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 the main pest for forest crops and parks. Vole is dangerous for humans, as it spreads a life-threatening infection.
Characteristic
The head of the animal is small, with a seal in the frontoparietal region. The front section is down with narrowed nasal bones. Zygomatic arches low. The eyes of the animal are black, slightly convex. The roots of teeth in the animal are formed earlier than in other representatives of the species, and have thin enamel. The eardrum is small, but this does not affect the rodent's sensitive hearing.
The color of the bank vole can vary from light red to rust. The tail is white in the lower part and dark in the top. The surface of the tail of a vole seems bald, but in fact it is covered with a thin layer of short hairs, between which skin flakes 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 having met such a beast, it is better to be careful, as the teeth of a red-backed vole are sharp and in case of danger it will defend itself.
Lifestyle
The red vole, a photo of which can be seen in this article, often lives in deciduous forests. Likes to settle on the fringes and woodlands. In taiga zones she likes to live in berry spruce forests. In the south, small animals prefer to inhabit forest islands near the fields where they willingly go to feed. In the north, the red-backed vole prefers to be adjacent to humans, inhabiting houses and sheds.
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 is the most active mouse, it spends most of its time in motion and can only take a little rest at night. 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, then it is very shallow, which makes the vole an easy prey for predators. Usually animals build a dwelling, making a small litter among the roots of trees, brushwood, under the fallen trees. Sometimes the smartest mice climb trees and settle in bird nests.
Breeding and offspring
The red-backed vole, the offspring of which can feel safe in a large family, reproduces only if there is a sufficient amount of food. If the animal feels safe and comfortable, it is able to produce offspring at the age of 30 days. This is even before their puberty. Basically, animals begin to breed 50-60 days after birth.
In one year, the female can produce 4 litters of small rodents. On average, their number is from 6 to 13 cubs. And if you imagine that the family has more than one bank vole, the offspring, however it may be, can fill a small area of the forest. The period of pregnancy in the animal lasts for half a month. Cubs are born naked and blind, weighing 10 grams each. Two weeks after birth, babies can safely leave the shelter and can already eat on their own. This species of rodent breeds in spring, summer and winter.
Nutrition
In all seasons, the favorite delicacy of the vole is the seeds of branching plants. The rodents ’diet also includes green parts of plants and insects. In winter, voles prefer to gnaw tree roots and shoots of berry bushes.
These small animals do not make stocks, therefore, if necessary, they can feed on everything they find. Therefore, in the winter they often prefer a person’s 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 the tree, which leads to the death of the plant. That is why red voles are considered the main pests of forests.
Habitat
The red vole, the characteristic of which shows that the animal is unpretentious, lives in almost every corner of the planet. The range extends 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 reduce their total number. Voles also constitute the main diet for predatory animals, which supports their populations.
The main enemies of the animal
- Great gray owl. This 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 owl dives into the snow and takes out prey. Thanks to the red-backed voles, this predator lives winter without knowing hunger.
- Weasel. This flexible predator is capable of chasing a vole due to its small size and briskness. Weasel rodent is the main diet in the winter.
- Kestrel. The red falcon mainly preys on gray voles, but does not abandon the red representatives of the species.
- Marten. In the summer, this animal can eat berries and insects, but in the winter, the main diet for the marten is the field mouse. On average, an adult marten can even attack a squirrel, but it is much more difficult than finding a small rodent under the snow floor.
Malware
The red-backed vole (taxonomy classifies it as a rodent order) 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 enormous damage to the crop, polluting and often infecting it with various viral infections, which requires control of the animal population by humans. If voles begin to live next door to humans, they often pollute food and livestock feed. Also, the rodent causes a lot of trouble, spoiling things and gnawing loopholes. In Europe, frequent cases are hemorrhagic fever infection and outbreaks of renal syndrome. 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 zones are trying as much as possible to get rid of mice by burrowing specialized poison and pesticides.Despite the fact that the red-backed vole is a pest rodent that destroys crops and harms forests, the animal becomes an integral part of the survival of forest predators. Red voles never hibernate. Their activity in the winter is never reduced, they are able to exist for a long time under the cover of snow. This gives predators an advantage in finding food in the cold winter.