small rodent belonging to the squirrel family.One of the most important representatives of this kind - the gopher prairie.Photo and description of the animal, you can find in many editions of the animals, but today about it and we want to tell.
Appearance
adult gopher has a body length of 25 to 37 cm. This animal weighs up to 1.5 kg.Approximately 35% of the total body length of the tail.Photos steppe gopher you can see in this article.
hind legs of these animals is somewhat longer than the front.The main difference from the other rodents gophers is in the form of their ears they korotenkie slightly drooping.For cheeks in ground squirrels are so-called cheek pouches.
coat is short and thick.Color light yellow with splashes of dark hair.On the sides and belly fur lighter.On the tail of two bands - light yellow on the outside, dark-yellow on the inside.
Lifestyle
This cute little animal lives in a semi-western Kazakhstan, in the steppes east of the Volga Nizhny.In Central Asia, he prefers to live in semi-clay.
Gopher steppe - an animal, I prefer a solitary lifestyle.Under favorable conditions, the density of rodents stay up to 8 individuals per hectare.Colonies of animals are removed by several tens, and sometimes hundreds of kilometers apart.Each adult individual has its stern section, which she carefully preserved.
In Russia, the most common species of gophers following: large and small, and speckled.Also allocate long-clawed ground squirrel.
In vivo steppe gopher lives 3-4 years.Sexual maturity in the second year of life.
Lifecycle
Gopher steppe is dormant 9 months of the year.In this sense, it is a record of all animals hibernate.This period ends in late February.The first wake up, males, females only after they, and only after juveniles.Immediately after awakening comes the mating season.It lasts about two weeks.
female bears cubs 30 days, small squirrels are born in April and May.One brood may consist of 4 to 14 pups.The female offspring to suckle a little more than a month, and then leave the young mother and begin independent life.
Juveniles begin to dig a hole for themselves in the free mound, the earth there is much milder than in the virgin lands.First dug a sloping course, which then rammed earth inside.Vertical stroke, which is a bit does not reach the surface of the earth is being built close to the beast offensive slumber.
land, which throws squirrel steppe zone from the lower layers to the surface, is very important for soil formation.Many experts believe that due to the steppe rodents and ground squirrels including the southern regions of Russia are rich black soil, the most fertile in the world.
With the onset of heat, when the bulk of the vegetation dries up, most ground squirrels switch from the hills to the lowlands, as there longer stays fresh grass cover.However, this is not available in all regions.For example, in Central Asia in the hot weather, ground squirrels go into summer hibernation.
enemy of these rodents are various predators, including foxes, wolves, steppe eagles, ferrets.
steppe gopher: food
This rodent is not too varied diet.He prefers vegetable food.As a rule, bulbs and stems of plants, seeds and tubers of cereals, of which there are more than 30 species.Before hibernation prairie gopher spends most of the day in search of food.It is necessary to accumulate the necessary reserve of fat.
Residence
animal lives in burrows, which it builds several types.There are permanent, "rescue" temporary shelters.The permanent burrows animals live in the winter, in time - in the summer, and the purpose of "saving" it is clear from their names.
In the first two holes, there are two types of stroke and nesting chambers.Their depth can reach 3 meters in depth, and length - 7 meters."Rescue" hole much smaller.It is a long underground passage at an angle.In addition, sometimes the gopher burrows can settle in the great gerbil.
Gopher steppe - the animal is extremely cautious and secretive.At the approach of danger, he immediately hides in one of the closest holes.If he walked away from their hiding places, then it falls to the ground and dies.Due to the color of fur, he is virtually invisible on the ground.If this method did not work, and the danger persists, it emits a loud piercing whistle that at some time could disorient the enemy.
typical representative of the genus Gophers can be regarded as speckled gopher.This is one of the smallest animals in the family, its length does not exceed 26 centimeters.
speckled gopher prairie: a brief description of
He chiseled a large head, very mobile neck.The eyes are large and round.The legs are short, and the front have long fingers moving.Feature speckled ground squirrel (however, as described above, the animals) is that he has the cheek pouches.They, of course, are not as big and roomy as the hamster.But at one time in their gopher transfers bags to a few tens of bulbs of plants.
The body color is bright and colorful.On the back of a brown scattered large patches of white, this is mottling, which gave the name of the species.Spots merge the head and neck, forming a whitish ripples."Points" eye clearly stand out against the cheeks.The tail is decorated with light border on the edge.Speckled ground squirrel, unlike many of its relatives, is active in the daytime.He inhabits meadows and steppes.
speckled gopher spends the bulk of his life in an individual hole.The animal is extremely energetic, but shy.Moving on open terrain, it becomes a "column" on its hind legs and looks around.Frightened gopher loud whistle warns neighbors of the danger.
Content
Catch gopher is easy, but to teach it to life in captivity is more difficult.It can hardly be hoped that this will turn into a rodent accommodating and responsive pet.Gophers are not accustomed to people.In addition, their way of life is not very suitable for home detention.Early in the morning they are active, and during the day hiding in a burrow.Also, be aware that these animals are not very pleasant smell.
Often the contents of ground squirrels in a cage will shorten the life of animals, and sometimes leads to their death.In the cell, squirrels do not breed.But if you really want to have this funny little animal, you should keep it in the spacious outdoor aviary.The only species that may be suitable for home detention is the long-clawed ground squirrel.It has its own funny habits that are very similar to the protein.
inside the enclosure have to be a shelter, your pet could easily fall into hibernation.Cover the floor of the cage with hay or straw, which must be changed regularly.Required gopher need drinker.
It is interesting
Surprisingly, it is well adapted to heat gopher prairie.Interesting facts reported by scientists.
- these rodents are not afraid of the body temperature drops to ten degrees.For comparison, we should remember that a person feels unwell when you change body temperature by half a degree.Avoid heat stroke this habit helps animals sit column: the head is away from the glow of the soil.But for a long time in the heat, they do not happen.Requirement cool burrows and rare shadow.
- Gopher, inhabitant of the steppes, over the summer eats more than 16 kg of grass and grain.
- Small gopher - the most harmful rodents.It spoils the pasture, destroying valuable fodder plants.In areas of intensive farming these rodents consume.
- Fighting them saves crop gives a large number of skins.We can not say that squirrels can be carriers of dangerous diseases (plague, brucellosis, etc.).
