid wetlands and very wet areas. In all other areas you can find one or another variety of field mouse. In total, about 60 species of field mice are known; they are very similar in habits and appearance; it is difficult for a non-specialist to distinguish between them. What all species of field mice have in common is their ability to cause damage to humans and agriculture. Field mice are the most common type of rodent pest.
Description
The field mouse is a rodent up to 12 cm in size, 70 percent of its body length is its tail. The mouse has a pointed muzzle with whiskers, beady eyes and round ears. The body is covered with thick short hair. The color depends on the living conditions - from light red to dark brown. The fur on the belly is lighter. In young individuals, the color is more intense; in older individuals, the coat becomes lighter and grayer if the mouse lives to an old age. A distinctive feature of all voles is a dark stripe running along the upper back.
The hind legs are longer than the front legs. The claws on all paws wear down because mice are constantly digging for food. The mouse can hold food with its front paws. Voles move quickly: they run, jump and swim.
Field mice have many natural enemies, so they rarely live long. We can say approximately how long a vole lives. Under favorable conditions and the absence of enemies, a mouse can even live up to ten years.
In appearance and body length, the field mouse differs little from house mice. Both types of rodents can coexist in the same territory, in the same household: brownies go out into the garden in search of food, field rodents sneak into the house.
Field mice, like many other species of rodents, have teeth that grow throughout their lives, so the animals have to grind them down. If this is not done, the animal will die.
Population and species status
According to scientists, there are more than 60 species and subspecies of such rodents in the world. At the same time, it is quite difficult to distinguish species from species if you do not use the method of gene analysis.
Interesting! Mice easily distinguish their relatives from representatives of another population, so they never mate with them. Until now, scientists have not figured out how they do this.
Until now, the genome of this rodent has not been deciphered, since the genetic material was discovered chaotically, and most of the information is located in the sex chromosomes. The number of chromosomes can be at the level of 17-64, and in females and males their number can be different. Despite this, all mice from the same litter are genetic clones.
The mouse population has a unique property that is associated with the “autotransplantation” of genes into the nucleus from cells (mitochondria) of other organs. Scientists have struggled with this problem of gene transplantation in humans for years to no avail, while a similar process in mice has been working for millennia. Scientists explain this by saying that over the next few million years, mice made a clear evolutionary leap.
The population size of voles varies by year and season, and the birth cycle is approximately 3-5 years. Under favorable natural conditions, there can be up to 2 thousand individuals per hectare of land, and in unfavorable years - only about a hundred individuals.
Lemmings and muskrats, like mice, also belong to the rodent family.
Forest vole close-up / bank vole close-up
Watch this video on YouTube
Lifestyle and habitats
Field mice live in families that include several generations. They are quite peaceful, do not aggressively divide the territory, and can get along with other families in the same area.
Mice do not hibernate during the winter. They endure cold weather, store supplies for the winter, dig quite deep holes with a large number of passages, storage rooms for supplies, and bedrooms. In wet and swampy areas, they do not dig holes, but build nests in trees and bushes, adapting to almost any living conditions.
Field mice typically live close to humans. For example, they can overwinter in stacks and sheaves left in fields. They also like to settle for temporary or permanent residence in deposits of construction and other waste, in barns, basements, cellars - where food can be found.
Field mice are predominantly nocturnal. The animals are very voracious; in a day, mice can eat a volume of food equal to their own weight.
Reproduction and offspring
Field mice reach sexual maturity at 3-3.5 months and are capable of producing 3-4 litters per year, each of which produces 5-7 babies. Their pregnancy lasts on average 22 days and ends with the appearance of blind and completely helpless cubs.
The pups develop very quickly and after about 3 weeks they are completely ready for independent living.
Interesting! Experts were able to record cases of pregnancy in 13-day-old field mice, which after 20 days gave birth to viable pups.
What harm do voles do to mice?
As mentioned above, mice are constantly forced to chew something in order to wear down their ever-growing teeth. Because of this, they damage fruit plants and their roots. They can also gnaw passages in wooden, brick and concrete buildings, in home and garden furniture.
Mice spoil the harvest - in the field, vegetable garden and garden. They eat any fruits, buds, inflorescences and whole plants. They also disrupt the root system of plants, intensively breaking through tunnels in the ground.
If mice make their way into a barn, basement, basement, grain or vegetable storage, they destroy or severely spoil the products stored there. Moreover, they not only eat them, but also leave their feces on them. It is also worth considering that these are very active animals that are found in a variety of places, including garbage dumps. Moving around the surrounding area, they carry pathogens of dangerous diseases on their paws and fur: tularemia, toxoplasmosis, typhoid, leptospirosis and others.
Diet
The diet of field mice is quite varied and varies depending on the “place of residence” .
The animal feeds very actively and can eat as much food in a day as it weighs.
- In the steppe . The vole usually feeds on grasses and plant roots, insect larvae, and cereals;
- In the meadow . The field mouse eats succulent stems and bulbs of plants, grass seeds, various berries, and small insects;
- In the forest . Field mice can often be found on forest edges; they eagerly eat tree bark, green leaves, buds, young shoots of bushes, mushrooms, nuts and berries;
- In the taiga . The field mouse, which lives in Siberian forests, is slightly different in color; its fur has a reddish tint. In the taiga, the vole has something to eat: lingonberries, cranberries, nuts, various small insects, cones, buds and tree leaves.
Rodent control
There are benefits from field mice and other types of small rodents. First, they carry plant seeds, helping to expand their range. Secondly, they are an important part of the food chain. Field mice have many enemies in nature: owls and other birds of prey, foxes, wolves, and other predators. One owl eats up to a thousand mice a year. The presence of natural enemies prevents the mouse population from becoming too large. But when the conditions are favorable for them, there is plenty of food, there is a place where they can hide from predators, there can be a lot of field mice. Such favorable conditions, as a rule, are close to a person: in the garden of a private house, in a country house. In this case, the natural enemy becomes a domestic cat or a hunting dog. This is good protection against mice.
If there is no cat or dog, you need to choose one of the methods of struggle:
- Destruction using mousetraps, traps. They come in different types: traps, loop traps, etc. Glue traps are common: glue is applied to a sheet of paper or cardboard, to which the rodent sticks. Such glue, for example, is produced by Moscow. The glue does not dry out within two weeks and does not lose its adhesive properties. It is intended for use by the population in everyday life. This method of control is effective when there are a small number of rodents on the site.
- Ultrasound or vibration repellent. There are special devices that emit sound that is unbearable for mice. A person does not feel it. There are also devices that are inserted into a mouse hole: they vibrate and literally drive mice out of the area.
- Repelling with improvised means. Strong odors are unpleasant for field mice: turpentine, kerosene, vinegar, essential oils. You can soak rags with these products and lay them out on mouse paths. Mice also do not like ash: it can be scattered next to supplies so that pests do not get to them. You can also scare away field mice from the area by planting elderberries, garlic, and calendula on it.
- Baits with poison. The simplest option is to add gypsum to mice treats: it will become soggy in the stomach, swell and form a plug. You can also mix food that is attractive to mice with crushed glass. But the most effective way is bait with a special means for killing mice. Such chemicals in the form of ready-made baits or gels for adding to baits are produced, for example, by Mediret gel based on 0.1% bromadiolone. The product, 20-30 g, is placed in small containers (such as bait boxes, trays, boxes), plastic containers, on substrates made of thick paper, polyethylene, plastic. The product is placed in the habitats of rats and house mice. Indoors, containers with bait are placed along the paths of movement of rodents and especially in corners, along walls and partitions, under furniture, near burrows. Place the bait in dry places. The distance between the locations of the bait containers varies from 1 to 15 m, depending on the area of the room, its clutter, as well as the type and number of rodents. When the number of rodents is high, the bait is laid out frequently and in small portions.
When choosing a means to combat field mice, it is important to remember that a poisoned rodent can be eaten or bitten by a domestic animal, which can lead to its poisoning and even death.
It is impossible to completely destroy all mice, but it is possible and necessary to control their number. To prevent them from bothering you, it is important to keep the area and house in order, and to prevent the formation of debris deposits in which voles could live. In the house, it is important to keep food in closed packages and containers and clean it regularly. When mice appear, it is important to start fighting immediately, rather than waiting for the population to rapidly increase.
Field mice and voles: how to deal with them
Small rodents spread quickly and are uncontrollable in large numbers. Therefore, it is necessary to begin protecting the area from mice immediately when they first appear. If they multiply uncontrollably, they enter the home, spoil supplies, communications, and transmit diseases.
Mice control measures include
- prevention;
- expulsion of rodents from the site;
- use of folk remedies;
- mousetraps and traps.
All means of control are described in detail using the links to the articles below.
Over the long history of fighting mice, people have collected the most effective methods. More details about them.
Safe and effective means of protecting your home from mice can grow on the site. Read more about their use.
A mousetrap is the first thing you think about when there is a mouse in the house. Types and applications of the tool in this article.
Spreading
Field mice are quite widespread throughout the globe. Important factors that determine their residence in a particular area are the presence of vegetation and sufficient humidity.
Habitat
The vole can be found in many parts of the world. These mice live:
- in Central and Eastern Europe;
- in Mongolia, Korea, China;
- In Kazakhstan;
- in the Urals and southern Siberia;
- in North America;
- in the northern regions of India, in Libya.
Field mice are found in the Ciscaucasia, the Baltic states, and on the coast of the Azov and Black Seas.
Habitats
Voles prefer to inhabit open spaces, for example, meadows, fields, and sparse thickets of bushes. In cities they settle in parks, gardens, and cemeteries. The home of field mice is either natural shelters or holes dug at a depth of 10 cm. The vole's hole is quite simple. It consists of 1-2 nesting chambers, which are connected by tunnels with 3-4 exits to the surface. Voles living in flooded or swampy areas can do without burrows, making nests on the grass or in the branches of bushes.
Natural enemies
When the mouse population decreases, the number of owls and foxes living in the same territory may also decrease. It is voles that predominate in their diet. These rodents are large enough to feed, and when a nest or hole is discovered, the predator gets a lot of food. Owls are also nocturnal and, thanks to their unique hearing aid, can detect the slightest movement of a rodent several tens of meters away. Scientists suggest that these large birds are able to discern even the shine of voles' eyes even in the dark.
Domestic cats will not disdain to snack on mice either. It is not without reason that when traces of voles were discovered in barns, they resorted to their help. Cats are considered better mouse catchers than cats. But there are no statistical data on this matter.
Voles are ideal as pets - they are cute, playful, and live up to 7 years, just like guinea pigs. You can feed mice with grain mixtures, young fresh plants, and thin cut tree branches. But voles pose a threat to agriculture, destroying vast areas of cereal crops and root crops.
Peculiarities
The vole is a type of rodent that is small in size. An adult reaches a length of about 13 cm. Most of it is the tail (70%), and the rest is the body. The mouse has a pointed muzzle and small brown eyes. Her ears are folded back to her head and tilted forward slightly. They are located at the top. Ear length is from 9 to 14 mm.
The fur of this animal species is coarse and tough. In most cases it is gray, brown or beige. A dark stripe can be seen on the spine. The belly of the rodent is painted white.
The color of a mouse directly depends on its age. Older individuals have lighter fur, and vice versa, younger individuals have darker fur. Older animals develop gray hairs.
The field mouse is common in Europe. However, it can also be found in other places, such as Korea, Taiwan and Mongolia. The animal does not like forests and steppes. She likes meadows, arable lands, edges of deciduous forests and vegetable gardens. Sometimes she settles in greenhouses, cellars, and even where people live. With the onset of winter, mice begin to look for shelter. Most often these are haystacks and straw piles.
The breeding season of voles lasts from spring to autumn. During this time they produce an average of four offspring. In one litter there are from 5 to 7 mice.
These rodents are most active in the evening and at night. In autumn and winter they are active throughout the day. It is noteworthy that voles do not hibernate during the cold season.
Mice live in natural shelters or in self-dug holes. The burrows are about 4 m long. One of the 4 exits will invariably lead to a watering hole. Typically, a burrow consists of several “rooms”: 1 nesting chamber and 3 chambers for storing supplies. The latter are located at a depth of about 1 m. Those voles that live in swamps build homes on high bushes.
This type of rodent has several obvious differences from its counterparts:
- Voles are divided into two types: western and eastern. They have different colors and sizes.
- The main difference is the strip along the spine.
- Slightly larger than regular mice.
- Voles are very similar to Daurian hamsters. The only thing that distinguishes them is their long tail.
- Unlike other species, they have a longer period of puberty. On average it is 100 days.
- The field mouse is characterized by feeding movements.
- Unlike other species, they can live in swampy areas.
Water vole mating season
Mating time begins at the end of February and ends only with the onset of cold weather. During this period, the water vole, the description of which you are reading, is capable of producing up to 6 litters. Very often, babies born at the end of March mature by the beginning of autumn and can themselves bear offspring.
Pregnancy is short-term - only 20-22 days. There are usually up to 8 defenseless and naked babies in a litter. Only on the third day of birth do they grow fur, and on the ninth day they are able to see the world around them. At two weeks of age, the entire body of the cubs is covered with warm fur. Young individuals leaving home leave their parents forever.
DID YOU KNOW THAT...
Babies recover by only 1 year every day during the first month of life. A water vole can breed again only 22 days after birth. During a population surge of 1 hectare. Up to 100 rodents of this species live. The water vole in the Netherlands is a serious enemy of tulip fields, eating flower bulbs in winter.
Is the vole an omnivore?
Basically, the diet of voles consists of plant foods, but they also do not disdain small insects and larvae, eating them in large quantities (especially in the spring and summer).
In winter cold, field mice often rush closer to warmth and attack residential buildings, warehouses, and settle in large numbers in stacks of bread.
Having chosen a house for the winter, the vole does not have to choose what to eat, so it eats everything that it can steal: cheese, sausage, lard.
Harm to summer residents and gardeners, farms
In most cases they destroy agriculture. Moreover, they harm both fields with growing plants and granaries. During mass reproduction, irreparable damage is caused. In winter, field mice live in grain stacks and barns.
In gardens and orchards, tomatoes, watermelons, potatoes, carrots, and sunflowers are damaged. If it gets into the cellar, it completely ruins the preparations for the winter. In spring, they feed on shoots and bark of fruit trees.
These mice are carriers of tick-borne typhus fevers and hemorrhagic nephrosonephritis. They can be causative agents of leptospirosis, tularemia, and various erysipelas. The detection of such diseases in humans leads to death.
What does a mouse eat in the forest? What do mice eat?
A mouse is a small animal from the order of rodents, which includes about 400 species that differ in appearance and habitat. Representatives of the mouse family live in tropical thickets, deciduous and coniferous forests. You can find a mouse in the meadow and in the steppe, taiga and mountains, in tropical thickets and even in a swamp. On the territory of Russia they are more common, and. Often these animals settle near human habitation. Rodents are practically omnivores, adapting to different living conditions. You can find out what mice eat in this article.
Peculiarities
Mice are small animals whose maximum body length (depending on) can reach up to 19 cm
These are very timid creatures, showing caution at every rustle and sound. Sensing danger, the animals quickly hide or start running. The language of communication for these small rodents is squeaking.
They are able to live both alone and in a small family
The language of communication for these small rodents is squeaking. They are able to live either alone or in a small family.
In autumn, the mouse tries to make supplies that it feeds on in winter. She lays them in nests that she makes from grass stems. Rodents also dig complex systems of underground passages and use abandoned holes to serve them as shelter.
What do mice eat?
On a note!
Under natural conditions, the animals live 9-10 months. The life expectancy of mice in captivity is much higher (up to 7-8 years).
What do wild rodents like?
In nature, wild mice live where there is food that they can eat. They set up their home and replenish their food supplies throughout the fall. In search of food, mice usually leave their homes at night. Rodents prefer to eat plant foods. Animals living in the forest eat grass seeds, tree fruits, plant tops, nuts, acorns and mushrooms. They can also eat insects: various beetles, grasshoppers, spiders, caterpillars, crickets and even worms.
During the cold season, these mammals do not hibernate; they continue to lead an active lifestyle and, in case of hunger, begin to panic in search of food for themselves. In winter, animals cannot always be seen, as they try to move under the snow.
Meadow, steppe and field mice eat grain (millet, buckwheat, barley, wheat and oats), clover and fruits. The vole can also feed on cereal stems and seeds, and loves seedlings and flowers. The green part of plants, various buds, roots, leaves and shoots are what mice that live in swamps and along river banks feed on.
On a note!
Often mice settle in beehives, where they begin to feed not only on dead, but also on living bees. In addition, they eat honey and bee bread, which is necessary for bees in early spring.
There are also mice in the house. They settle there when their supplies run out, causing damage to the structure and the harvest.
What do house mice like?
Nutrition of domestic rodents
The biggest gluttons can be called rodents that live next to a person, as well as near his home. Most often, these are small white animals that quickly get used to humans and can be trained. Mice that live in people's homes feed not only on cereals, they eat various foods: potatoes, beets, carrots, they can eat quail eggs and even sausage. Mice are known to eat cockroaches at home.
The favorite foods of mice are apples, melons, and grapes. They can also eat bread, greens in the form of lettuce, young nettle shoots, raspberry or apple branches. They love to eat dried fruits, zucchini, cucumbers, and green parts of plants (parsley, dill).
Some members of the mouse family do not exclude raw meat from their diet. There may even be a mouse of smaller mice. Thus, large yellow-throated mice are capable of eating their own kind - small brothers living in a field or forest. However, this is only possible if they are in the same room or cage. In nature, manifestations of cannibalism are practically not observed. This is explained by the fact that small animals are much more mobile and nimble than their large relatives.
Control measures: deratization measures
Sanitary and epidemiological well-being is due to the successful implementation of the entire complex of deratization measures, including organizational, preventive, exterminatory and sanitary educational measures to combat rodents.
Organizational measures include a set of the following measures:
- administrative;
- financial and economic;
- scientific and methodological;
- material.
Preventive measures are designed to eliminate favorable living conditions for rodents and exterminate them using the following measures:
- engineering and technical, including the use of various devices that automatically prevent rodents from accessing premises and communications;
- sanitary and hygienic, including maintaining cleanliness in the premises, basements, and areas of the facilities;
- agro- and forestry engineering, including measures for the cultivation of forests in recreational areas to the state of forest parks and maintaining these areas in a state free from weeds, fallen leaves, dead and drying trees; This same group of activities includes deep plowing of the soil in the fields;
- preventive deratization, including measures to prevent the restoration of the number of rodents using chemical and mechanical means.
The task of carrying out this group of activities lies with legal entities and individual entrepreneurs operating specific facilities and the surrounding territory.
Extermination activities are carried out in populated areas, on agricultural lands, as well as various foci of infectious diseases in order to completely clear objects of rodents and are reduced to the following methods of deratization:
- physical, involving the use of mechanical devices, ultrasonic emitters, glue traps, electrical barriers to destroy rodents;
- chemical, during which rodenticides, rodenticides with synergists in various forms and repellents are used;
- biological, including the use of pathogenic microflora, parasites and predatory animals to destroy rodents.
These events are carried out by legal entities and individual entrepreneurs with special training.
