Mammals and rodents - photos of rodents. Gray rat: description, photo, habitat, reproduction Rat with a fluffy tail name

Despite their compactness, decorative rats will never become easy pets to live in a city apartment. However, the rat's intelligence and cleanliness more than compensate for the possible costs of its maintenance.

Why have a rat at home?

Such a question is unlikely to arise before a person for whom a rodent is the personification of intelligence, agility and charm. A decorative rat is rarely acquired by accident: as a rule, it is a conscious and firm decision. But even if the appearance of the animal was accompanied by a touch of spontaneity, its owner quickly becomes a fanatic of rats, endlessly moved by their mischief and cunning.

The only thing that seriously depresses rat owners is the short life of the pupil, but, coming to terms with this, they acquire a new rat every 2-3 years.

Types and breeds of decorative rats

These domestic rodents belong to the species "gray" and occasionally "black" rat, included (in turn) in the genus, numbering 137 species and 570 subspecies.

This is interesting! Biologists have found that gray rats run at a speed of 10 km/h and jump up almost 80 cm. But this is not the limit: an angry or panicked rat can jump 2 m in height.

The classification of decorative rats is quite bizarre due to the abundance of diverse parameters (color, type of coat, nuances of physique), which do not allow having a single standard. Sometimes rats are given dog/cat names such as rex, sphinx and husky.

TOP 7 popular varieties:

• standard– smooth-haired massive creatures weighing up to 0.5 kg. The tail (20 cm) is almost equal in length to the body (24 cm). They have wide, rounded, but moderately large ears;
• satin– characterized by a deep shine of the coat. The fur is pleasant to the touch, and the hairs are long, thin and smooth;
• dumbo– stand out with low-set and rounder ears on a rather sharp muzzle. The body shape (pear-shaped) is reminiscent of tailless rats, differing from them in having a longer tail and a shortened body;
• sphinx- an absolutely hairless variety, including the absence of a mustache. Infant pigmentation disappears with age, and the rodent's folded skin takes on a pure pink color;
• anurans- rats that are born without a tail. The first such individual appeared (as a result of an unplanned mutation) in 1983. The body resembles a pear;
• rex– these rats are endowed not only with thick curly hair, but also with short, dashingly curled mustaches. The fur (compared to standard ones) is stiffer and less shiny;
• downy– representatives of this species are covered with sparse translucent fur, devoid of guard hairs. But downy ones have curly short antennae.

The fur of decorative domestic rats has a variety of colors, sometimes with a combination of three shades. The color of the iris also does not tend to be uniform: eyes can be red, ruby, black or differently colored.

Lifespan of pet rats

It is estimated at 2-3 years. According to this indicator, domesticated animals are superior to their wild counterparts, who end their earthly journey at the age of one. Free rats die in the teeth of predators, at the hands of people, from hunger, cold and disease, while their tamed relatives eat and drink plenty and can be seen by veterinarians.

But artificial, more comfortable conditions cannot be a panacea for diseases to which all rats are susceptible. Therefore, stories that, with good care, domestic rats cross the threshold of 5-7 years, should be classified as fables. It is possible that you will come across a particularly resistant and healthy specimen, but even it will not last more than three years.

This is interesting! Not long ago, researchers at the University of Chicago proved that rats are compassionate, and to a much greater extent than previously thought. In a series of experiments, rodents tried not only to open a cage with a comrade locked in it, but also shared the last piece of chocolate with him.

These animals need constant supervision. You can't lock a rat in a cage and go on a cruise for a week. When planning a vacation, you need to find a volunteer who will feed your treasure. A rodent cannot be kept in captivity all the time. He should walk a lot and regularly: just make sure that during walks he doesn’t try any utensils on his teeth.

With their legendary omnivory, domestic rats are quite selective in food, and they are also predisposed to some serious ailments, the treatment of which will cost you a pretty penny. When purchasing a rat at the request of a child, you must understand that you will take care of it yourself. And if you spare no effort and time, the animal will grow up tame and sociable.

Selecting and equipping a cage

The rat cage should be spacious, with dimensions of at least 60*40*60 cm for one animal. The interval between the rods is no more than 2 cm (less for children).

What is needed to set up a cage:

• nipple-type automatic drinker (with a metal spout);
• heavy hanging feeders (ceramic/metal);
• corner tray filled with leaf shavings or cat litter;
• a small shelter for the animal;
• mattress on the bottom (absorbs unpleasant odors);
• shelf, aka the second floor of the cage.

All interior elements can be bought in specialized stores or made with your own hands, spending a little time.

This is interesting! Domestic rats love to relax in hammocks, which often also become a place for showdowns and even storehouses where the tailed rats store their precious food supplies.

Care and hygiene

Decorative rats are clean animals and do not need bath procedures. Washing is indicated if the pet:

For bathing you will need a basin, a special shampoo (can be for cats or children), a toothbrush with soft bristles (as a washcloth), and a couple of towels. Bathe your rat in a bathroom where there is no draft and the air temperature is at least +20 degrees. Make sure that water does not flow into her eyes and ears.

Remember that when washing you remove the natural odors by which the rat is recognized by its relatives. This can lead to misunderstandings if you keep multiple rodents. Watch their reaction when you return your washed companion to them.

What to feed your pet rat: diet

For food to be healthy, the diet must contain fresh greens, vegetables/fruits, cereals and grains. Ready-made grain mixtures are also suitable, but keep in mind that tailed gourmets can feast on their individual components, scattering others around the cage. Don't feed your rat food from your table. Cold and hot food is prohibited, as well as:

• sweets, including chocolate;
• smoked meats and pickles;
• raw potatoes, artichokes and beans;
• Brussels sprouts/red cabbage;
• tofu and spinach;
• green bananas;
• alcoholic/carbonated drinks.

Rats can be poisoned by plants such as azalea, begonia, carnation, hydrangea, calla lily, crocus, potato/tomato leaves, lily of the valley, spurge, narcissus, mistletoe, nightshade, rhododendron, cyclamen, agave, amaryllis, dieffenbachia, geranium, hyacinth, horse chestnut , cherry/tobacco leaves, lupine, myrtle, oleander, ferns, ivy, yew and tulip.

In the off-season, you need to add vitamins and sprouted oat/wheat seeds to your food.

Rat health - diseases and prevention

The rodent body is susceptible to an unfavorable environment (drafts, high humidity, cold) and reacts to poor nutrition. If your pet is not born with good health, it is possible that you will have to treat him for diseases such as:

To keep your rat happy and healthy, follow simple rules. Prevent pets from being injured while moving around the room and protect them from drafts. Clean your cage and apartment more often. Do not fill the tray with pine sawdust. Eliminate stressful situations that can weaken the body's defenses. Remember that any strong odor (including tobacco) can make your pet feel unwell.

Reproduction of decorative rats

This activity can only be done by an experienced rat breeder: uncontrolled breeding of rats is completely unacceptable. The female is ready for fertilization at 6-8 months. The first pregnancy after the age of one year is fraught with complications. Estrus occurs once every 4-10 days, and mating takes seconds. Gestation of cubs (depending on their number) lasts 21-25 days.

At this time, the female should drink a lot and eat properly: liver, tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, grapes, garlic and raisins are excluded from the menu. As a rule, a day before giving birth, the rat stops eating, and before that it sets up a “nursery”. If the cage is multi-tiered, a nest is built at the bottom to prevent babies from falling, lining it with toilet paper and napkins.

Childbirth lasts 1-3 hours: the mother usually eats the lethargic rat pups, so they immediately begin to squeak and move. The lactating female is provided with a rich diet, including lactic acid products and calcium gluconate. While the baby rats are suckling their mother's milk, they are not picked up. A rat with a foreign scent may eat its mother.

This is interesting! It only takes 50 milliseconds for a rat to determine the location of the source of the scent that reaches it.

Mouse family

(Muridae)****

* * * * Mice are the largest family of modern rodents and mammals in general. It has about 120 genera and approximately 400-500 species.

No other family gives us such a thorough idea of ​​what rodents are, such as mice. The family is not only the richest in genera and species, but also one of the most widespread, and, thanks to its tendency to follow a person everywhere, it is even now capable of even greater distribution, at least as regards some individual genera. The members of this family, without exception, are small in stature, but this disadvantage is fully compensated by the number of individuals. Wanting to give a general picture of the appearance of these animals, we can say that the distinctive features of the family are: a sharp snout, large, black eyes, wide, deeply concave ears covered with sparse hair, a long, hairy or often bare-scaly tail and small, thin legs. delicate paws with five toes, as well as a short soft coat.
More or less in relation to these external changes of the basic type is the structure of the teeth. Typically, the incisors are narrow and thicker than wide, with a wide sharp edge or a simple point, they are flat or convex on the front surface, white or colored, and sometimes with a longitudinal groove in the middle. Three molars in each row, decreasing from front to back, form the rest of the dental apparatus, but their number is also reduced to two or increased to four in the upper jaw. They are either covered with enamel tubercles and have two roots, or with transverse folds and lateral notches. Chewing wears them down, and then the surface becomes smooth or folded. In some species cheek pouches are also found, but in others they are completely absent; Some people have a simple stomach, others have a very constricted stomach, etc.
Mice are cosmopolitans, but, unfortunately, in the worst sense of the word. All parts of the globe know representatives of this family, and those fortunate islands that have hitherto been spared by them will, in the course of time, certainly be populated by at least one species, since many of the mice have a passion for travel. Mice inhabit all countries, and although they prefer the plains of temperate and warm latitudes to the harsh mountainous areas or the cold north, they are also found where the border of vegetation reaches, therefore, in mountainous areas they reach the line of eternal snow*.

* Mice are especially diverse in the tropics of Africa and Asia, but in the natural landscapes of the temperate zone, they are inferior in number and diversity to voles and other hamsters. The Western Hemisphere and remote oceanic islands have mastered only 4-5 species of mice already in historical times, becoming companions of man and using his swimming equipment. Contrary to popular belief, only a small part of the family members are attracted to anthropogenic landscapes and have become synanthropic animals.

Russia is home to 12-15 mouse species from 5 genera. Well-appointed areas, fertile fields, plantations are, of course, their favorite habitats, but swampy areas, the banks of rivers and streams are also quite suitable for them, and even skinny, dry plains barely covered with grass and bushes still provide them with the opportunity for existence . Some species avoid the proximity of human settlements, others, on the contrary, impose themselves on a person like uninvited guests and follow him wherever he establishes a new settlement, even across the sea. They inhabit houses and courtyards, barns and stables, gardens and fields, meadows and forests, everywhere causing harm and disaster with their teeth. Only a few species live alone or in pairs, most live in societies, and some species are found in countless herds. Almost all have an extraordinary ability to reproduce; the number of young in one litter alone ranges from 6 to 21, and most species give birth several times a year, not even excluding winter.
Mice are adapted in every way to torment and torment people, and the whole structure of the body seems to especially help them in this. Agile and agile in their movements, they are excellent at running, jumping, climbing, swimming, penetrating through the narrowest holes, and if they do not find access, they use their sharp teeth to make their way through. They are quite smart and cautious, but at the same time daring, shameless, arrogant, cunning and courageous; all their senses are refined, but their sense of smell and hearing are far superior to the rest. Their food consists of all edible substances of the plant and animal kingdom*.

* The secret of mouse success is a good ability to adapt to changing conditions. Mice climb well, run well, can dig holes, and there are semi-aquatic forms. Almost all mice are characterized by nocturnal or twilight activity. They are widely omnivorous in diet. Finally, in mice there is a rapid change of generations, a high rate of reproduction and high mortality.

Seeds, fruits, roots, bark, leaves, grass, which constitute their natural food, are devoured by them no less readily than insects, meat, fat, blood and milk, butter and cheese, skin and bones, and what they cannot eat, they will at least gnaw and bite, like, for example, paper and wood. They drink water very rarely, but they are extremely fond of more nutritious liquids and try to get them in the most cunning ways. At the same time, they always devastate much more than they eat, and therefore become the most unpleasant enemies of man, inevitably arousing all his hatred; the cruelty that he allows himself in pursuing them, from this point of view, if not excusable, is still understandable. Only a very few of them are harmless and harmless animals and deserve our affection for their dapper appearance, charming movements and good-natured disposition. These include masters in the art of construction, who build their nests better than all other mammals and, due to their small numbers and insignificant food consumption, are not as harmful as their relatives, while other species - also a kind of builders, building their homes underground - become hated precisely because of this circumstance. Some species living in cold and temperate countries undergo hibernation and prepare supplies for the winter**, while others sometimes migrate in countless crowds, which, however, usually ends in their death.

* * Mice undoubtedly store food for the winter, but do not hibernate.

Few breeds are suitable for keeping in captivity, because only the smallest part of the entire family is capable of being easily tamed and is distinguished by a peaceful attitude towards each other. The rest, even in the cage, remain unpleasant, perky, evil creatures who repay with evil the friendship and care devoted to them. Actually, mice do not bring any benefit to humans; even if they sometimes use the skins of one type or another or even eat their meat, this cannot compensate for the enormous harm that this entire family causes.
In everyday life, there are two main groups: rats and mice. This same division is also recognized by science***. Rats are more clumsy and more disgusting, while mice are more beautiful and pretty. In the former, the tail has about 200-260 scaly rings, in the latter from 120 to 180; those legs are thick and strong, those legs are slender and thin; Adult rats are significantly larger than their relatives. In terms of lifestyle, rats themselves differ from real mice quite sharply.

* * * These names do not carry any taxonomic meaning, but only indicate the approximate size of the animal.

With sufficient grounds we can assume that the rats living in Europe did not initially belong to the native animals and only later moved to us. In the writings of ancient writers there is only one single place that could indicate rats; however, it remains unclear what species Amyntas could mean, the message of which is given by Aelian. According to some reports, the black rat appeared in Europe and Germany earlier than others, followed by the Pasyuk.
It will be enough if I describe the two most famous species, the black rat and the pasyuka.
Black rat(Battus rattus) reaches 35 cm in length, with a body up to 16 cm long and a tail up to 19 cm, the body is dark, brownish-black on top, slightly lighter below, grayish-black*. The hair, dark gray at the base, has a greenish metallic tint. The legs are gray-brown, slightly lighter on the sides. There are 260-270 scaly rings on the relatively long tail. Albinos are not uncommon.

* It is believed that Europe was first populated by the so-called brown rat, then it was replaced by a new wave - the black rat itself.

It is impossible to determine with certainty when this species appeared in Europe. Albert Magnus, the first of the zoologists, describes it as an animal found in Germany. Judging by this, he already lived in Europe in the 13th century. Gesner describes this rat as an animal that is "more familiar to many than loved." The Bishop of Autun at the beginning of the 15th century pronounces a church curse on her; In Sondershausen, a day of prayer and repentance is established to get rid of rats.

It is very possible that these animals come from Persia, where they are still found in incredible numbers**.

Until the first half of the last century, only this species was found in Europe, but since that time the Pasyuk began to challenge its place, and with such success that it had to give way everywhere. Although the black rat is still significantly distributed throughout all parts of the earth, it rarely appears in closed masses, and is scattered almost everywhere alone. In Germany it seems to have disappeared everywhere. She also followed man to all latitudes of the globe and traveled with him by land and sea around the world. There is not the slightest doubt that before it had not been found either in America, or in Australia, or in Africa, but ships carried it to all shores, and from the shores it moved further and further inland. Now it is also found in the southern parts of Asia, especially in India, Africa and mainly in Egypt and Morocco, as well as in the Cape of Good Hope, America, Australia and the Pacific Islands.
Pasyuk(Battus norvegicus) is much larger, body length 42 cm, including 18 cm tail length, coat color is different on the back and belly*. The upper part of the body and tail are brownish-gray, the lower part of the body is grayish-white, both parts are demarcated. The undercoat is mostly pale gray. The tail has about 210 scaly rings. Sometimes there are individuals completely black, white with red eyes, roan and piebald.

* Pasyuk, also called gray, red, or Norwegian ship rat, occasionally reaches a length of 28 cm, with a tail length of 23 cm and a weight of over half a kilogram. According to some reports, sometimes rats of even more impressive size appear as a result of mutations.

It is highly likely that the pasyuk came to us from Asia, namely from India or Persia**.

* * According to one version, the pasyuk’s homeland is China, and it came to Europe from the east, crossing large rivers, such as the Volga, no earlier than the middle of the 16th century.

It is quite possible that Elian already had it in mind when he said that the “Caspian mouse” at a certain time migrates in infinite numbers, fearlessly swimming across rivers, with each animal holding the tail of the one in front with its teeth. “If they attack the fields,” he says, “then they undermine the grain and climb trees for fruits, but in turn become prey for birds of prey that fly in whole clouds and many foxes living there. In size they are in no way inferior to the ichneumon, they are very angry and they are toothy and have such strong teeth that they can even gnaw through iron, like the Babylonian mice, whose delicate skins are exported to Persia, where they are used for the lining of dresses.” Pallas is the first to describe the pasyuk as undoubtedly belonging to European animals, and reports that in the fall of 1727, after one earthquake, it appeared in large numbers in Europe from the Caspian countries. In Turkmenistan, according to the testimony of A. Walter, it was not considered a native animal and in the last decade it was not yet encountered at all in Ashgabat and Merv, where the Russian railway has probably brought it now***.

* * * Currently, the gray rat is distributed throughout all populated areas of Russia, including the Arctic, and is absent only on some high-Arctic islands and a number of regions of Central and Eastern Siberia.

At the beginning of the last century, it crossed the Volga near Astrakhan in large herds and from there quickly spread to the west. Almost at the same time, namely in 1732, he was transported by ship from the East Indies to England and then began his journey around the world from here as well. It appeared in East Prussia in 1750, in Paris in 1753, and in 1780 it was already known throughout Germany, in Switzerland only since 1809, and in Denmark from about the same time it has been considered a native animal. In 1755 it was transported to North America and here, in the same way, within a very short time it achieved incredible distribution, but in 1825 it penetrated not far beyond Kingston to the north of Canada and in the past decade had not yet reached the upper reaches of the Missouri.
However, it is reliably known that it is now widespread in all parts of the Great Ocean and is found even on the most deserted and secluded islands. Being larger and stronger than the black rat, it takes over everywhere the places in which it previously lived, and increases in number to the same extent as it decreases*.

* Since the ecological niches of gray and black rats are not identical, complete displacement of one species by the other did not occur. The black rat is more thermophilic, is the best climber, and in places where it lives together with the pasyuki it moves away from competition to the upper floors and attics.

In their way of life, in their morals and habits, as well as in their habitats, both types of rats are so similar that when describing one, you depict the other. If we accept that pasyuki nest more often in the lower rooms of buildings and mainly in damp cellars and basements, drainpipes, sluices, cesspools and garbage pits and along river banks, while the black rat prefers the upper parts of houses, for example, grain barns, attics, then There will be very little left that is not common to both breeds. Both types of these harmful animals live in all sorts of nooks and crannies of human dwellings and all places that provide them with the opportunity to obtain food for themselves. From the cellar to the attic, from the state rooms to the latrine, from the palace to the hut - they are found everywhere**.

* * Pasyuki can even live in refrigerators with a constant temperature below 10 degrees below zero. In general, there are entire populations of gray rats that live year-round, or only in the summer outside buildings - in fields, vegetable gardens, orchards, parks, and vacant lots. In the southern regions of Russia they also inhabit natural landscapes, preferring near-water biotopes.

They live where there is at least the slightest possibility of existence, however, the black rat still has more rights to the name of a domestic animal and, if possible, only moves a little away from the human home itself. These rats, gifted both physically and spiritually with all qualities, in order to become enemies of man, do not cease to torment, bother, bother and constantly cause harm to him. Neither a fence, nor a wall, nor a door, nor a lock protects against them; where there is no road, they make one for themselves, gnaw and tear out passages through the strongest oak floorboards and thick walls. Only if the foundation is deeply buried in the ground, if all the cracks between the stones are covered with strong cement and, perhaps, as a precaution, a layer of broken glass is poured between the stone walls, only then can one consider oneself somewhat safe. But it’s a disaster for a well-protected space if even one stone in the wall becomes loose, because in that case they will certainly find a loophole there! And this destruction of homes, this terrible gnawing in all directions of the walls of our houses is still the least of the evils caused by rats. They do much more harm by looking for food for themselves. They eat everything that is edible. A person does not eat anything that rats do not also eat, and this applies not only to eating, but also to drinking it. Not content with the already rich selection of foods, they attack everything equally greedily, and sometimes even animals. The dirtiest refuse of human economy is still suitable for them; rotting carrion finds lovers in them. They eat leather and horn, grains and tree bark - in a word, everything you can imagine, plant and animal matter, and what they cannot eat, they at least chew. They sometimes cause significant damage to sugarcane and coffee plantations. There are examples, the reliability of which can be vouched for, that they ate small children alive, and every more prosperous landowner experienced how cruelly rats pursue his yard animals. They eat holes in the body of very fat pigs, eat away the swimming membranes between the toes of geese sitting tightly pressed together, and drag young ducks into the water and drown them there*.

* By the nature of their diet, rats are more likely to be carnivores than omnivores; plant foods included in the diet are usually high-calorie - seeds, fruits. There are known cases of rats attacking people in a helpless state. There are frequent cases of cannibalism and active predation towards smaller rodents. Near humans, rat populations have found a constant food supply in the form of food waste and feces.

If in any place they multiply more than usual, then this is truly barely bearable. There are places where they appear in such numbers that one can barely form an idea. In Paris, in one of the slaughterhouses, 16,000 horses were killed over the course of 4 weeks, and in one slaughterhouse near the same capital, they destroyed 35 horse corpses to the bones in just one night.

* According to some calculations of public utilities that carry out deratization (extermination of rats and mice), the number of rats in large cities exceeds the number of people by about 5 times. According to this logic, at least 50 million rats live in Moscow.

As soon as they notice that a person is powerless against them, their impudence takes on truly amazing proportions, so that if they didn’t have to be half-dead angry with these animals, then sometimes there might even be a desire to laugh at their shamelessness, which surpasses all boundaries. Las Cases says that on June 27, 1816, on the island of St. Helena, Napoleon and his companions had to be left without breakfast, because the previous night rats had gotten into the kitchen and everything had been taken away by them. They were found there in large numbers, they were very angry and too shameless. Usually it only took them a few days to gnaw through the stone walls and plank partitions of the emperor’s simple home. During Napoleon's lunch they came to the hall, and after eating they waged a real war with them. For the same reason, we had to refuse to keep yard birds, since the rats devoured them, they took the birds out at night even from the trees on which the latter slept. In the trading posts of distant countries, wherever pasyuks are also landed on land along with goods, they are a very serious scourge and often cause serious harm. All travelers, and especially collectors of collections, complain about them, telling how many very rare and difficultly acquired items are often destroyed by these terrible beasts***.

* * * Rats pose a serious threat as a constant reservoir of dangerous epidemic diseases typhoid, tularemia, plague, etc.

* Once in the holds of ships on remote archipelagos, rats become the most terrible enemies of the local fauna, which developed in the absence of predators and lost its protective devices. Many endemic animal species have disappeared forever from the face of the earth thanks to rats unwittingly introduced by humans. Many island nations are implementing rat control programs to save the remaining native fauna.

Rats are great masters of all bodily exercises. They run quickly and dexterously, climb excellently, even on fairly smooth walls, swim expertly, confidently jump quite long distances and dig very well in the ground, although they are not willing to do this for a long time. The stronger pasyuk is apparently even more agile than the black rat; at least it swims much better. Its diving ability is almost as great as that of real aquatic animals. He can safely go fishing, as he is agile enough in the water to pursue even real inhabitants of the wet elements. Sometimes he acts as if water were his real residence. Being frightened, he instantly flees into a river, pond or ditch and, if necessary, without stopping, swims across a wide expanse of water or runs forward along the river bottom for several minutes*. The black rat does this only as a last resort, but it also masters the art of swimming very well. However, rats are by no means lacking in courage; they defend themselves against all kinds of pursuers and even often rush at a person if he greatly oppresses them.

* Gray rats of natural populations gravitate towards floodplains and the banks of water bodies, and actually lead a semi-aquatic lifestyle. The basis of their diet is fish, shellfish, frogs, and crustaceans.

Among the senses of rats, hearing and smell are in the foreground, the first is especially excellent, but vision is also not bad, and their taste is too often revealed in practice in pantries, where rats always know how to choose the most delicious food for themselves. Regarding their mental abilities, after all that has been said, I only have a little to add. It is absolutely impossible to deny their intelligence, and even less the calculating cunning and a certain kind of cunning with which they know how to avoid a wide variety of dangers and get the desired tidbit. They have already talked many times about the method by which they carried away the eggs without breaking them along the way. Doubts that may arise regarding the method they practice no longer have any basis after the naturalist Dalla Torre reported in 1880 the following case, which he personally saw: “In the cellar of a house in Innsbruck this winter, several eggs began to disappear every now and then , kept there for this time of year. Suspicion first of all, of course, fell on the maid, who then began to try in every possible way to prove her innocence, but in vain. Being in such a delicate position, she began to lie in wait for the rats and became a witness to the thieves' trick that they used, to get the eggs. The eggs were piled up, first one gourmet rat came out of the hole, and soon after it another. Then the first grabbed one egg with its front paws and, with the help of the second, pushed it somewhat to the side, as far as they could do this with several strong Then the first rat grabbed the egg with its forelimbs and clasped it tightly, like spiders carrying an egg sac... It is clear that now it could no longer move, since its forepaws had to firmly hold the prey. Then the second one grabbed the tail of the first one in her mouth and with great haste and non-stop dragged her to the hole from where they came out. The whole operation, prepared, as one could conclude from the number of missing eggs, with a large number of exercises, lasted about two minutes, no more. An hour later, after the thieving couple had disappeared from the scene, they appeared again, undoubtedly for the same purpose, and thanks to the kind invitation of the family where what just described happened, I had the opportunity to be an eyewitness to this trick, which, according to the assurances of the maid, was always played out in the same way. Here it would be useful to make observations on the mind and instinct of animals and the differences that exist between them. I will only allow myself to note that the fairly widespread opinion here in the region that marmots in a similar way demolish or, rather, steal their own supplies of hay, is not at all implausible, since both of them, like rodents, can have the same customs.” However, regarding marmots, in any case, we will adhere to the doubts we expressed above until there are reliable observations on this score.
In some rats, in case of great danger, special cunning was observed. They pretend to be dead, like a possum does. My father once caught a rat that was lying motionless in a rat trap and allowing itself to be shaken in all directions. But her still shining eye was too clear a sign of life for such a knowledgeable observer to be deceived. My father shook the magician out of the trap in the yard, but did it in the presence of her worst enemy - the cat, and the supposedly dead woman immediately came to life and came to her senses and wanted to run away as quickly as possible, but the pussy sat on her neck before she could take one step.
Mating is accompanied by loud noise, squeaking and screaming, as the loving males fight fiercely for possession of the females. About a month after mating, females give birth to anywhere from 5 to 22 cubs, cute little animals that everyone would like if they weren't rats*.

* A rat colony consists of several families, including a male, one or more females and their offspring. Families have a common feeding territory, but males guard areas with nesting chambers of their family. Rats breed all year round, more intensively in spring and summer. There are up to 3 litters a year, with an average of 7 cubs (from 1 to 17); after 3-4 months, the pups already leave the family and become sexually mature. Rats have developed natural birth control mechanisms, possibly at the hormonal level. It is known that in stable populations no more than 20% of females reproduce at the same time.

When well cared for in captivity, rats kept in captivity become so tame that they not only allow themselves to be touched, but also play with children, learn to go out and enter the house, run around the yard and garden, follow their teacher like dogs, come when called, in short , become pets or indoor animals in the best sense of the word**.

* * Experiments with tame and wild rats have shown that they are distinguished by extraordinary intelligence, are able to easily learn, and adapt their behavior to the most diverse and changing conditions. Many of the cases described by Brehm confirm this. Thanks to their abilities and pronounced individual behavioral traits, “cultured” rats are extremely interesting and attractive as pets.

Free-living rats sometimes develop a special disease. Several of them grow together with their tails and then form the so-called “rat king”, which in the old days was imagined, of course, completely differently than now, when you can see it in one or another museum. Previously it was thought that the rat king, adorned with a golden crown, sits on a group of closely fused rats, as if on a throne, and from here rules the entire rat kingdom. What is certain is that sometimes large numbers of rats are found with their tails entangled with each other, which, out of compassion, are fed by other rats, since they themselves are unable to move. In Altenburg they preserve one such “rat king”, consisting of 27 rats; in Bonn, at Schnepfenthal, in Frankfurt, in Erfurt and in Lindenau near Leipzig, other similar “kings” were found. The latter is officially described in detail, and I think it would not be superfluous to present here the content of the acts related to this.
“On January 17, 1774, Christian Kaiser, a farmhand from the mill in Lindenau, appeared at the county court in Leipzig and stated that last Wednesday early in the morning at the mill in Lindenau he caught a “rat king” of 16 rats fused together tails, which he, since the latter wanted to jump on him, immediately threw to the ground and killed. This rat king Johann Adam Fasgauer from Lindenau, under the pretext that he wanted to copy him, did not want to take him away from his owner, Tobius Egerna, a miller in Lindenau give it back, and since that time he has earned a lot of money with his help, so he most humbly asks the court to force cum expensis Fasgauer to immediately return the rat king to him and pay all the money earned from him.
On February 22, 1774, he again appeared in the zemstvo court.
Christian Kaiser, a farmhand from the mill in Lindenau, testified: “that he actually caught a rat king from 16 rats at the mill in Lindenau on January 12th. On the indicated date, he heard a noise in the mill, namely under the floor of the upper floor, near the stairs, after which he climbed up the stairs in that place and saw in the opening of the underground several rats peeping out from there, which he killed with a piece of wood. Then he put a ladder to the same place to see if there were any more rats there, and threw off this rat king with the help of ax to the floor; many of the rats were still alive, although they had fallen from a height, but some time later he killed these too. Sixteen of the rats were tightly intertwined with each other, namely 15 of them with their tails, the 16th with their her tail was attached to the hair on the back of the other. When they fell from the top floor, not one of them was separated from the others, after that many were still alive for some time and jumped, but in this way they could not tear themselves away from each other. They were so tightly intertwined with each other , that he does not think that it would be possible to tear them apart, or, at least, that this could be done only with great difficulty, etc. " Then follow several other testimonies that confirm what has been said. At the end there is a description of the doctor and surgeon who, at the request of the zemstvo court, examined the case in detail. The doctor reports the following about this: “To be convinced of what can be believed from the story about the rat king, conveyed by many with great embellishment, I went on January 16 to Lindenau and there I found that in the Postal Pipe tavern, in a cool room on the table There were 16 pieces of dead rats, 15 of them were so entangled with each other with their tails that the latter formed a thick knot, resembling a rope with several ends, and many of the tails were completely entangled in this knot at a distance of about 1-2 inches from the body. they were directed towards the periphery, and their tails towards the center of the knot formed by them. Near these rats closely connected to each other lay the sixteenth, which, according to the statement of the painter Fasgauer standing there, was torn from the knot. To satisfy my curiosity, I least of all engaged in questions, the more Moreover, the most absurd and funny answers were given to the questions of the visitors who came there every now and then, marveling at the miracle; I just examined the bodies and tails of the rats and found: 1) that all these rats had a completely natural structure of the head, body and four legs; 2) that some were ash-gray in color, others were somewhat darker, and others were almost completely black; 3) that some were the size of a whole palm; 4) that their thickness and width were proportional to their length, but in such a way that they seemed more emaciated than fattened; 5) that their tails could be considered a little more or less a Leipzig cubit in length; they were a little dirty and damp.
When, with the help of a piece of wood, I lifted up the bundle and the rats hanging on it, I very clearly noticed that it would not have been particularly difficult to tear off some of the tangled tails from each other, but the painter who was present with some indignation prevented me from doing this. In the sixteenth rat mentioned above, I clearly noticed that its tail was with it without the slightest damage and that, therefore, it was separated from the rest without any difficulty. Having weighed all these circumstances with all possible care, I came to the complete conviction that the said 16 rats do not represent any special “rat king”, but simply a known number of rats of various sizes, thickness and color, and also (in my opinion) of different ages and floor. Regarding how rats intertwine with each other, I imagine the matter like this: a few days before the opening of this disgusting gathering of rats, a very severe cold set in and forced these animals to crowd into one corner to keep warm, lying next to each other or on top of each other; undoubtedly, they took such a direction that their tails were directed more outward, and their heads towards a place more protected from the influence of frost. Did the excrement of the higher sitting rats, falling of necessity onto the tails of the lower ones, cause the tails to freeze? Is it not possible that the rats, whose tails were frozen together, wanting to go for food, could not free themselves from the others and formed such a strong tangle that later, even when there was danger to their lives, they were not able to tear themselves away from the others? At the request of the highly respected zemstvo court, I openly stated here my thoughts, as well as what, according to this report, Mr. Eckgolden and I found during our research and the authenticity of which we signed with our own hands.”
It is possible that accumulations of this kind are more common than is thought, but very few of them are found, for in most areas superstition is so great that any rat king found is destroyed as quickly as possible.
The means that have already been used to exterminate rats are innumerable. Traps of all kinds are set against them, and every method of hunting helps temporarily. If animals notice that they are being strongly persecuted, they are often evicted, but are reintroduced when the persecution subsides. If they return again, then in a short time they multiply to such an extent that the previous torment resumes in full force. The most common means of exterminating them are poisons of various kinds, which are placed in places favored by rats, but in addition to the fact that, by poisoning animals, they cause them the most terrible and painful death, these means are still dangerous, because rats sometimes vomit, thereby poisoning bread or potatoes and can thus become dangerous to other animals and even to people. It is much better to give them a mixture of malt and quicklime: it makes them thirsty and causes death, after they have drunk the proper amount of water necessary to quench the lime.
The best exterminators of rats remain in all respects their natural enemies, primarily owls, weasels, cats and rat-catching dogs, although it often happens that cats do not dare to attack rats, especially pasyuki. Dene saw dogs, cats and rats walking together on the banks of the canals in Hamburg, and none of the animals mentioned even thought of declaring war on the other, and I personally know of many examples of cats not paying any attention to rats. As among other domestic animals, so among cats, there are good breeds whose members are passionately devoted to hunting rats, although they first have to work hard to overcome these toothy rodents. Hardly less service is provided by the ferret and the weasel, the former in the house, the latter in the garden and stables.


Against these predators, who also carry an egg, a chicken, a pigeon and even a hen, you can still protect yourself by locking the barn tightly, but against rats all protection is in vain, and therefore you should groom and protect these slender predators wherever possible.
In conclusion, I will describe, for the benefit and edification of many of my readers, a mousetrap, which, although it does not do honor to the human heart, works excellently. In places frequently visited by rats, for example, between stables, near latrines, locks and others, dig a hole 1.5 meters deep and line it inside with smooth stone slabs. A rectangular slab of one square meter forms the base, 4 others, narrower at the top, form the walls. The pit should be half narrower at the top than at the bottom, so that the walls overhang on all sides and would deprive the rats of the opportunity to climb back out. Then melted lard, honey diluted with water and other strongly odorous substances are poured into the bottom, a clay vessel with a narrow hole at the top is placed there, smeared with honey and filled with corn, wheat, hemp, oats, fried lard and other delicacies. Then they put a little chopped straw at the bottom of the hole and finally put a grate over the hole so that a chicken or some other young awkward domestic animal does not accidentally fall into it. Now everything is ready and you don't need to worry about anything else. “The pleasant smell and the warm chaff from the straw,” says Lenz, “encourage the rat to jump down cheerfully and in pleasant anticipation. Everything smells so wonderful there: lard, honey, cheese, and grains, but you have to be content with only the smell, because the inside it is impossible to get through the pot and there is nothing else left but for one prisoner to devour another." The first rat that fell down, of course, soon begins to feel hungry and tries in vain to get out of the terrible prison, then the second one falls from above. They begin to sniff each other, maybe they are consulting on what to do, but the first captive is too hungry to indulge in long discussions. A terrible fight begins, a struggle for life and death, and one captive kills the other. If the first one remains the winner, then she immediately pounces on the corpse of her friend to devour it, but if the second one wins, then the same thing happens a few hours later. It is extremely rare to find three rats in this trap at once, and the next day one of them will probably be missing. In short, one captive eats another, and the pit remains quite clean, although it is a cave of death in the most terrible sense of the word.
A simpler, but equally permanent and much less cruel trap consists of a directly placed, open barrel at the top, to the edge of which a rough bar leads. Across the opening of the barrel, a smooth board is mounted on an easily movable bolster, equipped with a small weight on the outside, thanks to which it very easily tips over, but immediately straightens again. At the end distant from the plank, a piece of fried lard is fastened to a wire on a plate in such a way that it cannot be reached from the edge of the vessel. Attracted by the smell, the rats run up the plank and climb onto the plank to get the bait: the plank immediately overturns and the rat falls into the barrel. There is water in it, but it is covered with a layer of finely chopped straw, which so interferes with the rat's ability to swim that it soon gets tired and drowns. This trap works perfectly, all that remains is to remove the dead*.

* Traps are not able to seriously reduce the number of rats, since smart animals soon recognize the catch and avoid the traps. Rats gradually develop immunity to many poisons. Nowadays, anticoagulants and substances that lead to infertility are mainly used for deratization.

Mice are much smaller and cuter than these nasty long-tailed house thieves, although they, despite their beautiful appearance and cheerful, sweet disposition, are the evil enemies of man and are persecuted by him with almost the same hatred as their larger and nastier relatives.
We can safely say that everyone will find a mouse sitting in a cage charming, and even ladies, who usually feel a strong, although completely unfounded fear, if a mouse crosses their path in the cellar or kitchen, and they should recognize it as a charming creature when they get to know each other better with her. But, of course, the sharp incisors and passion for feasting on mice are so highly developed that they can fill even the meek heart of a woman with anger and a thirst for revenge. It is too unpleasant to constantly fear for all food supplies, even when they are under lock and key; It’s too outrageous not to have a single place in the house where you could be a complete master and where these annoying little guests wouldn’t bother you! And since mice can crawl everywhere and even penetrate into places inaccessible to rats, they have started a whole war of persecution against themselves, which is unlikely to ever stop.
House mouse(Mm muscuhis) in appearance still has some similarities with the black rat, but it is much more beautiful, its body parts are more proportional, and it is much smaller in height. Its entire length is approximately 18 cm, of which 9 cm is on the body. The tail has 180 scaly rings. It is monochromatic: the yellowish, grayish-black color of the upper body and tail gradually turns into a lighter lower part, legs and fingers of a yellowish-gray color.


Wood mouse(Sylvaemus sylvaticus) * reaches 20 cm in length, its tail, consisting of approximately 150 scaly rings, is 11.5 cm in length.

* The wood mouse inhabits all of Europe east to Belarus and Ukraine, but in Russia it is replaced by a similar species - the small wood mouse (S. uralensis). The genus of wood mice includes up to 12 very similar species, partially replacing each other in the temperate zone and subtropics of Eurasia. Brem gives a generalized image of a representative of the genus.

This mouse is two-colored, the upper part of the body and tail are light gray-brown, the lower part, legs and fingers are white, and their color is sharply different from the color of the back. Both of these species differ from the next one by having longer ears. In the next species, the ears reach approximately only a third of the length of the head and, being pressed to the side of the head, do not reach the eyes, while in the first they are half the length of the head and, pressed to the head, reach the eyes.
Harvest mouse(Apodenms agrarius)** reaches 18 cm in length, the tail has 8 cm.

* * The field mouse is the most common of the 9 species of the field mouse genus. Previously, forest mice were also included in this genus.

It is tricolor: the upper part of the body is reddish-brown with black stripes along the back, the lower part and legs are white and are sharply different from the upper part of the body. The tail has about 120 scaly rings.
All these mice are unusually similar to each other in terms of their location, character and way of life, although both have their own characteristics. In one respect, all three of them agree: they show, at least sometimes, great love for a person. These breeds are often found in homes, from the cellar to the attic, especially in winter, and the house mouse is more common than others***. Not one of them is tied exclusively to the place from which it got its name: the wood mouse lives equally willingly both in barns or houses and in the field, and the field mouse limits its location to the field just as little as the house mouse does to the human dwelling. that on occasion one can see all three species together. Since ancient times, the house mouse should be considered the most faithful companion of man.

* * * Wood mice often move into human dwellings in winter, but the field mouse usually remains to spend the winter in natural habitats.

Aristotle and Pliny already mention it, and Albertus Magnus is well acquainted with it. Nowadays it is widespread throughout the earth. She made her way after the man and followed him to the far north and to the huts of the highest Alps. In all likelihood, there are few places at the present time where it does not exist; It’s more likely that she hasn’t been noticed there yet. On the Sunda Islands, for example, it has not yet come across. Its location is all parts of human dwellings. In the village she sometimes lives freely, in the garden or in nearby fields and groves; in the city, it is limited exclusively to residential premises and its extensions. Here, every crevice, every recess - in a word, every corner provides her with a reliable shelter, and from there she launches her raids. She runs on the ground at great speed, climbs excellently, makes fairly large jumps and moves very quickly and for a long time in short leaps.
You can watch a hand mouse how deftly it makes all these movements. If she climbs along a string or twig stretched obliquely upward, then every time she is afraid of falling, she quickly wraps her tail around the rope, like real prehensile-tailed animals, again returns to the balance position and runs further; if you place it on a very flexible stalk, then it climbs up it to the very top, and if the stalk bends, the mouse clings to its lower part and then slowly descends without the slightest difficulty. She can also swim, although she only goes into the water as a last resort. If you throw it into a pond or stream, you can see that it swims almost as fast as a water rat, and rushes to the first dry place, in order to climb up it and reach dry land again.


Her senses are excellently developed: she hears the slightest noise, her sense of smell is acute and senses over a long distance, she sees well, during the day, perhaps even better than at night. Her mental abilities make her a true favorite of those who seek to understand the life of an animal. She is good-natured and carefree and is not at all like her evil, insidious and perky sisters - rats, she is curious and explores everything thoroughly, cheerful and smart, very quickly realizes where she is spared, and over time she gets so used to a person that she runs before his eyes back and forth and goes about her household chores as if no danger existed for her.
In a cage she becomes tame within a few days; even old mice quickly get used to humans, and those caught young are superior in their good nature and carefree nature to most other rodents kept in captivity. Pleasant sounds lure her out of her shelter and make her forget all fear. She appears in broad daylight in rooms where some instrument is played, and places where music is constantly playing become her favorite abode.
All the pleasant qualities of our partner, unfortunately, are significantly diminished by her greed and impudence. It is difficult to imagine an animal more desirous than a house mouse, which can dispose of the pantry supplies with complete arbitrariness. She proves in the most obvious way that her sense of taste is perfectly developed. She certainly prefers sweets of all kinds, milk, meat, cheese, fat and grains, and if given a choice, she chooses the best of everything. Her sharp incisors make her even more hated by everyone. She knows how to make her way wherever she smells something edible, and it costs her nothing to work for several nights in a row to gnaw through even strong oak doors. If she finds a lot of food to her liking, then she takes it to her hole and, with the haste of a miser, collects and multiplies her treasures. “In those places where it is little disturbed,” says Fitzinger, “you can sometimes find whole heaps of walnuts or ordinary nuts, heaped half a cubit high in the corners; they are so regularly and neatly folded and covered with various scraps of paper or cloth that Could anyone suspect this to be the work of a mouse? She doesn’t drink water at all if she can get other juicy edible substances, but even with dry food she drinks only occasionally; on the contrary, she laps up all kinds of sweet drinks with pleasure. That it also attacks alcoholic drinks, as a wood mouse sometimes does, is proven by one observation that the forester Blok told me. “One day, around 1843, while I was writing, I was disturbed by a noise, and I saw a mouse climbing up the smooth legs of a small table. Soon it found itself at the top and diligently began to pick up the crumbs that lay on the plate after breakfast ". In the middle of the plate stood a thin glass, half filled with kümmel. In one leap the mouse found itself on the edge of the glass, bent forward, began to lap it diligently and then jumped down, after drinking a little more of this sweet poison. Disturbed by the noise on my part, it jumped off the table in one bound and disappeared behind a cupboard with glassware. Now it seemed that the alcohol began to have an effect on her, for she immediately appeared again and began to make the most amusing movements, trying, although in vain, to climb onto the table once more. I stood up and went over to her, "But he didn't scare me away, but brought the cat; then the mouse ran away for an instant, but immediately appeared again. The cat jumped from my hands to the ground, and the drunken mouse found itself in its claws."
The harm that a house mouse causes by devouring various food supplies is generally insignificant; their most significant harm is that they gnaw on valuable objects. In libraries and in natural history collections, mice are in charge in the most disastrous manner and can cause immeasurable harm if their passion for destruction is not curbed by all means. They seem to gnaw at things only out of prank, and it is very likely that this happens more often when the mice are thirsty than in places where they have something to quench it. Therefore, in libraries, in addition to the grains that are prepared for them, they also provide vessels with water - in a word, they are positively watered and fed at public expense*.

* The house mouse is truly omnivorous; animals of natural populations, for example the Kurganchik mouse, willingly eat insects in the summer and switch to grain in the winter. The winter reserves of food for the kurgan mouse, located in several rooms of a complex burrow inside the kurgan, a bulk heap of earth, sometimes reach 10 kg. The house mouse is a serious agricultural pest and a carrier of epidemic diseases.

The house mouse reproduces unusually quickly. She gives birth 22-24 days after mating from 4 to 6, rarely 8 cubs, and during the year probably from 5 to 6 times, so that the immediate offspring of one year reaches at least 30 heads. The female gives birth in every corner, as long as it has soft bedding and provides some security. They often find nests in hollowed out bread, in rutabaga, in pockets, in human skulls and even in mousetraps. It usually consists of straw, hay, paper, feathers, and other articles carefully collected together; It happens, however, that only sawdust and even nut shells serve as bedding. Mice that have just been born are unusually small and completely naked, transparent, but they grow quickly; between the seventh and eighth days they become covered with hair, but only on the thirteenth day do they become sighted. Then they stay in the nest for another two days, no more, and then go off to get food on their own. The old mouse treats them very tenderly and puts herself in danger for their sake**.

* * There is a strict hierarchy in house mouse populations. The dominant male proves his superiority by skirmishes with other males. Mice breed all year round. bringing up to 5 litters of 3-7 cubs (up to 15). Pregnancy lasts 17-21 days, sexual maturity occurs at the age of 2 months. In nature, mice usually live 5-13 months; in captivity, the maximum lifespan is 6 years. There are cycles of numbers, with mass reproduction every 3-4 years.

The common mouse became a pet, in the proper sense of the word, among the inhabitants of China and Japan, who brought the breeding of animals and plants to a high degree of perfection. Haake tells us the following about the mice that have recently been delivered to us from there. “From time to time I receive from an animal dealer two different breeds of house mice. The dealer called some Chinese climbing mice and the other Japanese dancing mice. The first are distinguished solely by their varied colors, since they seem to be able to climb no better than other mice. The coloring is extremely varied. Along with monochrome gray, pale yellow and white, I also had piebald, gray with white, black with white, yellow with white and blue with white. Yellow and white, as well as yellowish and bluish-white mice always have red eyes, but gray and black and white mice never have. Tri-colored mice seem to be very rare. It is known that we also have white, black and yellow mice, and sometimes piebald ones. The Chinese took advantage of this different colors of mice to satisfy his passion for raising strange-looking animals.
The Japanese, no less lovers of animal breeding, managed to make a truly amazing animal out of a mouse. The Japanese mouse, rightly called the dancer mouse, is also found in a variety of colors, I had black and yellow with white, also gray and blue with white. It differs from an ordinary mouse in its smaller size and elongated head. But its main characteristic feature is the innate habit of describing circles with furious speed or spinning in one place with incredible speed. Two, rarely three mice often come together for such a dance, the dance usually begins at dusk and is resumed from time to time at night, for the most part it is performed alone, and the tireless dancers, with their movements, completely clear some places on the floor of their cage from the thick layer of sawdust covering it . And with ordinary movements, this mouse shows its living nature. With the speed of lightning, apparently aimlessly, she turns this way and that and constantly sniffs the air with her muzzle. One merchant with whom I talked about the dancing mice, probably based on what I had heard, tried to interpret for himself the inheritance of a different passion of these living BOTH YH in his own way. He claimed that dancing mice originated from Peru and made nests in ripe cotton fruits and circled in order to create a void in the soft cotton wool, as a result of which the dancing mouse is also called the “cotton mouse.” In any case, it originates, just like the climbing mouse, from Japan or China, although I was unable to obtain more precise information on this matter. In books and temporary publications I could not find anything regarding the domestic mice of the Chinese and Japanese."*

* Many “cultivated” breeds of house mice have been developed and are used as decorative pets and laboratory animals. The albino white mouse is the most common laboratory animal in the world.

The worst enemy of the domestic mouse has always been and will remain the cat. In old buildings, her faithful assistant is the owl, and in the village the ferret and weasel, the hedgehog and the shrew provide good services, in any case better than any kind of traps.
The wood and field mice share most of the qualities of the house mouse. The first, with the exception perhaps of the countries of the far north, is distributed throughout Europe and Central Asia and in the mountains reaches 1000 meters above sea level. She lives in forests, along the edges, in gardens, and less often also in open treeless fields, and in winter she likes to climb into houses, cellars and storerooms, but as soon as the opportunity arises, she climbs up and wanders in attics and under roofs. In its movements it is at least as dexterous as a house mouse, but differs from it in that it jumps in large leaps, like a jerboa, makes several jumps in a row and then only rests a little**.

* * Some species of the genus of wood mice, for example, the large and bright yellow-necked mouse (S. flavicollis), gravitate to deciduous forests, settle in hollows, and climb trees well.

According to Radde's observations, her vision is not very developed; You can, carefully moving forward, approach her at a distance of about 60 centimeters and kill her without much difficulty. In the wild, she eats insects and worms, fruits, cherry pits, nuts, acorns, beech nuts, and, if necessary, also the bark of young trees. She also prepares herself a supply for the winter, but is not subject to hibernation and feasts on the accumulated treasures only on stormy days*.

* The diet of forest mice is dominated by high-calorie plant foods: cereal seeds, acorns, and nuts. In the burrows of the yellow-throated mouse, they were found with 4 kilograms of hazelnuts.

The wood mouse two or three times a year lays 4-6, less often 8, naked young, which grow rather slowly, and receive a beautiful, reddish-yellow shade of their skin only in the second year.
The distribution boundaries of the field mouse are much narrower than those of related breeds; it lives from the Rhine to western Siberia, and from northern Holstein to Lombardy. In Germany it is very common almost everywhere, but is absent on high mountains**.

* * To the north, the field mouse reaches the border of the southern taiga. The range in Eurasia is divided in the region of Baikal and Mongolia into European-Siberian and Far Eastern Chinese parts.

Its habitat is cultivated fields, forest edges, sparse bushes, and in winter, stacks of grain, barns and stables. During the harvest, whole clusters of them can be seen running through the stubble. Pallas says that in Siberia they sometimes move from place to place in irregular groups. In its movements, the field mouse is much less dexterous, and in its morals it is either much more good-natured or much stupider than its relatives. Its food consists mainly of grains, plant seeds, bulbs, insects and worms. She collects supplies in the same way***.

* * * In addition to seeds, field mice willingly eat insects, berries, and greens. They do not make large reserves for the winter.

In the summer, she lays 4 to 8 cubs three or four times.
No matter how beautiful, no matter how pretty all the little mice are, no matter how charming they behave in captivity, but the smallest species of this family, tiny mouse(Micromys minutus), still superior to others in all respects. She is more agile, dexterous, more cheerful, in a word, a much more attractive animal than all the others. It is 13 cm long, of which almost half is the tail****.

* * * * The little mouse is the only representative of the genus and. probably one of the world's smallest rodents. Its weight is on average only 6 g (3.5-13 g). It differs from other species of mice by its blunt muzzle, small ears and eyes, and semi-grasping tail covered with hair. Unlike other mice, the little one is more often active during the day.

The color of the coat is variable and comes in two colors: the upper body and tail are yellow-brown-red, the belly and legs are completely white, however, there are also darker or lighter, redder or browner, grayish or yellowish; the belly is not particularly different from the upper part. Young animals have a slightly different build than older ones, and a completely different body color, namely, a much grayer color on the back.
The little mouse has long been a mystery to zoologists. Pallas discovered it in Siberia, described it exactly and drew it quite well, but after him almost every naturalist who came across it passed it off as a new species, and everyone considered himself right. Only through continuous observations did the irrefutable truth become clear that our little one is actually distributed from Siberia through all of Russia, Hungary, Poland and Germany to France, England and Italy, and only in exceptional cases is it not found in some areas. It lives on all plains where agriculture flourishes, but it is not always found in fields, but mainly in swamps, reeds and reeds. In Siberia and in the steppes at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains it is very common; in Russia, England, and Holstein it is often found. But in other European countries it can sometimes be found in abundance*.

* The baby lives throughout the temperate zone of Eurasia, prefers the meadows of the southern forest zone, forest-steppe, along the corresponding altitudinal zones it penetrates into the mountains of southern Eurasia to northern India and Vietnam. In the Caucasus it is found up to 2200 m.

In the summer you can meet this cute little animal in the grain fields, and in the winter in huge numbers under stacks, as well as in barns, where they end up along with the grain. If she winters in an open field, then, although she spends part of the cold time in hibernation, she never falls into complete torpor and therefore in the summer she prepares supplies in her burrows so that she can feed on them in times of need. She eats the same thing as all other mice: bread and seeds of all kinds of herbs and trees, as well as all kinds of small insects.
In its movements, the little mouse differs from all other species of this family. Despite her small size, she runs unusually fast and climbs with the greatest perfection and dexterity. Hanging on the thinnest branches of bushes and on the stems of grass, which are so thin that together with her they bend towards the ground, she runs upward along them, and almost as quickly runs through the trees, and with particular dexterity she clings on with her pretty little tail. She is also equally good at swimming and diving. This way she can live everywhere.
But she shows her greatest perfection in another respect. She is an artist, of which there are few among mammals, an artist who can compete with the most gifted birds, because she builds a nest that surpasses the beauty of the nests of all other mammals. She displays her pretty structure in such a unique way, as if she had adopted this art from a bird. Depending on the nature of the area, the nest is either built on 20-30 sedge leaves, the tops of which are split and intertwined so that they surround the building on all sides, or it hangs at a height of 0.5-1 meters from the ground freely on the branches of a bush, on a reed stalk and the like, so that it appears to be hanging in the air. In appearance, it most closely resembles a blunt egg, for example, a very round goose egg, which is approximately equal in size**.

* * The nest has a diameter from 60 to 130 mm. In winter, the animals move into burrows; in agricultural landscapes they prefer haystacks. stacks. sometimes barns.

Its outer shell always consists of completely split leaves of reed or sedge, the stems of which form the base of the entire structure. The little one takes each leaf with its teeth into its mouth and passes it several times between the sharp, needle-like ends, until it divides each individual leaf into six, eight or ten parts, as if several separate fibers, then all this is unusually carefully twisted and intertwined with each other. friend. The interior is lined with films of reeds, the down of some marsh plants, the fluffy earrings of willows and flower clusters of all kinds. A small hole leads into the nest on the side, and if you feel the inside of the nest through it, it turns out to be uniformly smooth, both at the top and at the bottom, extremely soft and tender to the touch. Its individual components are so tightly connected and intertwined that the nest actually acquires greater strength. If you compare the less adapted tools of mice with the skillful beak of building birds, then you will have to look at their construction not without surprise, and the work of a small mouse will be ranked higher than the buildings of many birds. Each nest is always built mainly from the leaves of the plant on which it is located. A necessary consequence of this is the fact that the outside of the nest is almost or completely the same color as the bush itself on which it hangs. The baby mouse uses each of its works of art only during childbirth, which lasts only a short time, thus the cubs always leave the nest before the leaves surrounding it have time to wither and, as a result, take on a different color from the nest.
It is believed that each baby mouse gives birth two or three times a year, each time 5-9 pups. Old mothers always build their nests with greater skill than young ones, but even the latter already show a desire to achieve the skill of the old ones. Already in the first year, the cubs build rather intricate nests for themselves and rest in them. They remain in their magnificent cradle until they become sighted. The old female covers them warmly every time, or, better said, closes the entrance to the nest when she has to leave it to bring herself food. Meanwhile, she has already gotten together again with a male of her breed and is already pregnant again, while she still needs to feed her cubs with milk. Then, as soon as they are old enough to somehow feed themselves, the old female leaves them to their own devices, serving as their leader and adviser for at most a few days*.

* Most animals live only 2-3 months, so only the young from the last brood survive until winter.

If one is fortunate enough to be nearby just at the time when the old female brings out her young for the first time, he will have the opportunity to enjoy one of the most attractive family scenes in the life of mammals.
All this activity can be observed with greater convenience if you take the entire nest home and place it in a cage with fine wire mesh. Baby mice are easy to keep if you give them hemp, oats, pears, sweet apples, meat and house flies, and with their pleasant disposition they reward a thousand times the labors of the person who cares for them**. Young mice very soon become tame, but shy as they grow up, if they are not handled especially often and diligently. When the time comes when they hide in their shelters in the wild, they become very restless and try in every possible way to escape, just as migratory birds do when the time of departure approaches. In March they also show a special desire to leave the cage. In general, they soon get used to the new living conditions, cheerfully set about building their skillful nests, take leaves and pull them through their mouths with their paws to split them, put them in order and intertwine them with each other - in a word, they try to get along as best as possible.

* * The basis of nutrition for baby mice is seeds, in summer also insects and vegetative parts of plants. They make small food reserves for the winter. The baby is very gluttonous, eating about 5 g of food per day, which is only slightly less than its weight.

One of the most beautiful species of this family is striped or barbary mouse(Lemniscomys barbarus), an animal reaching about 22 cm in length, including a 12 cm long tail*. The main color of the body is a beautiful yellowish-brown or reddish clay-yellow color. A black-brown longitudinal stripe stretches from the head, covered with black speckles, to the base of the tail, and many similar stripes run, although not in a completely straight direction, along the sides of the body. The belly is completely white. The ears are covered with reddish-yellow hairs, and the black whiskers end in a mostly white tip. The tail is black-brown above, yellow-brown below.

* About 9 species of striped mice (genus Lemniscomys) inhabit tropical Africa. Only the variegated mouse is found north of the Sahara in the mountains of Morocco, reaching an altitude of 2100 m.

The barbary mouse lives in northern and central Africa, is especially common in the Atlas Mountains, but is often found in the steppes inland. I saw her several times in Kordofan, but I was always able to see her only for a few moments, when she quickly ran through the tall steppe grass. “Like all its other relatives living in the steppe,” says Bouvry, “the Arabs call the barbary mouse simply a mouse of the desert, despise it and observe it little. The natives therefore cannot say anything about it. It can be found along the entire Algerian coast, mainly in rocky countries, as well as where chains of barren hills limit fertile valleys... On the slopes of the hills, she digs passages for herself leading to a deeper room, there she stores up supplies of grain ears and herbs in the fall and feeds on them as needed in the cold or the rainy season. The chaff remaining from the gnawed ears goes to the lining of the room. Depending on the time of year, the food of the striped mouse consists of grains and seeds or other plant substances. Fruits, especially garden fruits, constitute its favorite delicacy: in the traps that I set and where I put a piece of watermelon for bait, I caught many. Whether it also catches and eats insects, I don’t know. In its disposition, the striped mouse is in many ways reminiscent of rats. She is gluttonous, but also evil, and if it comes to her love for her husband or children, she will not be afraid to directly attack an enemy who is stronger than her in order to put him to flight. In other respects she is a real mouse and displays the same flexibility, grace and dexterity in her movements as her other relatives. I don’t know anything about its reproduction.”*

* Striped mice are active during the day, make ground nests from grass, and sometimes occupy the burrows of other rodents. They feed on plant foods, breed all year round, or in the wet season, bringing up to 4 broods of 2-5 (up to 12) cubs.

Because of the beauty of its body, the barbary mouse is often brought to Europe. She tolerates our climate very well, since even in her own country she has to endure, at least for some time, quite significant cold.

Life of animals. - M.: State Publishing House of Geographical Literature. A. Brem. 1958.

• - The "Mouse" request is redirected here; see also other meanings. The request for "Mouse" is redirected here; for the subfamily of the same name, see Mouse (subfamily). Mouse ... Wikipedia

This family includes 123 species. The family is distributed everywhere except Antarctica and some oceanic islands. Characteristic features: relatively dense build; wide and round head; short shank; claw... ... Biological encyclopedia

The rodents included in this family are medium and large in size (large ones have a body length of 70 cm and a weight of 9 kg). The hind legs of squirrels are no more than 2 times longer than the front legs. Their tail is of different lengths and is always covered with hair. Scull… … Biological encyclopedia Wikipedia

Microcebus murinus ... Wikipedia

- (Muridae), family of rodents. Dl. bodies from 5 to 48.5 cm. The tail is long, most are bare. 100 120 births, approx. 480 species; in the USSR there are 5 genera: mice, baby mice (units, species), rats, etc., a total of 12 13 species. Widely distributed, excluding high... ... Biological encyclopedic dictionary

Rats are the largest rodents from the mouse family, which are one of man's long-time neighbors. These animals can be found in almost every corner of the planet. They are even inhabitants of islands located far from the mainland. Rodents can have different coat colors and even different colored eyes. This article will tell you which types of rats are the most common.

Not every person knows what kind of rats there are. Many people divide these animals into outdoor and ornamental. However, in nature there are about 70 species of gnawing animals, which differ in appearance, size and habitat. Thus, the palm rat, which lives on palm trees, lives on the Nicobar Islands; forest rodents are common in the forests of Mexico and the USA. The fuzz rat is distinguished by its soft and barely noticeable fur.

There are also mammals with a flat tail and animals without one. Curly-haired rats are very attractive; long-eared rats are distinguished by their originality. But perhaps the most famous representatives of the rat family are the black, gray, Turkestan, black-tailed and fluffy-tailed rabbit rats. Photos of rat species can be seen below.

Gray rat

The gray rat (pasyuk) is one of the most common species of rodents, living in almost all corners of the planet: in many European countries, Canada, and the northern USA. Animals are not adapted to life only in polar latitudes. Pasyuki prefer to live in rural areas near large domestic animals, using their food for food. Under natural conditions, they settle where there is access to water. They feed on birds, their eggs and chicks, as well as voles and carrion.

You can also meet gray rats in the city. Their favorite habitats are basements, garbage chutes, warehouses, and various outbuildings. That is why they are also called barns.

This type of rat is no less common. Black rodents live in Europe and Asia; they are also found on the American, Australian and African continents.

Black rats are inhabitants of megacities. They prefer to live on the upper floors of high-rise buildings. Very often, mammals can be found on livestock farms. Favorite habitats for animals in the private sector include attics. For this reason, they began to be called roof rats. Animals are very inquisitive, they are in constant motion, exploring new territories.

Under natural conditions, black rats live in forest areas, constructing nests from small branches and grass. They can also settle on low-growing trees, feeding on plant foods, nuts, cereal grains or sunflower seeds. The animals do not disdain worms and mollusks. Animals do not dig holes on their own, but they are easily able to take over the abandoned shelter of any small animal.

On a note!

The black rat is much smaller than the gray rat: its body size does not exceed 20 cm. It is also lighter in weight (100-350 g). A distinctive characteristic is that it exceeds the size of the animal’s body, unlike its gray relative.

Not everyone knows what color rats of this species are. It is surprising that the color of the rodent’s fur, which has a metallic sheen, can vary from black to light brown. The abdomen of the animal is often ashen or gray in color.

But in reproduction they are not as prolific as their gray counterparts. They do not breed in the winter season, and they have fewer cubs per litter.

Turkestan rat

If we compare the types of rats presented above in terms of body size and external characteristics, the Turkestan rodent will take an intermediate place between its black and gray relatives (its body length is 17-21 cm). The shape of the animal's muzzle is the same as that of the Pasyuk. The ears are small in size and covered with thick short hair. The tail, equal to the length of the body, has the same surface. The back of the animal is painted in a reddish-brown color, the abdominal area is yellow-white, less often pistachio shades.

The Turkestan rat is found in northern India, Tashkent, Samarkand, and the mountainous regions of the Western Tien Shan. In nature, its refuge is in rock crevices, hollows, and burrows of other rodents. It often lives in residential and commercial buildings.

Interesting!

In the spring, the animals feed on bulbs and seeds of plants, and in the summer-autumn period they eat the fruits of various tree species and shrubs. The consumption of chicks and eggs is possible.

Living next to humans, animals are able to reproduce all year round. However, during the cold season, the ability to reproduce is noticeably reduced. In the wild, a female breeds up to 4 litters during the year, each of which contains up to a dozen pups.

Black-tailed rat

The black-tailed rat is another species of the mouse family, the distinctive feature of which is its tail covered with thick hair. Animals are common in New Guinea and Northern Australia. Their habitat is the coastal zone of rivers and other bodies of water, where after the surf, rodents collect food thrown out by the waves. The animals hide in hollows or between thick branches of trees, where females make nests for future offspring. The presence of fur is a distinctive feature of born rat pups. In addition, they mature and grow much faster than their relatives.

Small rat

The taxonomy of the rat does not end there; its continuation is the small rat. The Pacific or Polynesian rodent is found in the Philippines, New Zealand, as well as the countries of Asia and New Guinea. The habitat of the animal is forest and forest-steppe zones.

Depending on the distribution area, the length of the animal’s body varies. The animals inhabiting the mainland of the continent reach up to 15 cm, small rats living on the islands do not grow more than 11 cm. The weight of the animal is also small: only from 40 to 80 g. The fur of a small rodent on the back is brown, in the abdomen - light tones Its distinctive characteristics also include a pointed muzzle, large ears and short legs. The tail has a length commensurate with the size of the body, and is covered with scaly rings.

The diet of the small rat is very diverse, it includes: seeds, fruits and parts of plants, as well as insects, spiders, bird eggs and tiny chicks.

Small rats reproduce throughout the year; the reproduction process becomes especially active in the summer.

Interesting!

Over the course of a year, one adult female produces no more than 4 litters, each of which contains 5-9 individuals. Newborn rat pups are constantly protected and controlled by the female, and she also feeds them milk for a month.

Rat Standard

One of the most popular varieties of decorative rats is the standard rat. The animal has the most harmonious build: it has a massive elongated body, shiny short hair, moderately wide ears and a long tail covered with hair. It is similar in weight and body size to its gray counterpart. Males are larger but less energetic.

On a note!

When asking the question whether a rat is an animal or not, one can accurately answer that it is the most perfect animal, which is distinguished not only by physical strength and endurance, but also by intelligence. So, they have a standard appearance even when handled awkwardly, because they get used to their owner.

Sphinx Rat

A hairless or hairless rat is a type of ornamental rodent that does not have hair on its body. Sparse hair may occasionally be observed in the abdominal area, on the paws or head. Some representatives of this type have vibrissae (whiskers). The slightly wrinkled pink skin of the animals attracts not many animal lovers.

Tailless rat

From the name it is clear that the main distinguishing characteristic of this type of rat is the complete absence of a tail. The pear-shaped body shape is another type of animal. Rodents of this breed are very active, intelligent and sociable. Their coat can be standard or curly, as well as in different colors. Often there are individuals that do not have hair.

Curly rat

Rats of this type have dense, curly fur. However, on the abdomen the pile is less wavy than on other parts of the body. Guard hairs are completely absent, but if they are present, they are in small quantities. From the outside, curly fur has a tousled appearance. The whiskers of such rodents are shorter than their counterparts, but more curled.

Dumbo

Dumbo is another breed of rat. A distinctive characteristic of these animals is their low-set ears, which are larger in size and have a rounded shape. Rodents have a short body, a pear-shaped head with a protruding nape, and a long tail. The coat can vary both in color and structure.

Rat with eyes of different colors

This variety of decorative rats is very unusual. The animals have eyes of different colors. Usually 3 colors are combined: black, red and dark ruby. — the greater the degree of contrast between eye colors, the more valuable the rodent.

The coat color of decorative breeds of rats can be not only gray, brown, black or white, but also red and even blue. Moreover, each tone corresponds to a specific eye color. So, black rodents have always black eyes, white rodents can have both black and red eyes, ruby-colored eyes in blue rats. In addition, the coat color may not be uniform; it may contain all kinds of stains and marks.

Many people want to have an animal at home, and quite often people choose a rodent. But the rodent family is quite large, who should you choose? Today we will help you with this. We present to your attention a complete list of domestic rodents.

Hamsters

Hamsters are very popular pet rodents. But it is worth keeping in mind that this small and cute animal is a nocturnal animal and, moreover, quite aggressive. During the day, the hamster will sleep soundly and will not want to play with you. And if you decide to add a relative to him, then a violent showdown with one of the animals will be guaranteed.

To tame a hamster, you need to show persistence and patience. Otherwise, this cute animal may show and painfully bite its owner.

The hamster will need a durable one made of wire, equipped with a house, a wheel, and tunnels of your choice. If you want to let your pet run around the apartment, then use a walking ball, otherwise the hamster may climb into a hard-to-reach place, chew wiring or other things.

This domestic rodent is not very picky when it comes to food. The main thing is to stick to some. You can find out what to feed your hamster. The hamster eats little, takes up little space, and requires minimal attention. This pet rodent will feel great alone in his. The main thing is not to forget to feed him and change his water on time. The only drawback of these animals is, on average, 2-3 years.

The most common representatives of hamsters are the Syrian hamster. Read about what types of domestic hamsters exist in our article.

Mice

For many centuries, these small creatures have lived next to humans. And, the attitude towards such rodents, and we will talk about them, is very ambiguous. On the one hand, rodents harm and spoil products, and on the other hand, imagine at least one medical and research laboratory in which laboratory rats and mice would not live. And, since these creatures can live in laboratories, then why can’t they live in our homes as pets?

Relatives of ordinary house mice today are decorative mice. It’s just that if the first ones are destroyed, then the second ones are groomed and tender. Of course, such a house mouse is an excellent candidate for the role of a pet if you have limited living space and free time. But who should not have decorative mice are those who are pathologically afraid of these creatures, or cannot stand the specific mouse smell (no matter how you clean and wash the cage, the smell will still be in the air), as well as those who suffer allergy to rodents.

What are the peculiarities of keeping such pet mice, what to feed such rodents, and how to care for them? We will try to answer all these questions in our article.

Rats

Most of us shudder at the words “house rats”: we immediately think of rather large rodent pests that can not only cause damage to property, but also infect them with diseases.

But in fact, these animals can be very interesting pets.

There are different breeds of rats, but absolutely all of them are distinguished by their amazing intelligence, speed of learning and even good training abilities. Let's get to know them from this side. And at the same time we will learn how to care for a pet rat.

Guinea pigs

Guinea pig (from Latin cavia porcellus - small pig) is a domesticated rodent of the pig family, which belongs to the genus pig. The animal is a small, usually up to one and a half kilograms, plump animal with hanging ears, large convex eyes and a wide muzzle. The enormous popularity of the rodent is due to its attractive appearance, unpretentiousness, good-natured and trusting character and peaceful temperament. The Guinea pig is the safest pet for children of primary preschool age.

The rodent received its name, which at first sounded like “overseas pig,” in Russia precisely because it arrived from overseas, and the shape of the animal’s head resembled the head of a pig. The animal is also called kewi, cavey or Guinea pig.

Squirrels

The common squirrel, or otherwise known as the squirrel, belongs to rodents from the squirrel family. There are about 15 species of animal that live in wildlife in forests.

The animal is small in size, nimble and easy to climb. Its weight is approximately a quarter kg, length - from 20 to 28 cm. The longest part - the tail - is equal to a third of the entire body.

Veksha changes her fur clothes in the off-season. In winter, its fur becomes fluffier and softer, and in summer it becomes shorter and tougher.

The squirrel is one of the most beautiful forest inhabitants that humans have managed to tame and domesticate. An example of grace and correct proportions. The owner of a fluffy tail, shiny black eyes and fluffy tassels on the ears.

This is a spontaneous and active animal, and, in addition, unpretentious in its content.

Chipmunks

Everyone knows the cartoon “Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers” and is moved by its main characters, but you can give a child a great gift by buying real live chipmunks as pets.

The chipmunk adapts well to life in captivity; it is unpretentious in both care and food.

The only difference from the cartoon characters is that they do not get along well with each other from autumn to spring, and each animal will need an individual cage.

Adult size varies depending on the specific species. The smallest representative is 5 centimeters in length and weighs 30 grams, and the largest is 15 centimeters in length and about 130 grams in weight. A distinctive feature of all chipmunks is longitudinal stripes on the back, which alternate in color. Usually there are 9 of them, of which 5 are dark and 4 are light.

Degu

Degus are small animals that look like a jerboa. Along with other exotics, they are rapidly gaining popularity among those who want to have an unusual pet.

Degu is a small South American rodent. Other common names for this animal include two: bush rat and Chilean squirrel. The animal is highly active with a relatively small size. An adult reaches up to 30 cm in length, while weighing only 200-300 g. In nature, degus come in only two colors: brown-yellow or chestnut-gray.

The fur of the Chilean squirrel is hard and dense. Like most rodents, these animals have 8 pairs of teeth that grow throughout their lives. Degus can adapt to living at home if they are provided with the appropriate conditions. With proper care and nutrition, such a pet can live up to 6-8 years.

Gerbil

When choosing a pet, people often stop near cages with gerbils. These rodents have wonderful personalities. They are clean, easy to tame, trainable and look very cute.

Their curiosity and friendliness will delight you every day. Just by looking at the photo of a gerbil, all doubts about the decision to have one as a pet disappear.

Today there are more than 100 species of these rodents. It is worth noting that only one of them was tamed. This is a Mongolian gerbil.

In their natural environment, these mice live in families. Therefore, if you decide to have this baby at home, you need to take a couple of individuals. Living alone could have a negative impact on her health.

The size of a gerbil mouse varies from 5 to 20 cm. It weighs from 15 to 200 grams. The main distinguishing feature is the tail. It is covered with fluff along its entire length, and the tip is decorated with a tassel. The coat color is sand.

Sonya

Under natural conditions, the rodent dormouse prefers wooded areas, preferably oak, wild fruit trees or beech. He feeds on the fruits of these trees, and makes a cozy home in their hollows. It does not evoke sympathy among southern farmers, as it harms the grape industry.

There are several types of them, but they are divided into two groups - terrestrial and arboreal. The arboreal ones resemble small squirrels, while the terrestrial ones are more like mice. All species adapt well to life in captivity, but there is an important requirement - frequent cleaning of the cage is necessary. Although these animals are small, they quickly pollute the home, causing unpleasant odors.

Jerboa

Jerboas are a group of mouse-like rodents, of which more than 25 species are known. Their body shape, ease of maintenance and small size make them attractive as pets to many animal lovers.

This animal has a small body size, a fairly long tail with a brush at the end, and large hind legs. Thanks to its fur, the jerboa is protected from various temperature changes typical of desert areas.

The animal, in comparison with other representatives of rodents, has a fairly large size of 25-26 cm and a tail, the length of which is 30 cm. The fur on the back has a red or brownish-gray tint, on the cheeks the color is slightly lighter, the neck and belly are white. The head of the jerboa is round in shape with oval ears and fairly large eyes. He also has small front legs and strong hind legs. The weight of the animal, depending on its type, can reach 250-300 grams.

In natural conditions, jerboas move a lot, and, consequently, the lack of movement and a small amount of free space can develop in a domestic jerboa such a disease as physical inactivity, which will lead to its early death. To avoid this outcome, you should provide your pet with a large enclosure, the size of which will be at least 0.5 m.

Large rodents

Chinchilla

Chinchilla (lat. Chinchilla) belongs to the order Rodents, suborder Porcupines, superfamily Chinchilla-shaped, family Chinchillaidae, genus Chinchilla.

Chinchillas have a round head and a short neck. The body is covered with thick soft hair, and hard hairs grow on the tail. The body length is 22-38 cm, and the tail grows 10-17 cm long. The weight of a chinchilla reaches 700-800 grams, while females are larger and heavier than males.

At night, chinchillas can easily navigate thanks to their huge eyes, which have vertical pupils. The whiskers of mammals grow up to 10 centimeters in length. Chinchilla ears are round in shape and have a length of 5-6 cm. In the ears there is a special membrane with which the chinchilla closes its ears when taking a sand bath.

The chinchilla's skeleton can be compressed in a vertical plane, so the animals can crawl into the smallest crevices. The hind legs of chinchillas are four-toed, and the front legs have 5 toes. The hind limbs are very strong and twice as long as the front ones, which allows mammals to jump high.

The life expectancy of a chinchilla reaches 20 years.

A couple of centuries ago, chinchillas were on the verge of extinction - they were destroyed because of their very valuable fur, but gradually the situation changed for the better for the animal and from the status of a hunting trophy, this rodent migrated into our homes to the status of a pet and everyone's favorite.

But in order for the animal to feel comfortable, healthy and cheerful, it is worth knowing how to properly feed it, what to feed it and is it possible to breed it at home?

Jerzy

The common hedgehog is a very famous mammal, widespread throughout Europe and even on some islands. Its appearance and lifestyle sometimes attract animal lovers who keep a hedgehog as a pet.

It is difficult to confuse a hedgehog with someone else: the entire back of the animal is densely covered with sharp short needles of black-gray color, the length of which is usually 2.5-3 centimeters. The needles stick out in different directions to cause maximum damage to enemies and provide a high degree of protection. The total length of the hedgehog's body ranges from 20 to 30 centimeters, and it also has a short tail - about 2-3 centimeters.

The weight of an adult animal varies from 600 grams to 1 kg; on the head of the hedgehog there is a long, wet black nose extended forward. It has sharp teeth, the number of which on the upper jaw is greater than on the lower jaw - 20 and 16, respectively.

The hedgehog has four short legs, each with 5 toes and claws. The front legs are 1.5-4 cm shorter than the hind legs. This animal has dense gray fur growing on its belly and between its spines. The needles themselves grow at the speed of wool, have a hollow structure inside and grow in numbers from 4 to 6 thousand pieces.

Rabbits

The decorative rabbit is a very cute creature. First of all, when getting this furry pet, you need to remember that this is not just a beautiful soft toy, but a living creature that needs constant care and attention.

Decorative dwarf rabbits are very cute and funny animals that love communication and attention. Those who got such a pet are convinced that communicating with him brings a lot of joy and good emotions. Caring for dwarf rabbits is easy and more cost effective than caring for a dog or cat.

Rabbits love to walk on grass on lawns, so be sure to purchase a collar and leash. Walking does not need to be done every day; the rabbit masters the tray perfectly and is not capricious. This pet is light and compact, so you can take it with you in a cage to the country house or on other trips. Even a child can carry the cage. But remember that this animal is very sociable and can become stressed from inattention. If it is necessary to leave, the animal can be entrusted to relatives or friends, as it easily tolerates a change of habitat.

Hares

To the surprise of many skeptics, hares are increasingly gaining a place next to people in their homes. With an average lifespan of 5 to 15 years, hares are very sociable, active and cute creatures. It's impossible not to get attached to the big-eared cutie.

There are various reasons why hares have evolved from being a simple source of meat to being one of the best pets in recent years. Here are some of them:

• They are very sociable creatures that do not require any special training;
• They are very playful and funny;
• Being very sociable creatures, they need constant interaction with people and other hares;
• They are willing to play with people and other animals outside of their cage every day.

If you want to have a bunny, then you should know that a lot of work will await you. Along with the arrival of a pet into your home, you have a huge responsibility for it.

Marmots

The marmot is a mammal. Belongs to the order of rodents from the squirrel family. The most common steppe species is also called boibak.

In nature, it lives in the steppe and forest-steppe areas, but also takes root well in captivity. Requires increased attention, but quickly becomes attached to its owners. It is considered the most intelligent of the group of rodents that have adapted to home conditions. Each marmot has a special character and temperament.

Marmots are most often small in size. But among rodents, this is one of the largest species; an adult is about the size of a cat. They can weigh from 5 to 10 kg, with a height of 40 to 50 cm. They wear a fluffy fur coat of a sandy or brownish-reddish hue. They are born without hair and blind, first feed on their mother's milk, then switch to grass.

Gophers

The gopher is an animal of the chordate type, class mammals, order rodents, squirrel family, genus gophers (lat. Spermophilus or Citellus). The Russian word “suslik” comes from the Old Slavonic “susati”, which means “to hiss”.

The average body length of an adult animal is 15-25 cm. Individuals of some large gophers grow up to 40 cm, with males always larger and heavier than females. The weight of the gopher ranges from 200 grams to 1.5 kg.

Pet lovers often try to keep these cute-looking gophers indoors. Despite their pleasant appearance, gophers are not suitable for keeping at home. The possibilities of domestication and human contact with it are quite limited. The smell of the excretions of these animals is quite noticeable, which makes keeping them in an apartment difficult.

In the living corners of young naturalists or in scientific institutions, keeping gophers can be of interest, especially if there are observation and experimental programs. They are used primarily as laboratory animals. Thin-toed ground squirrels differ for the better from other species that are poorly accustomed to human society.

List of pet rodents

Whom to choose?

What kind of rodent should you keep at home? The question is interesting, and there is no clear answer to it. It all depends on your preferences, fears and living conditions.

Rodents make up more than a third of all mammal species. They differ from each other in size and weight. Some of them have adapted to life in extreme conditions.
The Latin name for this series is Rodentia. It comes from the verb "rodere", which translates as "to gnaw". All rodents have a similar jaw structure. They don't have fangs. There is a large space (diastema) between the incisors and molars. They have only one incisor on each side of the upper and lower jaws. Incisors have no roots. They are razor sharp. When chewing hard food, the incisors are worn out. In front they are covered with an exclusively hard layer of enamel, and their back part consists of soft dentin. Thanks to this feature, rodent teeth are self-sharpening and have a characteristic chisel appearance. Incisors grow throughout the life of animals, which, in turn, must chew hard objects to wear down the hard top layer of teeth. In total, rodents can have from 12 to just over 20 teeth. The chewing surface of molars can be very diverse - from tuberculate to comb-like. The lips act as a “gate” to prevent unwanted particles from entering the mouth.
Chewing muscles. For rodents, the muscles that are located behind the cheeks on the outside of the jaw are important. These muscles not only close the jaws, but also allow the lower jaw to move forward. The different development and functions of these muscles have led to the division of rodents into three major groups (other scientists identify more groups). The most common of them are mouse-like ones, which were able to adapt to different foods and incredible living conditions.
Spread of rodents. The wide distribution of rodents is due to the fact that these animals are very fertile. Many of them can have several litters per year, and in each they produce a large number of young. There is a kind of self-regulation of their fertility. Rodents have adapted to a variety of foods. During the year they could have up to 13 litters of 8 cubs each. Typically, rodents are herbivores, but under the influence of conditions, many of them have become almost omnivores.
Unlike the babies of other mice, newborn spiny mouse babies are at least partially covered with fur.
Did you know? Even a brick wall is not an obstacle for rats. The incisors of these rodents are capable of crushing an object with a force of approximately 1680 kg per 1 cm2.
During the catastrophic increase in the number of house mice in Central California, which took place in 1926, according to researchers, there were about 20 rodents per 1 m2.
Some representatives of the slipak family (Spalacidae) dig up to 500 kg of soil within a month.

Rodents are very prolific, so many of their species are very numerous. Rodents - This is one of the many orders of mammals. During the process of evolution, many species of rodents arose. They have adapted to life in a wide variety of conditions - some live underground, others in trees or even in water.
Mouse-like. The mouse family forms the largest group of rodents, and, in general, a quarter of all modern mammal species. Mostly mice and rats.
Some of them, such as voles and lemmings, have short and squat bodies, perfectly adapted for digging tunnels underground or even in snow. Blind people have adapted to life underground. They do not have ears or a tail, and their eyes are covered with skin. The incisors in them protrude even with the mouth closed, since animals use these teeth mainly for digging. A wide nose helps the blind in the construction of underground galleries. Jerboas can survive even in the desert, so the necessary moisture is obtained from food.
PIG-LIKE. Representatives of the pig-like suborder, with the exception of the North American porcupine, inhabiting Central and South America. These animals are distinguished by a large head and a rounded nose. They give birth to fairly independent, fur-covered cubs. The size of pig-like animals varies greatly - from the size of a guinea pig to the size of the most modern rodent - the capybara.
Many of them live on the ground, but North American porcupines spend most of their lives in trees. Nutria belonging to this order are excellent swimmers. They have swim membranes that help them move easily in the water. The Patagonian maru can be recognized by its long legs and large ears. This animal looks like a hare. Capybaras form numerous herds that stay close to the banks of water bodies. These are the most modern rodents. Adults can weigh up to 75 kg.
Squirrel ones. In addition to the well-known squirrels, the squirrel suborder also includes beavers, chipmunks, longlegs, dormice and ground squirrels. Beavers can cut down trees with their exceptionally strong incisors. They build dams and huts from tree trunks. The eyes of arboreal squirrel species allow them to accurately determine the distance they want to travel when jumping from one tree to another. Some other species, for example, flying squirrels, can fly over considerable distances with the help of flight membranes located on the sides of the body.
EVOLUTION. Most prehistoric rodents whose fossils have been found in North America and Eurasia were small animals very similar to mice. Only a few evolved species reached the size of a beaver.
About the fossilization of these ancient rodents, they are united in one common family, Paramyidae. They date back to the Paleocene period. At the beginning, these primitive rodents first developed characteristic incisors, only the front ones were covered with hard enamel.
Over time, rodents became more numerous, new forms arose, and adapted to certain living conditions. The first rodents more often moved along the ground by running, and later species appeared whose body structure and hind limbs indicate that they moved mainly by jumping. In other species, the skull, paws and claws were adapted rather to an underground lifestyle.
Mice and rats, however, formed later than other rodent families. The family of mice, including mainly ancient species of mice and rats, appears in the European layers of the Pliocene, which dates back 5 million years. Man is the main culprit in the spread of rats and mice throughout the globe.
These rodents, easily adapting to different living conditions, traveled on ships, with camel caravans, and later on trains as “stowaways.” They feel great next to a person - they settled in her house, eat her bread, spoil his things, warm themselves by her hearth. There are especially many rats and mice living in livestock farms, pantries, and warehouses where grain and other food products are stored.
Porcupine: feeds on shoots and roots of plants, often hunts insects or picks up carrion. The porcupine is active at night and rests during the day in dry burrows or rock crevices.
House mouse: most often lives in human homes and eats almost everything edible it can get its hands on. She loves grain most of all.
Beaver: The second largest rodent after the capybara. He is an excellent swimmer and diver. The characteristic features of the beaver are swim membranes and a flat, scaled tail - a remarkable adaptation for life in the water.
Capybara or capybara: it is the world's largest rodent. The capybara uses its powerful incisors only for eating grass. Thanks to the small swimming membranes between the toes, the animal swims well.

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Types of rodents

American badger