Hazel Dormouse - description, habitat, lifestyle

By hazel soney it is meant a pretty cute beast, similar to a hamster, a squirrel and a red-colored mouse at the same time. Otherwise, this representative of the family is called a mussel. The creature is ranked in the Red Book and protected by law. In today's material we will consider everything that affects a nice representative of the sononev family.

Description

1. It should be immediately clarified that the animal under discussion does not rank either as a mouse or as a squirrel, even despite external similar characteristics. The family of the sonneva includes animals of various dimensional characteristics, including the smallest representative. A tiny creature weighs no more than 30 grams, and we are talking about an adult individual. In size sony are similar with small mice. This weight characteristic is inherent in individuals that only go into hibernation.After waking up, Sony weighs even less, about 15 grams.
2. The body length is pulled up to 9 cm. Maximum. The tail is not included in these indicators, he is given an additional 6 cm. The fur of the animal is soft, painted in red on the back. The head and tail are pigmented in the same tone. White or yellow color is observed on the paws and the lower section of the abdominal cavity. The end of the tail is colored white or brown. The animal may have a patchy pattern that stands out most on the brisket and abdomen.
3. A distinctive feature of Sony is the fact that the skeleton has the ability to stretch or shrink in an upright position. Due to this, the animal easily folds into a ball, prolazit into small holes, does not take up much space in its home. Paws elongated, flexible, fingers strong and tenacious, painted light. There are five fingers on them, four of which are looking forward, and the latter is angled to the side. An interesting feature is the fact that during the jumps from branch to branch, the Sony brushes turn over and practically form a right angle.
4. The head is rounded, the nose is pigmented with a pinkish color.Elongated whiskers of vibrissae are located around the nose, they make up more than half of the length of the body. These animals can move small ears alternately. They are round, flattened, reminiscent of locators. Eyes bulge slightly, have a round format and a decent size. Painted black, glitter. Teeth are sharp, can easily break through the shell of nuts. But dormice almost does not use incisors during vinegars.

Lifestyle

1. Representatives of the family got their name due to the fact that the main part of their existence, they sleep. Activity is shown exclusively at night, creating a lot of noise. Sony sleep in the winter, starting in October, ending in April. They create minks under the ground and climb into them. It turns out that more than ½ of life, these individuals spend on sleep.
2. It is interesting that during hibernation the animal can easily be picked up. The rodent will not wake up. Individuals like low temperature conditions. When the cold comes, they can sleep 3 or more days without awakening.
3. It has already been mentioned that wakefulness falls at night. These animals come out of their houses and begin to search for food. They crawl and jump on the twigs, bushes, leaning on strong paws.Skillfully jump from one place to another, not weighing down the branches at all.
4. Under sleepers are meant peace-loving creatures, distinguished by their gullibility. They are easily trained, quickly get used to the person, so they are kept in an apartment or private house, along with hamsters. These animals are extremely popular in the UK. They get along well with children. However, the person is frightened by the fact that the rodent is nocturnal, not everyone will like rustling during sleep.
5. Now consider life expectancy. These individuals live no more than three years. Of course, they can reach up to 7 years, but this is only with the maintenance of the house. Usually the cause of sudden death becomes ecology or abrupt climate change. A lot of rodents freezes in winter.

Nest

1. These small constantly sleeping pets differ in that they can independently make a comfortable dwelling for themselves and in particular dwell. Nests are insulated with moss, wood shavings, feathers and foliage.
2. As for places of residence in the daytime, they serve as pits in the root system of trees, hollows, mink, under old hemp.Some inventors independently make their own nests of blades of grass and hang them at a meter height. Rodents can evict birds from their nests, and then take their place.
3. In cases where the representatives of the family did not manage to find a home made from natural material, they can be content with what the person has done. They occupy nests made by people from wood or wooden bottles, tires, etc.
4. Some brave individuals climb into the attic. Moreover, one rodent sometimes has several dwellings for all occasions. When it comes to looking for a home for winter hibernation, then all sorts of minks under the ground or in the roots of trees are used. These rodents warm up the nest to the maximum and close the entrance from strangers.
5. As for the nests, when the female bears offspring, she makes a house on top of the ground. The house for posterity consists of several layers. The first is given to the shell consisting of leaves. And the inner litter is much softer, includes feathers and down, ground grass, etc.

Habitat

1. The represented individuals are not one of those animals who prefer to travel.Each dormouse occupies its own designated area. Females never violate boundaries among their relatives. This can not be said about the males. They are constantly moving around.
2. Considered animals meet with each other only in the mating season. In normal times, they practically do not overlap. It is worth noting that such animals settle only in those places where there is a generous undergrowth in which hazel is growing.
3. In addition, Sony live well in the thickets of viburnum, wild rose, young oak, rowan, ash and linden. Often, these proteins live in orchards. In addition, animals do not harm them. On the contrary, Sony contribute to better pollination of trees.
4. As for coniferous forests, in this case, squirrels do not like to settle in such places. The rest of the distribution of individuals is quite extensive. Animals are found in almost all of Europe. They are not only in Portugal, Spain and the Iberian Peninsula. This is due to unbearable heat.

Diet

1. The presented individuals eat mainly food of plant origin. The basis of the diet of such animals often includes acorns, nuts,seeds and other fruits of various plants. It is important that in the habitats of protein food ripen at different times of the year.
2. As soon as the warm spring comes, the animals enjoy the young shoots and buds. In summer, squirrels lean on various berries and fruits. Sometimes these animals prefer to eat bird eggs and worms.
3. But the great love represented individuals feel it to the nuts. For the same reason, these proteins and got their name. Animals leave characteristic holes in the shell of nuts with sharp teeth. Then splits it.

Breeding

1. It remains interesting that the mating period in such animals continues throughout the warm period. During this period of time, the female is able to reproduce 2 offspring. From time to time from 2 to 6 babies can be born.
2. The female bears offspring a little more than 3 weeks. Then she feeds the babies for about the same amount of time. Such animals are very caring parents. Even if the mother dies, the young will take to feed another squirrel.

Such animals are quite interesting. Males do not travel to adjacent mating sites with females if the rainy season continues. At this time, proteins do not breed at all.They prefer to sit in their cozy nests. Like most rodents, babies are born completely helpless and blind. After 3 weeks the young growth looks like adults.

Video: Hazel Dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius)