divination 

Water rat and the fight against them at their summer cottage. The most harmful of the rodents, the water rat

The water vole is a harmful rodent.

Behind a short time voles can turn large areas garden plantings in the wastelands. And with this, voles lead many gardeners to despair, as they are rodents with a big appetite.

Water voles are also called water or earth rats. They are larger than other mice, reaching 12 to 25 cm in length. Their head is large and wide, the muzzle is blunt. Water voles weigh an average of 90-120 g and consume 85-100 g of food daily.

As for food. Water voles are considered pests, as they eat almost any vegetation. For days on end, water voles, sitting in their underground burrows, gnaw on the roots, bulbs and tubers of plants. They leave their shelters only under the cover of darkness and then eat the aerial parts of plants: flowers, vegetables and fruits. I especially like flower bulbs, roots of fruit bushes and roses, carrots, parsnips and Jerusalem artichokes.

Female water voles give birth six to eight times a year. Each litter of water voles can have from two to six cubs, which in turn reach sexual maturity and start breeding in the same year. Thus, one female can give birth to more than 50 offspring per year.

Unfortunately, the presence of water voles in most cases is discovered only when your garden has already been damaged. On lawn and hard ground, water voles, while digging their burrows, leave soil emissions - small earthen mounds, lower and flatter than molehills. In loosened soil and around the roots of shrubs, voles shove the ground, so their presence is not always immediately noticeable. If shrubs such as roses, or young fruit trees begin to hurt or fade, we immediately check whether they have a solid earthen support under them. Often, all thin roots are already gnawed by pests, and a tree or shrub can be pulled out of the ground without much effort. If small land plants disappear, it means that voles have worked on them. Often, pests drag plants into their burrows, whose roots they have already gnawed, as they say, they eat plants "with all the giblets." This can happen overnight with tulips, poppies, lettuce, or many other plants.

You need to be able to scare them away. Empty bottles buried in the ground at an angle. Voles do not like the sounds that fly out of the neck when the wind flies into it. Hardened lava pebbles can be purchased at specialty stores, the strong smell of which keeps voles at bay. Also, odor-sensitive animals can be scared away by kerosene-soaked sponges placed in their burrows. Elder or thuja leaves, as well as garlic cloves, repel voles with their pungent smell, they must be placed in their burrows. Grouse and other plants repel voles with their smell. We plant them in the garden, along fences or between flowers and vegetables. You can also protect plants from voles with wire mesh. Voles cause the greatest harm to beds located on hillocks, as well as bulbous and tuberous plants. We wrap the bed, as well as bulbs and tubers, with wire mesh before planting. For tulip bulbs and other spring-blooming bulbous plants, special plastic baskets can be purchased. If you have voles in your garden, then succulent lily bulbs should be planted wrapped in wire mesh. Before we break the bed on the hill, we stretch the wire mesh under it, and then we fill it with earth.

We use traps when we are sure. That they won't get moles. Various models are available for sale. Since voles are sensitive to odors, we set traps with gloves worn by the ground. If voles eat a bait made on the basis of coumarin, then their blood clotting process slows down, and the mice die painlessly. We lay out the bait, first of all, in spring and autumn, when the voles are not distracted by the abundance of other food. Moles do not eat this bait.

Do not confuse the main thing: moles under protection cannot be killed. They dug oval-shaped passages. Broad, with hanging roots. The molehills are cone-shaped. Ground emissions of water voles are flat and low.

Here are some plants that protect the entire garden from voles:

Hazel grouse is a bulbous plant with yellow or orange flowers, blooms from March to May. Exudes a strong garlic odor that repels voles. Good for framing.

Black root is a plant from borage, with hairy leaves, most often with blue flowers, blooms from June to September, exudes a smell that repels voles, looks good with herbaceous perennials, with summer flowers.

Garlic - exudes a smell that repels voles, helps in the fight against fungal diseases, we plant it in mixed crops, between vegetables, strawberries, raspberries, roses, tulips, under fruit trees.

Sweet clover is a biennial species of clover, a good green fertilizer that conducts nitrogen into the soil, a favorite plant of bees, voles avoid those areas where sweet clover is planted.

Euphorbia chiny is a hardy herbaceous perennial that exudes an odor that repels voles, green plants reach 1-1.3 meters in height, best planted along fences or beds.

Blackcurrant is a strong fruit shrub, the berries of which contain vitamin C, bears fruit from June to August, and is also suitable for regions with a harsh climate. Voles avoid those areas where currants are planted.

Elderberry is an unpretentious sprawling wild-growing shrub with black berries, it begins to bear fruit in August, we put this plant in holes dug by voles or fill it with manure fertilizer.

Thuja is an evergreen, very poisonous shrub, many varieties, often used as a hedge. The branches of this plant, placed in holes dug by voles, will drive these rodents away.

It seems to me that if flowerbeds and beds are decorated with plants that are afraid of voles, then we will not have to resort to all sorts of poisons and chemicals. I am for natural struggle, even if we are talking about pests. Good luck to you.

More precisely, the most large view this family.

The animal has a size from 16.5 to 22 cm(of which the tail is 6-13 cm) and body weight from 180 to 380 grams.

The body is massive, with a large head and a blunt muzzle, small almost invisible ears. The tail is round, long, covered with small hairs.

In winter, the coat is thick and long, in summer it is short and sparse. They differ in the type of wool rats living in different places habitat or different ages.

Back color - dark brown, with a variety of shades, the belly is off-white. Sometimes meet completely black animals.

The fingers on the front paws are short, ending in long, slightly curved claws. The hind legs are extended. Swims well.

Vivid photos of the earth rat:




Distribution and reproduction

The earth rat can be found in the European part of the country, in the Caucasus, in Siberia (except for the regions Far North). A large number of rodents is concentrated in the south of Siberia and in Central Asia.

For life chooses wet places- along the banks of reservoirs, swamps and damp meadows. With a high population, it can inhabit gardens, fields and vegetable gardens.

During floods, it migrates, moving to drier and more comfortable places for life.

REFERENCE! often lives in settlements, settling on household plots and creating passages in thin walls and under the floor.

AT southern regions under comfortable conditions, the earth rat can breed all year round. In other places, the process occurs from spring to autumn, two or three times.

The number of individuals in the offspring depends on the lifetime of the animal - the older the female, the more cubs she can bring. The offspring is bred underground, in a separate equipped place.

Upon reaching the age of one month, the young begin to live independently.

Under optimal conditions, the number of earth rats grows several times, and their number can reach 400 animals per hectare fields.

Lifestyle

The rodent exhibits activity all year round , spends almost all the time underground in winter. According to the time of day, the greatest vital activity is concentrated in the evening and at night.

It emerges from the hole only for a short period of time, moving a short distance - as a rule, while eating plants located on the ground.

In summer during the greatest heat and in winter clogs holes from the inside. The earth generated when digging passages is ejected to the surface, forming small flat piles different size and at different distances from the exit point.

Underground passages are located 10-15 cm from the ground surface. The nest usually consists of an extensive network of labyrinths, a nest chamber, and several storehouses.

REFERENCE! If moles live near the habitat of the earth rat, then they can use the ready-made dug passages of the latter to quickly get to the roots and tubers.

Differences from other rodents

From earthy has soft fur and a shorter tail without annular scales.

They differ from the smaller underground passages, which also have irregular shape. Also, rats do not hibernate in winter.

Footprints are similar to prints, but have great length step - 6-8 cm.

Harm to a farmer and ways to fight

Breaking through holes, it immediately eats all the food it encounters. The earth rat most of all destroys alfalfa, also causes significant damage to rice during the ripening period, cotton, wheat, barley, some gourds, including watermelons and melons.

Same damaging young trees, gnawing them underground at the root collar or seriously gnawing the bark - bird cherry, apple trees, and willow are especially often "gotten".

It eats small animals - field mice, crayfish, molluscs, insects and others. Cleverly swims and climbs trees destroying bird nests.

Can settle in human dwellings, where it eats food products and feed. Can gnaw through adobe walls and make passages under the floor.

The natural enemies of the earth rat are dogs, cats, jackals, foxes, weasels and many others. predatory species, as well as birds - owls, eagles, field harriers.

REFERENCE! The methods of struggle are different, and they can be conditionally divided into radical, when the goal is the complete destruction of the rodent, and humane, if you need to drive the rat out of its habitat.


Initially, all methods are divided into:
  • Mechanical devices- this includes all kinds of traps, traps, scarers;
  • Animals- several cats in the area where earth rats live will not be able to catch the entire population, but they can scare away rodents and force them to leave their habitat;
  • Chemical substances- poisonous gases are sprayed: carbon monoxide, chlorine, or substances are sprayed onto the soil, licking which the rat will die.

Radical Methods- traps and poisons, used when there is not much time to scare away. However, it should be borne in mind that rats are smart animals, and will not approach the mechanism if they see that someone has died in it.

In addition, radical methods can also harm other animals and plants in the vicinity.

Humane methods involve repelling rodents:

  • Ultrasonic repellers- installation on the site of devices that generate ultrasound. It happens that some rodents do not react to it, and also adapt to a constant stimulus;
  • smoking out- substances that produce caustic are placed in burrows bad smell. It can be scorched wool, bundles of wormwood or mint. One interesting way out is to plant a black elderberry on the site, the roots of which release cyanides into the soil, which are poisonous to rats;
  • Filling holes with water- earth rats are excellent swimmers, however, they will have to leave such a habitat.

IMPORTANT! There is no need to hesitate when an earth rat is found on the site, you must choose how to get rid of it yourself, but you can’t let things take their course - the more time passes, the larger their population becomes, which means it will be more difficult to completely get rid of rodents.

Conclusion

An earth rat is a dangerous rodent that settles on the banks of rivers, swamps, as well as in gardens and fields. Lives underground, where it digs labyrinths.

Destroys landings rice, barley, wheat, cotton, young trees. Methods of dealing with a rodent are varied, and are divided into radical (traps, poisonous gases and baits) and humane (repellers, damage to holes).

Video

You can see it well in the video earth rat in water:

The water vole, often called the water rat, is less known than the famous waterfowl rodents - beavers and muskrats, but its life is no less interesting.

Water voles live singly or in groups on the banks of reservoirs, in floodplains, in swampy meadows, sometimes they can be found in places quite remote from water. Although the feet of the water vole are not webbed, they swim quite well. She owes this to the long stiff hairs that cover the edges of her feet. They help the animal to row with its paws in the water, but do not interfere with moving quickly on land.

The water vole is a hardworking digger. On the banks of reservoirs, she digs holes up to 100 meters long, and to her favorite food - root crops, she breaks through passages right underground and it is very difficult to track her down. At the same time, mounds of various sizes remain on the surface of the earth, containing stems of grasses (and this is their difference from mole mounds).

Water voles feed on small areas, which are called fodder tables. These tables can be recognized by the trampled grass and the remnants of food scattered on them. Interesting fact- the teeth of this animal grow all their lives, new ones replace worn out old ones, and if this did not happen, then in a year they would grow up to a meter!

Water vole or water rat?

Though water vole often called a rat, but it differs from a rat in the following ways:
- the muzzle of the water vole is not pointed, but blunt and rounded;
- its head is larger relative to the body than that of a rat;
- the ears of the water vole are small and practically do not protrude from the fur of the animal;
- if the tail of a rat is longer than its body, then in a water vole it barely reaches half of the body, has no scales, and is covered with sparse hairs;
- this water animal, unlike rats, never moves by jumping and even in case of danger it runs away jogging;
And the last difference is that the vole fur is softer than that of rats, fluffy and has a thick undercoat.

Water vole life

A year for a water vole is equal to almost its entire life. As soon as the snow melts, the animals begin to dig rather complex holes. From the nesting chamber of each burrow, water voles break through passages under water and to feeding places. Sometimes animals can settle in the side passages of muskrat burrows.

There were burrows of water voles, arranged simply in a tussock or a rotten stump. Moreover, these water animals can arrange their nest in the thickness of a bird's nest, and the birds themselves are forced to leave their home.

In April, the first offspring appears in the water vole, and over the summer there can be up to 4 additions in the family of the animal. There are usually 6-7 cubs in the Brood, which grow very quickly, leave the parental nest at the age of one month, and after two or three months they themselves become parents. Water voles live from 6 to 15 months.

In autumn, water voles leave the water on a hill and dig real "mansions" - winter burrows with pantries. Animals fill pantries with rhizomes, root crops, plant tubers and their bulbs. If water voles live far from farmland, then they are content with wild plants.

However, it is worth these rodents to be near the gardens and they immediately turn into malicious pests and drag carrots, potatoes and other vegetables into their pantries. There are cases when, during the fight against water voles, people successively dug up their “pantries” and took out up to 20 kilograms of potatoes and up to 60 kilograms of peas from them per day.

In nature, there are many animal pests that prevent high yields. Among them is such a rodent as a water rat (the animal can also be called a water vole). The animal harms not only seedlings, damaging it, but also steals various root crops and bulbous flowers from the beds, causing the death of fruit and berry plantations. Complicating the situation is the fact that a very active and voracious representative reproduces very quickly. What does a water rat look like, what does it eat, where does it live and how to deal with it - you will find answers to all these questions in this article.

Description

Water rats are very large rodents that live in natural conditions. This type of vole weighs about 200-250 g. The body length of a water rat can reach 22-24 cm. Below is a river rat in the photo.

Outwardly, the animals resemble ordinary ones. They have some similarities with guinea pigs(sea rat in the photo). not difficult. The main characteristics of water rats are:

  • long, but more rounded torso;
  • short muzzle;
  • small ears;
  • thick and fluffy fur, only on the ventral part it is lighter in color;
  • the length of the tail of a water rat usually does not exceed 10-12 cm.

Below you can see what a water rat looks like in the photo.

Where does it live

The question of where the water rat lives is puzzled by those who once met a rodent in their area. AT summer period the vole prefers to live in small reservoirs, swamps and streams. Also, the animal can be found in reclamation ditches located next to summer cottages. With the advent of cold weather, it changes its habitat, moving to dry meadows, where it hibernates.

The animal lives in a hole, at the end of which there is a nesting chamber. It is possible to determine that the hole belongs to a vole along the course, the height of which is much greater than its width and has a rounded shape. Water rats also live in rotten tree trunks and even inside marsh hummocks, equipping their nests with dry grass.

Nutrition

The soft succulent parts of plants growing in the swamp, young reed shoots, basal parts of sedge, cattail or reeds - this is what the water rat eats. In addition to near-water plants, rodents also eat root crops. The favorite treats of pests are carrots, beets or potatoes.

They try to eat large root crops on the spot. Small tubers are carried into burrows by animals, making reserves for the winter. Moreover, for these purposes, rodents select only smooth and unspoiled vegetables. By the beginning of spring, such blanks are over. This forces the vole to change its habitat, moving to summer cottages, where it uses the roots of garden plants for food.

On a note!

A clear sign that a waterfowl has appeared in the garden is uprooted plants, as well as the appearance of holes with grass eaten around.

reproduction


The water rat is highly fertile. After all, females have the ability to reproduce even in the year of their birth, without even reaching the weight of adults. The first litter appears in the spring. Usually 6-7 cubs are born at a time. During warm period up to 4 rat broods can be bred by one female.

At first, the female cares for and protects them from attacks by other animals. In case of danger, she is even able to pounce, cruelly biting the pursuer. After a month, young rat pups become practically independent and are even already able to eat succulent food, rhizomes of young trees or garden flowers.

How to fight a rat

Underwater rats are not only a danger to the crop, they are also distributors of dangerous infections. Therefore, having found a rodent on the site, it is very important to get rid of the uninvited guest as soon as possible.

Rodent control involves the use of various methods:

  • Ultrasonic repellers. You can fight pests with the help of. Its principle of operation is based on the formation of high-frequency signals that affect nervous system animals. Because of what rodents try to leave the territory occupied by them as soon as possible.
  • Attract biological enemies. An ordinary mongrel cat is quite capable of protecting the site from a vole. Its smell will scare away rodents even before they appear on the site.
  • The mechanical method of rodent control involves the use of various. However, this method is effective only with a small number of pests.
  • The use of pesticides. Various baits are prepared from them, which are placed near the holes of rodents.

Experienced gardeners say that water rats are afraid of weeds. Animals try to avoid plants that have seeds with sticky spines. An example is burdock or. Animals are not able to extract thorns from their fur, so they prefer not to live near such plants.

Eyes of moderate size, not shifted upwards. The auricle is small. The outgrowths of the upper lips behind the incisors are covered with thick hair, but they do not fuse with each other and only do not completely isolate the incisors from the oral cavity. The tail reaches 2/3 of the body length, is not flattened in shape and is covered with sparse, short, stiff hair.

The third paley of the hands and feet is larger than the fourth, the first fingers are not shortened, the claws are not too long.

The soles are bare, the calluses are well developed. On the sides of the sole there is a comb-shaped fringe of hair.

The color of the top is monochromatic, ranging from dark brown to black. In northern populations, the tip of the tail is often colored white. The hairline is distinctly differentiated into a dense underfur and a rough axis. Differences in fur by seasons are weakly expressed.

The skull is distinguished by comparatively widely spaced zygomatic arches, strongly developed fronto-parietal crests, and postorbital projections of the squamosal bones. The incisal openings are shortened because their posterior sections are narrowed and overgrown. Auditory drums are small and thin-walled. The angular process of the mandibular bone is small.

Biology

Lifestyle. The species inhabits river floodplains, shores of lakes, canals for irrigation and other water bodies, upland and floodplain wetlands. Settles in meadows, among shrubs, in swampy undergrowth, in fields and gardens, rarely found in buildings. Avoids the shores of polluted or clogged water bodies. Settlements of linear or mosaic type. In the mountains it is found up to a height of 3.2 thousand meters above sea level.

The animal is mobile, the seasonal change of habitats is pronounced. This is especially true for the forest zone. Here, the animals migrate from water bodies to floodplain meadows, thickets of shrubs, agricultural land, but no further than 2 km. Usually chooses snowy areas. At the same time, the flood regime affects the change of habitat.

Animals live in burrows in winter and in ground and above-ground nests in the warm season. Permanent burrows are shallow: 10 - 15 cm. Feeding passages up to 1 m, rarely deeper. Emissions of earth from holes on the surface and snow-covered earthen sausages are similar to molehills. Burrowing activity reaches its maximum intensity in autumn and winter, when the animals live in burrows, as well as during the period of active settlement of juveniles. AT forest steppe zone one individual can build passages with a total length of about 100 m. A nest made of grass stems is located in the nesting chamber. In addition, there are 1 - 2 storage chambers.

Daily Activity the species is polyphasic, and in summer it is mostly nocturnal.

reproduction takes place in the warm season, and in mild winters it begins as early as February. Individuals become sexually mature before reaching full growth. Females weighing 60 - 65 g, with an adult weight of 120 - 280 g, can be ready for breeding. Pregnancy lasts 20 days.

The fertility of the species is great. When breeding within 6 - 7 months ( central part range) overwintered (adult) females bring from 4 to 6 litters. Profits of the first litters - up to three., the second 1 - 2. The number of offspring from one pair alone is 70 individuals.

The number of cubs in one offspring is from 6 to 14. At the age of 10 - 11, babies open their eyes and eat green grass brought to them by the female. Reaching half the mass adult, the animals leave the hole.

Flashes mass breeding characteristic of biotopes of swamps and floodplains, forest-steppe lakes. But in most of the taiga zone, they are rarely observed.

Nutrition. In the diet of the species, the main part is made up of plant foods. At the same time, animal food is constantly present: larvae and adults of insects, mollusks, small fish, crayfish.

warm time of the year is characterized by feeding on aquatic and partially underwater parts of plants and meadow grasses. In winter, it feeds on underground parts, bark, shoots of poplars, willows, bird cherry. The storage instinct is poorly developed, but in animals living in the north and east of the range, it is much stronger. In these regions, the weight of supplies stored in cells can reach 5 kg, sometimes 10 kg. In the valley of the Lena River - 30 kg.

Morphologically related species

By morphology ( appearance) the described pest is close to the Southwestern water vole ( Arvicola sapidus). Main differences: wider nasal bones, larger auditory drums.

The geographical variability of the species is distinctly mosaic, which is especially characteristic of mountainous areas. But the regularities are not clear enough. Since variability is superimposed on it depending on the inhabited biotope, which is especially clearly manifested in signs of adaptation to a burrowing or floating lifestyle. More than 30 subspecies have been described.

Geographic distribution

water vole lives in floodplains and wetlands of the watersheds of the northern part of Eurasia and is distributed from the forest-tundra and southern tundra to the desert steppes. In the mountains, settlements of the species are found up to subalpine meadows. In the south, the range borders on the northern coast mediterranean sea, Western and Asia Minor, northern and southeastern parts of Kazakhstan, Northwestern China, Altai - Sayan mountainous country and northern Mongolia. To the east, the range of the species stretches to the Irkut River, the Baikal region and the Verkhoyansk Range.

Maliciousness

water vole- not a synanthropic species and on the banks of reservoirs the harm from this species is insignificant. Basically, it comes down to damage to trees and shrubs growing along the banks. In particular, this applies to plantings of willows.

Field and garden crops located in areas close to water bodies are damaged by animals.

Water voles gnaw on the bark and roots of seedlings and cause significant damage to forest nurseries, plantings and orchards.

In the forest-steppe and steppe zone, significant damage is caused to grain crops, in particular, spring crops, during the period of preparation for winter.

Animals during the construction of holes destroy hydraulic structures: they destroy the slopes of canals, dams and irrigation ditches.

The species is one of the main carriers of tularemia. At the same time, it participates in the circulation of carriers of plague, tick-borne encephalitis, leptospirosis, Omsk hemorrhagic fever and many other zoonoses.

Pesticides

Chemical pesticides

Mixing with the bait product (wheat, chopped potatoes, carrots, sugar beets or apples), introducing the bait into holes, other shelters, tubes, bait boxes, boxes with special applicators:

In private farms:

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 events are held legal entities and individual entrepreneurs with special training.