Sonia is an animal with an unusual way of life. Description and types

One of the oldest rodents is a dormouse - an animal that has much in common with proteins and mice at the same time. Features of its structure depend on the lifestyle and habitat. Life expectancy in nature is from 2 to 6 years.

Appearance

Sony is small in size. Their body is slightly elongated, round shiny eyes stand out on a narrow head with a sharp-pointed muzzle. Ears are quite large, bare, with rounded tips. On the snout of the sony are very sensitive long whiskers - vibrissae. Their length is about 20 to 40 percent of the total length of the body. Each tendril can move by reducing the subcutaneous muscles. This is a kind of body of touch, with the help of which the animal probes the space surrounding it. The limbs are thin and short, four fingers on the front legs, and five on the back. The dense and very soft wool of the animal has a small and the same length throughout the body.

Habitat

Sonia is an animal that prefers to live more often on trees, in hollows, sometimes in earthen burrows, dug more often under the roots of trees, under rocks and in crevices of rocks. These animals live mainly in forests, gardens and groves.

Lifestyle and nutrition

Most of the representatives of this family are asleep during the daytime, and only with the onset of twilight they are selected from their shelters. Thanks to this feature, they got their name. With the onset of cold weather, Sony sleeps in a stupor and in this condition can spend the whole winter. During this period, their body temperature decreases, metabolism slows down. Some animals wake up during the thaw, eating their spare food during a break from sleep. Other stocks do not make and survive the winter due to accumulated over the summer and autumn fat.

The basis of the ration of these animals is the fruits of plants and various seeds, less often insects. They do not refuse, also, on occasion of eggs and young chicks. It is interesting to watch how it takes the food of a dormouse (the photo of the animal involved in this process is placed in this article). Holding the food firmly with the front paws, the dormouse brings it to the mouth. These animals may well become tame, but only if caught at a young age. The main thing that it is not recommended to do is to touch them with your hands. Sony very much do not like this.

Types of Sonnets

On the territory of European countries there are 4 kinds of these animals - hazel, forest, garden and dormouse. In total, the family of snow-covered numbers includes 9 genera and 28 species. They mostly inhabit the northern part of Africa, Japan, China. They are also found in the Altai and in Asia Minor.

Ornish dormouse - from all rodents it is the most attractive, and among the representatives of this family - the smallest animal. The length of his body is 7-8 cm. The animal differs from its relatives in a yellowish-red coloration. A particularly bright color of the fur coat is the young hazel grouse. The rodent got its name due to the habitat, which is a prerequisite for the presence of dense thickets of hazel, dog rose, viburnum and other shrubs. Refers to tree species that rarely descend to the ground. Thanks to tenacious paws very dexterously and quickly moves on trunks and branches.

Garden dormouse is a larger animal (up to 14 cm), with a very peculiar color. The upper part of the trunk is gray-brown in color, and the abdomen is white. Eyes round the black rings, giving the muzzle a very intelligent and expressive appearance. Although mostly garden sockeye dwell in the deciduous forests of mountainous terrain, they are often found in conifers, penetrating further north than other members of this family. He prefers to settle in gardens near human habitation.

Sonia is one of the largest. The size of it can reach at times 19 cm. The fur of this animal is very thick, the back is painted dark, the sides are lighter, and the abdomen and the inner surface of the legs are silvery-white. Eyes round the brown ring. The tail is covered with thick fur, below is decorated with a white longitudinal strip. Of all the rodents, perhaps the most gluttonous is this dormouse (see the photo of the animal below). She will eat until she is able to do it. At the heart of her diet is acorns, nuts, but often she has predatory tendencies, when a regiment attacks smaller animals, ruins nests, eats chicks.

Forest dormouse has much in common with the shelf. She has the same fluffy tail, which is dissolved if the animal is angry. Gray-brown coat color more like a garden dormouse. Only in individuals inhabiting the southern regions, it is brighter - the neck has a yellow-orange color and the same color spots are located on the cheeks of the animal. The length of the body is 11 cm, the tail is about the same.

To keep in captivity, the best is the hazel dormouse, an animal that does not show aggression, quickly gets used to a person and becomes tame.