Yellow Mouse: description and photo

This mouse was confused for a long time with its European cousin, with whom it has many external similarities, although it is much larger. And only in 1894 the yellow-throated mouse was isolated into a separate species. The Red Book of the Moscow Region was replenished by this rodent in 2008.

Spread

This small animal lives in the forest zone and the mountain-forest belt of the European part of the countries of the former Soviet Union and Western Europe. The habitat extends to the north, up to the coast of the Baltic countries and the Karelian Isthmus. Then the northern border passes through the Kalinin, Gorky and Novgorod regions, Tatarstan. In the south-western regions of the Odessa region and in the south of the Carpathians, the border of the area passes along the right bank of the Dnieper, through Donetsk, Zaporozhye, Lugansk and slightly to the north of Volgograd, goes to the Volga. On the right bank it goes up to Saratov and flows smoothly to the left bank of the forest-steppe regions of the Trans-Volga region.

The yellow-necked mouse, the photo of which we have placed in this article, lives in the forests of the Caucasus, the Crimea, the lower reaches of the Sudak and Terek rivers.

Where does the yellow-throated mouse live?

This animal is most common in broad-leaved forests. Prefers highly oak groves, while the population is especially numerous in mountain beech forests. It also occurs in mixed forests, in the presence of broadleaf species. Unlike an ordinary forest mouse, little is adapted to life in shaded, high-stemmed, old plantings. As a rule, it does not exceed the boundaries of forest areas, especially in central and eastern areas of distribution.

Just like a forest, yellow-necked mouse in winter is found in household and residential buildings. It damages cereals and vegetable crops.

Yellow Mouse: description

A small rodent, whose body length ranges from ten to fourteen centimeters. To this, you need to add a thirteen-centimeter tail. For this mouse size, the length of the feet seems very large - up to 2.8 cm. The ears are large, up to 2 cm high.

On the back of the fur is painted in red with a brown or ohristym shade. A black narrow strip is clearly visible along the back. The abdomen is whitish, although the very base of the hair is dark. A large oval or rounded yellow spot is located on the chest.

The skull of adults is massive and slightly angular. The sides are narrower and flattened from above. On the top of the head are developed comb-like ridges, which begin between the eyes and continue until they join the crest of the scaly bone. The nasal section is elongated, the incisal apertures are wide and practically not tapering.

Lifestyle

The yellow-throated mouse is mainly active at night or at dusk. The rodent settles mainly in hollows of trees at different heights - from the basal area to twelve meters. In addition, this mouse digs burrows under the roots. They can have quite long runs, reaching a depth of one and a half meters, and extensive chambers, where the landlady keeps her supplies.

This species more often than other forest rodents settles in bird nests, especially if there is not enough wood in the forest. Yellow-necked mouse is a pronounced seed-bear. She especially likes the seeds of broad-leaved species: beech nuts, hazel nuts, acorns, maple and linden seeds . Eats seeds of a new crop long before their final ripening. Winter stocks of this small animal reach four kilograms.

Reproduction

Season of reproduction is long - it starts in early February and lasts until October. During this time, females with several intervals bring several broods - from two to four a year. Rodents from the first litter reach sexual maturity in the same year. Pregnancy lasts from 26 to 28 days.

Offspring

Mice appear in the light in a specially prepared nest chamber, which the tender mother lays with dry grass. They can be from two to ten (usually five). They are born completely helpless, naked and blind. The characteristic yellow collars in toddlers are clearly visible at the age of two weeks. Around the same time, they open their eyes. When the mice are eighteen days old, the female stops feeding offspring.

Economic importance

The yellow-throated mouse is a pest of agricultural land. It damages carrots and potatoes, watermelons and tomatoes, sunflowers, as well as cereals both on the root and in the piles. There were cases when in some areas in the middle zone of Russia had to abandon the planting of oak in the fall, as these rodents destroyed planted acorns.

This variety is the bearer of many serious diseases. One of the most dangerous is tick-borne encephalitis. In 1992, scientists established that the yellow-necked mouse is the bearer of the Dobrava-Belgrade cantavirus, which causes a serious disease - hemorrhagic fever complicated by kidney syndrome.

Yellow Mouse: Interesting Facts

• This species, like most small animals, has a very high level of metabolism. In this regard, they very often take food. These animals are very voracious. This is confirmed by recalculating their body weight by the amount of absorbed food. Especially noticeable damage they can cause during the period of harvesting forage for the winter. At this time, the mice collect grains, seeds, nuts, acorns and hide them in caches located next to the burrow. It is interesting that these mice never store their feed stores in the very hole.
• Running away from the enemy, a yellow-necked mouse makes several huge jumps for her. If you compare the size of the body of this animal and the length of the jump, it becomes clear that this species considerably exceeds even the recognized champion in long jumps among mammals - gray kangaroos. This ability of the mouse is due to the special structure of the hind legs and their power.
• Large specimens of yellow-throated mice, being in one cage with forest, kill, and after that they eat the latter. It is interesting, but in the natural environment, the ranges of these two species overlap, with no cases of cannibalism recorded. Probably, yellow-throated mice catch their smaller relatives only in a confined space.