Mice and shrews are some of the most defenseless creatures in the animal kingdom. But paradoxically, their most fierce enemy is not predators, but frosts. In winter, small animals can freeze to death if they do not prepare properly in time.
Instructions
Step 1
The main protection from the winter cold for field mice is, oddly enough, snow. Like a blanket, he wraps the ground, in the depths of which you can hide from the wind and cold. Preparing for freezing, mice dig through the main passages and multi-storey burrows. Under the roots of trees, as well as in places where the snowdrifts are the largest in winter, they dig holes up to 50-60 cm deep and equip round nests covered with dry stalks of grasses.
Step 2
Water rats - the largest species of voles - live in river floodplains and on the banks of water bodies. In winter, they move to parks, forest belts, vegetable gardens or orchards. There they dig shallow forage burrows, where they wait out the winter.
Step 3
Forest mice, in contrast to field mice, move closer to a person closer to winter and occupy the basements of residential buildings. Nevertheless, they also bring supplies of nuts, seeds and other food into temporary shelters. House mice also spend winters in barns, stacks, cellars, basements, attics, etc.
Step 4
Gerbils become active 24 hours a day with the onset of autumn. They prepare stocks for the winter weighing up to 500 g. They hibernate in multi-chamber burrows, the depth of which can reach two meters. They usually huddle from five to fifteen individuals.
Step 5
For shrews, winter is a difficult period, since they do not eat plant food and have nothing to procure for future use. Therefore, with the onset of cold weather, they move closer to people. Agile and dexterous, the shrew removes wintering insects from under the snow and even attacks voles, despite the fact that they are larger than her.
Step 6
Almost all mice are stocking up for the winter: nuts, acorns, high-calorie cereal seeds, etc. Certain species of mice, primarily those that live in the Far North, hibernate in winter. It happens that some mice (the aforementioned voles, shrews) climb the tops of the trees and bury themselves in the snow-covered voids.
