Everyone knows about animals, which is called the mole.More early childhood kids learn about it from a fairy tale about Thumbelina.But the question of what is the life expectancy of a mole, would cause most people confusion.
How many years live mole
And really, what is the life expectancy of a mole?It turns out that most of these animals die after four or even five years after its birth.Unless, of course, it still had not eaten weasel, marten, fox, buzzard, owl or owl.And sometimes it falls like a calm and even slow your small mammal for lunch relatives.
Strange as it may sound, but the moles are extremely pugnacious and quarrelsome, they simply enrage random "guests" got on their site.Fighting is almost always end with the death of one of the contenders.And the winner as a prize falls "lucky ticket" in the form of opportunities to dine defeated.That's the ugly features as cannibalism, it turns out, is inherent in moles.
Depends lifespan mole and from various diseases.Also piroplasmosis and tularemia, a threat to them are parasitic worms, ticks, fleas.
Adverse weather conditions and their impact on the life expectancy of a mole
most difficult time of year for most animals is winter.Moles in this sense are no exception.In snowy winters, when the soil is deep freezes, a lot of them dies.So that the weather can have an impact on the fact how many lives mole.
also difficult to carry these animals drought.But do not fear the water, sometimes even cross the small rivers.Often, on the banks of reservoirs exhibit otnorki people - out of the ground, which are cut off from the shore, and then continue on the other side.
Hunger Strike for mole deadly
on how many lives mole affects animal nutrition.It turns out that the food is digested him for four hours, so it is often necessary to "podzapravlyatsya."Even a short fasting from fourteen to seventeen hours can lead to death.
And who knows what the mole eats in nature?Many believe that this small animal adores roots, so a pest of gardens, destroying crops.In fact, moles - predators.Their diet consists mainly of invertebrates: worms, snails, slugs, larvae and pupae of insects, woodlice, centipedes.For one kormёzhku mole can eat twenty-two grams of food per day as well - up to sixty grams.
To catch earthworms moles break through the underground passages, special feed, they are satisfied with the traps.Earthworms, which attracts special musk these insectivorous "hunters" - odorous bait, crawl to the smell and become the prey of moles.
Sometimes a mole can eat the mouse, lizard or frog.But this can happen only if the fine small animal for any reason is immobilized.
So do not assert that the moles ate the entire crop in the garden or at the cottage.Rather, the harm from them because of underground passages dug, which, of course, destroying many plants, and because of earth slides that appear in the process of digging.
As winter moles
turns out that these animals do not hibernate.Even the coldest winters in the nature of a mole is in the waking state - hunger is not my aunt, as they say.Burrowing under the snow, it looks for clusters of hibernating insects that make up his dinner.Seeking mining mole and under the ground, digging the soil to a depth where it is in nepromёrzshem condition.
also make these rodents themselves and reserves.Putting earthworms, which he is not able to eat in one sitting, bat bites through their heads, thereby paralyzing the invertebrate.As required thrifty landlord fills the stomach with food from their bins.
appearance and physiological structure of moles
interesting feature of these underground animals are they:
- eyes;
- wool;
- forelegs;
- skeleton.
eyes
is believed that there are no bodies of moles.In fact, the eyes of animals there, only the European mole, for example, they are extremely small.The size of a pinhead, they are hidden in the fur.Besides eye slit itself only a half a millimeter by millimeter long.Seeing the animal can only light, almost without distinguishing objects.
And Caucasian moles eyes closed and did leathery film.Under the ground in the dark, especially and there is nothing to look at, but the soil does not fall into the eye.
body hair
entire small mammal covered with soft velvety black shёrstkoy that is slightly lighter on the belly.Occasionally found in nature moles White with cream markings, gray or brown with different shades of that color.
Worth fur from a mole is directed upwards and is easy to change direction forward or backward.This allows the small animal to move in any direction.In addition, animal fur tail is a body touch, thanks to him, he moves underground, not only forward but also backward.
structure of the feet and skeleton in a mole
Forepaws animal turned inside out, palms outward - so it's best to dig underground.Like a miniature saperskimi spades, pave the mole underground tunnels, casting the land back.Fingers animal covered with a thick skin and end flattened huge claws.
avilable skeleton and front paws are such that the mole is convenient to move inside the underground passage.But on the surface of the animals are clumsy.Move them extremely difficult, because they crawl and not walk like other animals.
Reproduction moles
animals Mating occurs in March and April.The female bears offspring from 35 to 40 days, after which the light appear from three to nine naked, blind, absolutely helpless babies that weigh no more than three grams!
Most often the females is only one litter during the year.But 25 percent of the adult female can produce offspring and the second summer.
Toddlers grow very quickly, catching up at a rate of adults by the months of age.And six weeks after the birth of young animals separated from their parents, finding a place free from the moles.Usually, teens go from the mother to the site, located in a radius of two meters.
