Mouse-baby: photo and description

Today we will tell you who such a mouse is a baby. Photo and description of this animal you will find in this article. As the name implies, this animal is very small. Furthermore. The mouse-baby is the smallest rodent in the forest. Perhaps, even among mammals there is no one to compete with her in size. Less is her only shrew. How much does this moving animal? The mass of this mouse is only 7-10 g. It can be said that it is practically weightless. Of course, for grass blades, by which it moves very fast thanks to the tenacious tail and hind legs, it will be noticeable.

Lovely creature

But if the baby mouse is on the person's hand, he will not feel her presence. From rodents living in houses with an elongated muzzle, it is distinguished not only by a small size, but also by a brighter color. And the abdomen is lighter than the reddish back. The intensity of the color varies and does not depend on the habitat. The mouse-baby, the photo of which can be found in this article, is a pretty nice representative of his family.

be careful

It's not for nothing that house gnawers are afraid, and they are happy to keep houses as pets. Although it should be done with caution. If the mouse entered the shelves of the pet store directly from its natural habitat, and was not born to the responsible breeders, then it can be a carrier of dangerous diseases: tularemia, leptospirosis, tick-borne encephalitis and lymphocytic choriomeningitis. Although the mouse-baby-rodent, which harms agriculture, I would not want nature to lose one of its representatives. After all, each of them has its own significance for the surrounding world. Therefore, people try to conserve the population of these mice, which began to decline due to the fact that the landscape is often subjected to changes under the influence of the human factor.

Place of residence

Where does the baby mouse live? This rodent prefers forests and forest-steppe. And he lives not only in Russia, but also spread in other territories of Eurasia. It can be found in Spain, Korea, China, Kazakhstan, Italy and even in Japan. In our country, the mouse-baby lives in the Caucasus, Primorye and Transbaikalia, Karelia and the Urals, near the Arctic Circle. It is interesting that representatives of this species are found in river valleys, and at an altitude of 200 meters above sea level. The main thing for them is to have a lot of grass in which they can arrange their nest.

A tiny house

These mice hide in bushes, among the weeds and thickets. They do not like to be in the sun, because their small body is very sensitive to overheating. Therefore, in search of food, the mouse-baby moves, clinging to the blade of grass, remaining in the shade, avoiding open terrain. Its nest she builds among grass or shrubs, preferring sedge and reeds, at an altitude of 40-100 cm. In diameter, it reaches only 6-13 cm. In this cozy nest, the offspring of these rodents are born. To the kids it was convenient, from the inside, caring parents lined it with some kind of soft material.

All the best - for children

The outer layer is usually woven from sturdy leaves to give the nest strength. Mouse-babies multiply only in the warm season, when there is an opportunity to grow offspring in suspended nests. And for the period from April to September, one mouse can have several litters. Pregnancy lasts 17-18 days. For each a separate nest is constructed, in which 5 cubs are perfectly placed. Newborns are naked, deaf and blind, but after 15 days are ready to leave the nest. The lifespan of these mice is no more than one and a half years. Therefore, next spring, the offspring itself will be ready to procreate.

What's for lunch

In winter, baby mice do not fall into hibernation. Since they do not make stocks, they search for food under the snow or in human granaries. In winter they often settle in piles, stacks or even in houses. The usual food for these babies is grains: oats, corn, rice, sunflower, millet and other grains of cultivated plants. They also eat legumes, fruits, and seeds of broad-leaved trees. In summer, supplement the diet with insects and their larvae.

Content at home

If you decide to keep this rodent as a pet, first read the rules of caring for him. In the wild, these animals do not live together, only during mating or under forced conditions, for example, are saved from frost in one granary. But at home they can be housed in one cage, the main thing is that it should be spacious. The house is equipped with all sorts of toys, climbers, ropes, wheels, so that the moving animal can spend its energy. The food is poured into the feeders. Mouse-babies feed the same way as in nature: corn, millet, sunflower, oats, plant seeds, fruits. All this is not difficult to get in urban conditions. It is also necessary to install in the cage a special drinking bowl for rodents. These animals are clean, although they will have to be cleaned after all. Their great advantage is that they do not have a strong smell. In good conditions your pets will live much longer than in the wild. There are cases when these animals survived to 5 years. On average, they please owners 2-3 years.

What else is remarkable about the mouse-baby?

Interesting Facts:

• To weave a nest, she lets the grass and leaves through her teeth to get thin fibers.
• A nest in the form of a ball, which is woven by a mouse-baby, has no entrance. To get inside or get out, rodents spread the blade of grass, from which it is made, with paws.
• In winter, in granaries, where these animals hide from frost, quite often found about 5 000 individuals.
• On the life of one of these little mice was written a book by the famous writer Vitaly Bianchi "Mouse Peak." This fairy tale in an accessible form tells the story of the life of a rodent. The author describes an uneasy life in the wild, the dangers that lie in wait for the baby, and his meeting with people.

In this article, we talked about the life of an interesting animal. Despite its small size, it leads an active life, gives birth to offspring, tries to avoid dangers, builds houses in the grass. Not for nothing people noticed and tamed this cute, peace-loving animal.