family psychology 

Field mice. Species: Clethrionomys (= Myodes) glareolus = Red (forest) vole Reproduction and offspring

The coloration of the top of the bank vole is rusty-brownish, of various shades. The tail is relatively long (40-60 mm), sharply bicolored, dark above and whitish below, covered with short hairs, between which a scaly surface of the skin can be seen. Skull length 21.7-26.0 mm. The length of the upper molars is usually less than 6 mm. The base of the alveolus of the upper incisor (visible when opening the bone) is at least half the length of the crown of this tooth from the anterior edge of the 1st molar. 3rd upper molar on the inside with 2, or more often, 3 reentrant angles.

Forest regions of the European part of the USSR and some regions of Western Siberia; to the north to the middle part of the Kola Peninsula, the Solovetsky Islands, Arkhangelsk and the lower reaches of the Pechora, to the south to the insular forests of Ukraine, the Voronezh, Saratov, Kuibyshev regions, the environs of Uralsk; isolated locality is in the southwestern Transcaucasia. The eastern boundary of the distribution is not sufficiently clear: separate occurrences are known near Tyumen, in the vicinity of Tobolsk, in the Vasyugan region of the Tomsk region, in the Legostaevsky region of the Novosibirsk region; on the Salair Ridge, Altai and Sayans. Outside the USSR, it is distributed north to Scotland and Scandinavia, south to the Pyrenees, southern Italy, Yugoslavia and Turkey.

In the Pleistocene on the territory of the USSR, bank voles penetrated far to the south into the open landscape, apparently adhering to forested river valleys, and their remains, usually attributed to C. glareolus, together with the remains of the steppe fauna, were found outside their modern range on the lower Don and in the Crimea; in addition, they are known from the Kanev region on the Dnieper. The earliest finds are known from England in the Upper Pliocene; in the early Quaternary time, forms close to C. glareolus.

The bank vole lives in various types of forests, from coniferous in the north to broadleaf in the south; through forest islands it penetrates far into the steppe zone. In autumn and winter, it often settles in haystacks, omets and buildings. Burrows with several exits and 1-2 chambers; sometimes makes a nest on the surface of the soil. Climbs bushes and trees. It feeds on tree seeds, herbaceous plants, bark, buds, lichens and, in part, also animal food (insects, worms). Reproduction 3-4 times a year, in each litter 2-8 cubs. Harmful in forests, nurseries, gardens and field-protective afforestations. In some places it causes some damage in winter in barns, vegetable warehouses and in residential buildings.

Vole subspecies: 1) Clethrionomys glareolus glareolus Schreber (1780) - the coloration is relatively bright with a significant admixture of reddish-rufous tones on the back; from Belarus and the Smolensk region to the Tatar ASSR.

2) C. g. suecicus Miller (1909) - the coloration is darker than that of the previous form, the dimensions are somewhat larger than those of other subspecies; from the Baltic along the northern regions of the USSR (Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, Leningrad, Vologda) to the Ural Range and the flat part of Western Siberia, inclusive.

3) C. g. islericus Miller (1909) - rusty-yellow upperparts, lighter than previous forms; Moldova, Ukraine, Kursk, Voronezh, Saratov, Kuibyshev regions, the Southern Urals, etc.

4) C. g. devius Stroganov (1948) - the color of the summer fur on the back is smoky gray with a fawn-rusty tint; found in the lower reaches of the river. Pechory.

5) C. g. saianicus Thomas (1911) - upperparts are relatively dark, similar to C. g. suecicus Mill.; slightly smaller than the last subspecies; Sayans, Altai, Salair Ridge.

6) C. g. ponticus Thomas (1906) - the color of the bank vole is intense, gray-brown, with a brownish-rusty tinge; found in the Guria-Adzhar Range south of the city of Kutaisi of the Georgian SSR; was previously known from several points in Turkey (Trapezund, etc.).

The top is rusty brown in various shades. The tail is two-tone, dark in the upper part, whitish in the lower part. The surface of the tail is covered with short hairs, arranged sparsely, so that skin scales are visible between them.

Skull with a juvenile appearance: a rounded brain capsule with a slight flattening in the fronto-parietal region and a shortened, drooping facial region and nasal bones narrowed in the middle. The cheekbones are low. Auditory drums are medium in size. In the mandibular bone, the angular section is not shortened. The roots of the molars are formed earlier than in other species. The chewing surfaces of the triangular loops and the loops themselves have pointed corners and a relatively thin enamel lining.

Biology

Lifestyle. A mass species of linden-oak biotopes of broad-leaved forests. In the taiga zone, it prefers berry spruce forests and clearings adjacent to them. It avoids dense forests and inhabits forest edges and light forests.

In the east of the range, preference is given to light secondary forests and edges of conifers, preferably overgrown with shrubs. The species is common in floodplain stands.

In the south it is found in island forests, shelterbelts. It leaves the forest belts to feed on the fields, but does not move further than 100 - 150 m from the edge.

In the European north, the bank vole often inhabits outbuildings and human housing. In winter, the animals are found in haystacks and stacks. In the Ural Mountains, together with other forest voles, it inhabits placers of stones.

The species lives in pairs or families. Activity is year-round, round-the-clock, polyphasic. In the light part of the day, up to 17 phases of activity are observed.

It usually does not dig real holes, if they exist, they are very short and shallow. Mines the forest floor and turf layer. Widely uses voids in the roots of stump trees, in dead trunks, under eversion, in heaps of brushwood. For the species, winter and summer ground and subsurface nests are common, located in natural shelters.

The animals climb trees better than other types of forest voles, they are able to climb to a height of up to 12 m. There are known cases of building a nest and giving birth to juveniles in bird houses - hollows.

reproduction and the abundance of the species is closely related to the abundance of complete food. Under favorable conditions, 50% of the animals are able to breed at the age of 26 - 30 days, and by 46 - 50 days, all 100% of the individuals reach sexual maturity. One female brings up to 4 litters per year, more often 2 - 3 litters. There are 5 to 13 cubs in a litter. Pregnancy lasts 17 - 24 days.

The cubs are born naked and blind, weighing from 1 to 10 g, and begin to see for 10-12 days. On the 14th - 15th day they leave the hole, but they switch to green food even earlier.

Spring-summer voles breed and die before the onset of winter. Animals born in August - September give birth in the spring, and do not participate in summer breeding.

In winter, reproduction is observed during snowy winters without sudden changes in temperature.

Nutrition. In all seasons, seeds of herbaceous and woody plants of deciduous forests predominate in the diet of the species. Prefers seeds of acorns and linden, in the east - cedar and berry shrubs. The green parts of plants are present in food throughout the growing season. Animal food, mainly larvae of various insects, is present in the diet during the summer months. In winter, the main food is shoots of berry bushes, bark, and buds. In case of crop failure of the main feed, it switches to any substitutes, including fungi and plant roots. Stocks are small.

Morphologically related species

In morphology (appearance), the described pest is close to ( Clethrionomysrutilus). Main differences: weakly two-tone tail, the skin does not show through the hairs of the tail, the length of the tail is less than 40 mm, the color of the dorsal part is dominated by bright rusty-brown tones in summer and light, yellowish-brown in winter.

In addition, the Tien Shan forest vole is often found, which is also similar in morphology to the bank vole ( Clethrionomys glareolus).

At the same time, the following geographical variability is observed: the development of brighter tones of red in color in the direction from west to east and a general lightening of color to the south; an increase in size is observed eastward in the plains and with height (in Western Europe). In the east of the range, the mountain inhabitants are smaller than the plains and have a darker color. The relative length of the dentition becomes smaller in the direction from north to south.

15 subspecies are described, of which 5-6 are in Russia.

Geographic distribution

bank vole distributed from the Kola Peninsula and the Arkhangelsk region to the Middle Urals in the east and the borders of the insular forests of Ukraine and the Southern Urals in the south.

In addition, the range of the species extends north to Scotland and Scandinavia, to the Pyrenees in the south, southern Italy, Yugoslavia and Turkey.

Maliciousness

bank vole- the most dangerous hemisanthropic species, actively invading the urban environment, and populating at the same time not quite favorable biotopes - upland meadows. This increases the possibility of transmission of various kinds of infections to humans and requires constant monitoring of the abundance of the species in order to regulate it.

In the taiga zone of the European part of Russia, this species is the main pest of forest and plantation crops. During a periodic (once every 4 - 5 years) increase in the number of animals, they significantly damage young forest plantations and gardens adjacent to forests. Due to the ability to climb trees well, it deals damage above ground level.

In residential areas, warehouses and storage facilities, the bank vole damages and contaminates food and animal feed.

In European foci of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), this species is the main carrier of hantaviruses. At the same time, he is an active participant in the circulation of pathogens of various infectious diseases: tularemia, tick-borne encephalitis, lymphocytic choriomeningitis, salmonellosis, pseudotuberculosis and many others.

Pesticides

Chemical pesticides

Manual entry into burrows, other shelters, tubes, bait boxes:

Layout of ready-made baits at food enterprises and at home:

Control measures: deratization measures

Sanitary and epidemiological well-being is due to the successful implementation of the entire range of deratization measures, including organizational, preventive, extermination and sanitary and educational measures to combat rodents.

Organizational events include a set of the following measures:

  • administrative;
  • financial and economic;
  • scientific and methodological;
  • material.

Preventive actions designed to eliminate favorable living conditions for rodents and exterminate them through the following measures:

  • engineering and technical, including the use of various devices that automatically prevent rodents from accessing premises and communications;
  • sanitary and hygienic, including the observance of cleanliness in rooms, basements, on the territories of objects;
  • agro- and forestry, including measures to cultivate the forests of recreational areas to the state of forest parks and maintain these territories in a state free from weeds, fallen leaves, dead and drying trees; the same group of activities includes deep plowing of land in the fields;
  • preventive deratization, including measures to prevent the restoration of the number of rodents with the help of chemical and mechanical means.

The task of carrying out this group of activities lies with legal entities and individual entrepreneurs operating specific facilities and the adjacent territory.

These activities are carried out by legal entities and individual entrepreneurs with special training.

The bank vole is the most common subspecies of forest voles. Animals make up the main branch of the food chain for predators and birds. This cute rodent is recognized as a major pest for and parks. The vole is dangerous to humans, as it carries a life-threatening infection.

Characteristic

The head of the animal is small, with a seal in the fronto-parietal region. The facial section is lowered down with narrowed nasal bones. The zygomatic arches are low. The eyes of the animal are black, slightly protruding. The roots of the teeth of the animal are formed earlier than in other representatives of the species, and have thin enamel. The eardrums are small, but this does not affect the sensitive hearing of the rodent.

The color of the bank vole can vary from light red to rusty. The tail is white at the bottom and dark at the top. The surface of the vole's tail appears bald, but it is actually covered with a thin layer of short hairs, between which skin scales are visible. The size of the animal rarely reaches more than 120 mm, and the tail - no more than 65 mm. In appearance, the mouse resembles a cute and harmless creature, but when you meet such an animal, it is better to be careful, as the bank vole's teeth are sharp and in case of danger it will defend itself.

Lifestyle

The bank vole, the photo of which can be seen in this article, often lives in deciduous forests. He likes to settle on the edges and woodlands. In taiga zones, he likes to live in berry spruce forests. In the south, small animals prefer to inhabit forest islands near fields, where they willingly go to feed. In the north, the bank vole prefers to coexist with humans, inhabiting houses and barns.

In the Urals, the animal chooses the most non-standard way of life among the stones. If a person saw a vole, then he can be completely sure that several animals live around. The rodent never lives alone, but chooses a couple or a whole family. Vole - the most active part of the time it spends in motion and only at night can take a break. These mice are quite lazy in terms of home improvement. Contrary to opinions, this cute animal rarely digs holes for itself, and if it does, it is completely shallow, which makes the vole an easy prey for predators. Usually the animals build a dwelling, making a small litter among the roots of trees, brushwood, under fallen trees. Sometimes the most nimble mice climb trees and settle in bird nests.

Reproduction and offspring

The bank vole, whose offspring can feel safe in a large family, breeds only if there is enough food. If the animal feels safe and comfortable, then it is able to produce offspring at the age of 30 days. This is even before they reach puberty. Basically, the animals begin to breed 50-60 days after birth.

In one year, a female can produce 4 litters of small rodents. On average, their number is from 6 to 13 cubs. And if we imagine that there is more than one bank vole in the family, the offspring, no matter how much, can fill a small area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe forest. The gestation period of the animal lasts half a month. Cubs are born naked and blind weighing 10 grams each. Within two weeks after birth, babies can safely leave the shelter and can already eat on their own. This one breeds in spring, summer and winter.

Nutrition

In all seasons, the vole's favorite delicacy is the seeds of branchy plants. Also, the diet of rodents includes green parts of plants and insects. In winter, voles prefer to gnaw on the roots of trees and shoots of berry bushes.

These small animals do not make stocks, therefore, if necessary, they can eat whatever they find. Therefore, in winter they often prefer a human dwelling, in which every day there is something to eat. If the rodent lives in the forest, then all winter it is able to feed on the roots of a tree, which leads to the death of the plant. That is why bank voles are considered the main pests of forests.

habitation

The bank vole, whose characteristics show that the animal is unpretentious, lives in almost every corner of the planet. The range stretches from Scotland and Scandinavia to southern Italy, Turkey and Yugoslavia.

Also, a small animal can be found in all regions of Russia. Unfortunately, not all voles are able to survive in cold climates, but this does not in the least reduce their total number. Also, voles make up the main diet for predatory animals, which supports their populations.

The main enemies of the animal

  • Bearded Owl. It is a large bird with strong wings and powerful hearing. She is able to catch the movement of a vole even under a large layer of snow. Thanks to tenacious paws, the tawny owl dives into the snow and takes out prey. Thanks to bank voles, this predator survives the winter without knowing hunger.
  • a flexible predator is able to chase a vole due to its small size and briskness. The weasel rodent is the main diet in winter.
  • Kestrel. The red falcon mainly hunts gray voles, but does not refuse the red representatives of the species.
  • Marten. In summer, this animal can eat berries and insects, but in winter, field mice are the main diet for the marten. On average, an adult marten can even attack a squirrel, but this is much more difficult than finding a small rodent under a snowy floor.

Maliciousness

The bank vole (systematics classifies it as a rodent) is the main pest of forests. During an increase in the number of rodents, they actually destroy the gardens and young trees of the reserves.

Animals living near the fields cause great harm to the crop, polluting and often infecting it with various viral infections, which requires human control of the animal population. If voles start living next to humans, they often contaminate food and livestock feed. The rodent also causes a lot of trouble, spoiling things and gnawing through loopholes. In Europe, infection with hemorrhagic fever and outbreaks of renal syndrome are common. It is this subspecies of the vole that is the carrier of the dangerous

hantavirus that causes diseases such as salmonellosis, tularemia, pseudotuberculosis. Therefore, people in agricultural areas try to get rid of mice as much as possible by introducing specialized poison and pesticides into holes.

In spite of The fact that the bank vole is a pest rodent that destroys crops and damages forests, the animal becomes an integral part of the survival of forest predators. Bank voles never hibernate. Their activity in winter never decreases, they are able to exist for a long time under the cover of snow. This gives an advantage to predators in search of food in the cold winter.

The bank vole is a small rodent. Length 80-115 mm, tail over 50% of body length (4-6 cm), hind foot length 16-18 mm. The eyes and ears are small. Weight 15-40 g.

The coloration of the top is rusty-brown, of various shades, the belly is dark gray, the tail is sharply two-tone (dark above and whitish below), covered with short sparse hair, between which a scaly surface of the skin is visible. Sides are dark gray, lightening on the ventral side of the body. Paws and ears are grey.

The cheren is rounded, with weakly pronounced ridges; the interorbital space is not grooved along its entire length. The roots of molars are formed relatively early, the enamel layer of the crown is of moderate thickness. The base of the alveolus of the upper incisor is at least half the length of its crown from the anterior surface of the alveolar section M1. The posterior upper molar is most often with four teeth on the inside.

Spreading. The forest zone from Scotland to Turkey in the west and the lower reaches of the river. Yenisei and Sayan in the east. In the USSR, north to the central regions of the Kola Peninsula, the Solovetsky Islands, Arkhangelsk, and the lower reaches of the river. Pechory; in the Trans-Urals approximately from 65 ° N. sh. the border follows to the south-east along the right bank of the river. Ob and lower reaches of its right tributaries. The northern border in the region of the Ob-Yenisei watershed has not been clarified. In the east of the range, it was found along the middle course of the river. Yenisei, in the western part of the Central Siberian Upland, on the Salair Ridge, Altai and Sayan Mountains. The southern border runs along the Carpathians, insular and floodplain forests of Ukraine, Voronezh, Saratov and Kuibyshev regions, through the Uralsk region, and in Western Siberia it coincides with the northern border of the forest-steppe; the most southern of the currently known locations is the Samara forest on the river. Dnieper (Dnepropetrovsk region), the extreme western regions of the Rostov region on the border with Donetsk. There is an isolated locality in the southwestern Transcaucasia (Adzhar-Imeretinsky ridge).

Inhabitant of the forest zone. Penetrates through forested islands in the steppe. Inhabits all types of forests. In winter, it often lives in stacks, haystacks and human buildings. It reaches the highest abundance in broad-leaved and coniferous-broad-leaved forests of the European type. Near the boundaries of the range, when living together with both of the following species, it lives in burnt areas, clearings, along forest edges and in deciduous forests, especially with rich grass cover. In the coniferous-broad-leaved forest subzone, it reaches the highest density in spruce forests, especially in blueberry spruce forests, green mosses and stream spruce forests with abundant shrub undergrowth. Found in mountain forests up to 1600 m a.s.l. m. (Sayan Mountains, Soviet Carpathians). In autumn and winter it occurs in haystacks, sheds and buildings.

Most often, the bank vole settles in various natural, relatively open shelters in the roots of stumps and tussocks, under ectropions, in the voids of fallen trunks, etc. Burrows are usually short; usually voles more often “mine” the thickness of moss or forest litter. Nests are placed in shelters on the surface or in the near-surface layer, rarely builds nests on the soil surface or above ground. It climbs better than other species of the genus, and traces of stay are noted up to a height of 12 m; there are known cases of settlement in artificial bird houses-hollows and the withdrawal of young in them.

The bank vole feeds on seeds of shrubs, bark, tree buds, mushrooms, lichens and herbaceous plants, and also berries and mushrooms in autumn. If there is not enough food (usually in winter), it gnaws at the bark of young trees and shrubs. Sometimes insects and other invertebrates are eaten. For the winter can make small stocks of food.

The bank vole is active at night and at dusk. Leads a solitary life. Arranges spherical nests (from dry leaves, moss, feathers and other soft material) in hollows and rotten stumps, rarely digs shallow burrows with 1-2 chambers. It climbs well and runs fast.

The breeding season is from March to October. Pregnancy lasts 18-21 days. During the year there are three or four litters, in a brood from two to eight naked and blind cubs; in years favorable for wintering, reproduction can begin even before the snow cover melts. After 2 months they become sexually mature.

The number varies markedly over the years, sometimes very high. Life expectancy up to 18 months.

The bank vole damages forest plantings, fruit trees, stocks of vegetables in warehouses, and is a carrier of hemorrhagic fever. It interferes with the renewal of conifers and other species by eating their seeds.

Inside forests, it can be considered useful, as it is food for many commercial predators: foxes, martens, ermines, birds of prey and others.

Fossil remains are known from the Early Pleistocene in Western Europe (England) and from the Middle Pleistocene in the USSR. Finds in the Crimea and on the lower Don lie much to the south of the boundaries of the modern range.

Geographic variation and subspecies. There is a development of brighter red tones in coloration in the direction from west to east and its general lightening towards the south. The size of voles increases towards the east (on the plains) and with height (in Western Europe). In the east of the range, the mountain forms are smaller than the flat ones and are darker in color. The relative length of the dentition decreases from north to south.
Up to 15 subspecies have been described, of which 5-6 are in the USSR.

Literature: 1. Mammals of the USSR. Reference-determinant of the geographer and traveller. V.E. Flint, Yu.D. Chugunov, V.M. Smirin. Moscow, 1965
2. A brief guide to vertebrates. I.M. Oliger. M., 1955
3. Key to mammals of the Vologda region Vologda: Publishing and production center "Legia", 1999. 140 p. Compiled by A. F. Konovalov
4. Mammals of the fauna of the USSR. Part 1. Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Moscow-Leningrad, 1963

The high incidence of hemorrhagic or, as it is also popularly called, "mouse" fever was the reason for an unscheduled meeting of the sanitary and anti-epidemic commission (SPEK) of the administration of the Karakulinsky District.

As explained by the chief physician of the Karakulin Republic of Bashkortostan E.V. Babikova, the epidemic situation in the incidence of HFRS in the republic remains tense.

In her report, Elena Viktorovna cited the following figures: for 11 months of 2017, 2022 cases of the disease were registered in SD, which is 3.5 times higher than in 2016. The incidence rate for SD exceeds the national average by 28 times. The largest number of cases is noted in Izhevsk and its surrounding areas. Ours is no exception. The territory of the district is an active natural focus. For 11 months of 2017, 3 cases of HFRS were registered. All of these are adults. Cases of the disease in 2017, as in 2016, are mainly associated with agricultural work in private and public households, with outdoor activities (fishing, picking berries and mushrooms), and the presence of rodents at the place of residence.

According to the results of laboratory studies conducted in the republic, the infection of the bank vole with HFRS increased in 2017 to 20.3% (in 2016 - 3.4%).

The forecast for 2018 is unfavorable: the natural focus of HFRS is in an active state, a high number of rodents and their infection with the HFRS virus will remain. An increase in the incidence of the population and the occurrence of group diseases "mouse fever" is possible at objects inhabited by rodents.

What to do? Medical workers state that there are no specific measures to prevent HFRS in the form of vaccines or prophylactic drugs. The main preventive measures are rodent control (deratization), preventing rodents from entering the premises, sanitary improvement of the territory (including the elimination of household waste dumps), personal hygiene, the use of personal respiratory protection equipment (masks, respirators) when working or in the habitats of rodents. These parameters are reflected in the decision of the SPEC on this issue. Recommendations were sent to the heads of settlements, heads of industries, enterprises, organizations and institutions of the district. Deadline is June 1, 2018.

Control over the implementation of the decision of the SPEC was retained by the Deputy Chairman of the SPEC S.A. Sharychev, deputy head of the administration of the municipality "Karakulinsky district" for the development of the agro-industrial complex.

V. Gibadullina, member of the SEC of the district.

Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (“mouse fever”) is a viral infectious disease.

Sources of the disease are mouse-like rodents. Infected rodents release the virus into the environment with saliva, urine, and excrement. Infection of a person occurs mainly by airborne dust by inhalation of dust infected by rodents. The infection is not transmitted from person to person. The incubation period is usually 2-3 weeks from contact with rodents or traces of their vital activity. The virus affects all organs and tissues of the body, but the kidneys are more affected. The disease begins acutely with an increase in body temperature to 39-40ºС. After 3-4 days of illness, the temperature decreases, but back pain, thirst, and a decrease in urine output appear. At the first sign of illness, you should immediately seek medical help. Untimely access to a doctor can lead to dangerous complications in the form of infectious-toxic shock, acute renal failure. Every year, deaths from HFRS are registered in the UR.