The most unusual wintering: why bats are put to sleep in the refrigerator

Home Bats How do bats live and where do they live in winter?

One of the most interesting and mysterious living creatures, the true nature of which does not at all correlate with the mythical ominous rumors and ideas of our “dark” ancestors. In fact, bats are more beneficial than other members of the human race.

And we will try to talk about these amazing nocturnal animals, or more precisely, about how they live, where they spend the cold winter and when bats wake up after hibernation.

• Who are they, creatures of evil or faithful helpers?
• Hibernation of bats
• Take care of our little brothers
• Conclusion

Do they all spend the winter where they live?

Not all types of flying animals spend the winter where they spend the summer months. Some varieties fly to warmer places, just like birds. But many species of these animals remain to spend the winter where they live.

Among the mice remaining for the winter, the following species are most common:

• nocturnal;
• earflaps;
• nightlights.

Animals of these species find suitable secluded places and fall into long suspended animation, lasting up to six months. However, if a person manages to find a place where a bat hibernates and accidentally or intentionally disturbs the animal, then the animals, despite the cold weather, fly away in search of a new shelter. Such forced migrations significantly harm the health of animals and can cause the fact that with the onset of warmer weather, some animals will not wake up, that is, they will die.

Hibernation of bats

One may wonder why in winter one cannot see the flickering shadows of bats in the frosty darkness of the night, as in summer. In fact, the question will not be very appropriate, since these creatures cannot stand the cold.

In addition, these are insectivorous animals and, in addition to the unacceptable temperature of the outdoor environment, they are faced with the problem of loss of food sources.

Most species of bats, pipistrelle bats, for example, with the onset of autumn cold weather, leave the places where they lived and fed in the summer, and migrate to warmer latitudes, such as the southern regions of China and other Asian countries, where the winter season is much milder and the temperature is not falls below 2-3 degrees above zero.

But some species of these night hunters, such as bats and long-eared bats, show real patriotism and stay for the winter.

At the same time, they stop all active activity and fall into hibernation. But it must be said that this is not a bear's endless winter. Bats may wake up from time to time in order to assess the situation, especially if it is not conducive to continuing a further stay in the monastery chosen for the winter.

But still, in the absence of irritating factors, these animals can fall into deep anabiosis and sleep soundly for 2-5 months. At the same time, the biorhythm of their life slows down very sharply. The heart rate decreases by 50 times (!), and the body temperature drops to 4 degrees, while the animal can take one breath every 10-15 seconds.

Immersion in suspended animation in bats has an exclusively protective “adaptive” nature. That is, it is the physiological adaptability of the body to change its rhythm of life during periods of unfavorable living conditions. This is how they survive during periods of lack of food and low temperatures.

Hollow trees, attics of houses, caves and dungeons, empty mines, insulated cellars and vegetable storages can serve as winter shelter for sleeping bats. Simply put, they need a place inaccessible to other living creatures with a temperature of at least 8 degrees, without drafts and with high humidity.

The duration of hibernation can vary among different species from 2-2.5 months to six months, and even longer.

Bats usually hibernate in large families, with their paws hooked onto something horizontal, hanging upside down and wrapping their wings around themselves. If you take a sleeping animal in your hands, you might think that it is dead. But after a while, having warmed up in warm hands, he will realize that he is in trouble and will definitely try to escape. Having been released, after some time he will again join his sleeping brothers.

Bats have an excellent memory, and they perfectly remember the location of that cave or that attic where they managed to safely overwinter the last cold period. They actually develop a very strong attachment to their usual hibernation place.

And we are talking here not only about a specific geographical point on the map of the area. Moreover, the researchers were able to notice that the awakened bat tries to take the very place in the “winter apartment” where it slept before awakening.

To the question of when bats wake up after terrestrial hibernation, we note that much depends on the species and specific circumstances. Representatives of the bat order, more resistant to cold, can wake up as early as March, if the beginning of spring is not too wintry and frosty. More heat-loving species, such as moths, can sleep a little longer, until mid-May, especially if the winter has been long.

At the same time, when waking up, the animals shake for some time, as it might seem from the outside. They are shaking as if with a fever, but this is not at all due to the fact that the bat is freezing. No, this is how their body warms up after winter suspended animation.

By contracting muscles, animals very quickly and sharply increase their body temperature from several degrees to 30. After which the bat begins its new summer season of active work and reproduction.

In what month do bats hibernate? When should you start feeding?

There is practically no point in feeding the animal once. The animal needs long-term feeding if its reserves of subcutaneous fat are running low. You can find out only by weighing the animal on a scale. If you do not have scales, contact your nearest veterinary clinic and ask them to weigh your animal. If you do not have the opportunity to feed the animal, or its weight is within the normal range, then you should place the animal in the cold for the winter as soon as possible (which will be written about later). In the warmth, the bat burns its fat reserves, which will help it survive the winter, and will soon die.

In bats with short fur, such as rufous noctules, the degree of fatness can also be determined visually. In the photo on the left is an exhausted bat that requires additional feeding, while on the right is a well-fed one that can continue wintering without any problems. Please note: in an emaciated animal, the depression at the withers, between the shoulder blades, and also the sunken belly are clearly visible. A well-fed animal does not have such depressions - there is a fat reserve at the withers and between the shoulder blades, and the tummy is moderately rounded.

But most native bat species have long fur that hides their body shapes. In this case, you can determine the degree of fatness of the mouse by touch. The presence or absence of fat at the withers and in the area of ​​the shoulder blades can be very clearly felt.

In our practice, we start feeding animals when their weight is below the norm we have established. So, for the rufous noctule it is 27 grams, for the late-colored noctule – 25 grams, for the Kul’s pipistrelle – 7 grams, and the two-colored noctule – 13 grams. Look

If you do not know what species the bat you found belongs to, please send us a photo of the animal by e-mail, VKontakte or Facebook page, and we will help you determine the species. You can also contact us by phone numbers listed on the website.

Who are they, creatures of evil or faithful helpers?

Bats (lat. Microchiroptera) belong to the order Chiroptera of the cohort of placental mammals. These are the only animals in the world capable of prolonged flight.

This is a very extensive order in terms of species, and the sizes of its representatives range from 3 to 50 cm in length, and from 5 to 80 cm in wingspan. But we will consider as a sample not large tropical specimens, but small species inhabiting our European regions, the dimensions of which usually do not exceed the size of a sparrow or tit.

These flyers can live 5-10 years and even longer. Zoologists claim that some bats under scientific supervision lived up to 20-25 years, and this is by no means fiction.

Bats cannot be confused with any other living creature on planet Earth. They have a unique appearance that most may find repulsive and sinister.

The thin limbs of bats resemble a bone frame on which a leather membrane is stretched, forming wings. These creatures have very thick fluffy fur on the body, usually lighter in the front.

The head and muzzle have a truly bizarre structure, with which, in addition to the wings, all the fables about the otherworldly nature of these creatures in the old days were usually associated. And in some ways we can understand both our ancestors and modern, more mannered representatives of the fair sex, who are frightened by just the sight of these funny creatures on TV screens.

The muzzle resembles a pig's snout with large ears, like that devil from the well-known Soviet film adaptation of “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” performed by G. Millyar. And two fangs protruding from the upper jaw can cause even greater fear and mistrust.

It must be said that, despite very poor eyesight, these creatures are quite nimble and perfectly oriented in space during flight. In this they are helped by echolocation, that is, the ability to catch the reflection of ultrasonic pulses from surrounding objects.

These animals feed mainly on insects, which they catch in flight with extraordinary dexterity. Tropical bats also eat fruit, and among them are vampire bloodsuckers. However, let's return to our insectivorous night flyers.

Bats are more useful animals for humans. Harm on their part may only consist of the transmission of some dangerous diseases, but this, again, applies to a greater extent to tropical species.

The benefits of bats are especially appreciated in rural areas, where overnight a flock of these creatures can greatly help a farmer who is always suffering from harmful insects.

Also, these creepy-faced flyers serve as plant pollinators, carrying plant pollen on themselves and distributing it over a wide area.

Where can you find them?

To find a place where a bat hibernates, you need to know what conditions the animal requires for hibernation. Not every attic in a residential building or a cave in the forest is characterized by the qualities necessary for long-term suspended animation. The location must meet certain parameters.

Where the bat hibernates, fairly strict conditions must be met:

• temperature not higher than 8 degrees Celsius, but not lower than 7;
• humidity - from 80%;
• no drafts.

The requirements are quite complex, especially for urban areas. For this reason, it is not at all difficult to find a place where bats hibernate in the city. It is enough just to exclude all those places in which the animals will not be comfortable

What does it eat?

What are the food preferences of a rodent, since it chews literally everything that comes its way? He is capable of even such addictions that are difficult to even imagine. They chew holes in wooden, concrete or brick structures. Their diet includes products made from polystyrene foam, plastic or rubber, as well as products from other synthetic materials. In a human home, the vole mouse spoils any food products, but does not disdain grain, bulk food products, vegetables, fruits, etc. meat, lard, sausage, etc.

Interesting to know! The vole mouse stores for the winter if it is in the field, and during the winter it eats everything that it managed to collect during the warm period. As for other representatives of this family that were able to gain access to human reserves, they do not care about supplies for the winter. The rodent stores for itself for the winter food items that are edible. In this case, the amount of reserves depends on the size of the mink. During the day, the mouse eats no more than 5 g of food and drinks up to 20 ml of liquid. Instead of water, rodents consume succulent parts of plants. Around mid-summer, the animal begins to make supplies for the winter.

What's best for them to sleep in?

Mice that stay for the winter in the climatic conditions of the middle zone prefer to do this in the following places:

• abandoned adits and mines;
• insulated attics of non-residential old houses and basements;
• deep and dry wells;
• large hollows;
• branched grottoes or caves.

Mice can spend the winter in any other suitable places. For example, among the shelters where bats spend the winter in Russia, one of the first positions is occupied by abandoned pipelines and buildings. Large pipes under rural bridges, in which streams or rivers used to flow, can also become a haven for animals. True, only in the southern regions of the country. They also make their winter quarters in the ruins of churches, estates and other ancient buildings.

Bat in the city

Due to human intrusion into the natural habitat of bats, the animals are exploring the previously unusual area of ​​urban buildings and structures.

Where do bats hibernate in the city? They take up winter quarters in the cracks and seams of multi-storey buildings , climb into attics, huddle under the lining of balconies, between window frames and in the cracks of air conditioners, and are located in insulated basements and vegetable stores.

The close presence of humans poses considerable danger to bats. If they are disturbed in winter, they freeze while trying to find new shelter, or become easy prey for cats and dogs.

A bat found in a city in winter is primarily provided with drinking water . Then you can send the animal to hibernate again in a box or bag, finding a suitable place in the refrigerator.

Some hobbyists leave the animal awake at home, providing the abundant food it needs with live insects like mealworms (what do bats eat in nature?).

In the spring, however, temporary captives are necessarily released.

The settlement of bats for the winter in a certain building can be considered a kind of sign of “ecological quality”, since these animals are sensitive to the naturalness of their habitat and do not settle in places contaminated with harmful chemicals.

However, the proximity to large colonies of wintering animals in the city causes certain inconveniences (read more about the benefits and harms bats bring here).

In such cases, in the fall, when bats migrate to undesirable places in winter city shelters, special ultrasonic repellers .

For farms and gardens, where overly large wintering colonies do not form, bats are welcome and useful neighbors in winter and summer.

Tireless night catchers of harmful insects - winged mammals - in most regions of the central zone they are considered rare and endangered species. They are sensitive to environmental pollution, have difficulty maintaining their numbers and, at the same time, have a unique ability to survive the winter cold.

Bats should not be disturbed in their wintering areas, since emerging from hibernation takes a lot of energy from them and the animals do not survive until the new spring hunting season.

What are the optimal conditions for wintering?

So, if the animal has gained the required weight, then one day after the last feeding it should be placed in a cool place (15 ºС) and then placed in the refrigerator another day later. The optimal temperature for hibernation of bats is 2 – 8 ºС. In apartment conditions, you can place the animal on the balcony or in the refrigerator.

Important factors for successful wintering are stable temperature and high humidity (more than 50%). On the balcony, the temperature often fluctuates, so the refrigerator (compartment for vegetables) is more suitable for bats. Chiropterans do not have an unpleasant odor and will not be interested in your products, so you do not have to be afraid to place the animal in the refrigerator.

If you have a refrigerator with a “no frost” system, then to maintain the humidity the animal needs, you can place a bowl of water next to the box in which it sleeps. Frequent opening of the refrigerator, light and noise will not affect his sleep. Let's repeat the main thing: cold and humidity. If you have a cellar or garage with suitable temperature conditions, then this is also a good option.

If the animal has been fattening for some time, it is better to place it for the winter in the same bag or box in which it lived warmly.

You should not check how the animal sleeps too often, since each awakening is a loss of energy. About once every 3-4 weeks, the animal can be taken out of the refrigerator (or other wintering place), given water, weighed and sent back. If the weight has dropped significantly again, start a new feeding cycle.

We suggest you read: What to do if your cat has frostbitten ears

This should be a shelter with a temperature of 0 8C and a humidity level of 80-100%, without drafts. For the middle zone, such conditions are usually met by dungeons, basements, caves, old mines and adits, deep well log houses, attics, and hollows in trees. Sometimes accumulations of wintering individuals reach several hundred heads. Numerous colonies can settle in old abandoned military pillboxes, many of them in the forts of the Brest fortresses.

If wintering is successful, then the animals remember this place and will definitely return for the next hibernation, because it is becoming more and more difficult for winged animals to find suitable shelters in modern realities.

The place where the bat hibernates is permanent. These animals have a specific memory, and as soon as they find a place that best meets the conditions necessary for wintering, they return to it for years.

Optimal wintering sites

So, where do bats hibernate, do bats hibernate in winter, and where do they sleep?

To successfully overwinter, bats need reliable, draft-free shelter with a temperature of 7-8 degrees to zero (but not lower) and a humidity of 80 to 100%.

In the middle zone, such a winter environment is created in dungeons, caves and basements, mines and adits, in the log cabins of deep wells, in attics, and in the hollows of old trees.

Animals often move to wintering shelters in colonies numbering up to several hundred individuals. Large communities of bats hibernate in empty abandoned pillboxes from the war, in the forts of the Brest Fortress.

Finding a suitable place is not easy, so winged mammals perfectly remember not only the attic, cave or basement itself, but also the specific area where they are located in it. From year to year, bats return exactly to the same place where they have already managed to safely spend the winter.

Field mouse: description

A small rodent can be called differently: field mouse, meadow mouse, simply vole, small mouse, striped mouse. This animal is familiar to many people, since the lives of humans and rodents are often intertwined. With the onset of real winter cold, this pest moves closer to humans, appearing in barns, warehouses, sheds and other outbuildings, as well as in human homes. They often settle in dachas, gardens or personal plots.

It is not difficult to distinguish a field mouse from other rodents by a number of characteristic features. For example:

• It grows in length up to 12 cm, no more, while the average size of a rodent is about 10 cm. The tail of the animal is thin and makes up about 70% of the length of its body.
• The body shape is somewhat oblong with elongated hind feet. When the mouse moves, they protrude forward.
• The muzzle is elongated, with an oblong nose, and the ears are small but round.

Judging by its appearance, it is an attractive and harmless animal. Of particular interest is the mouse's red nose. The body structure of a mouse differs little from the body structure of many species of rodents.

The body is covered with short hair, which is characterized by uneven coloring, while the abdomen is always lighter compared to the rest of the body. The vole can be easily distinguished from other species of rodents by the characteristic black stripe located along the back. The color of the coat may vary depending on living conditions. In summer, the vole has a darker color, but with the arrival of winter, the color changes to lighter. In the images below you can see for yourself how the vole mouse differs from other rodents.

Interesting fact! Rodent teeth are unique in that they grow throughout life. This is especially true for a pair of long incisors, which appear already in the second month of life and grow by 1.5 mm daily. To prevent its teeth from growing excessively, the animal needs to constantly gnaw on something so that they wear down. At the same time, mice gnaw even those objects that have no nutritional value.

The average weight of a vole mouse is no more than 20 grams, although larger individuals are found, weighing up to 30 grams.

Description

Depending on the species, the body length ranges from 35 mm to 14 cm, the head has a wide mouth slit, small eyes and large ears, each species has a different description, which, like the wings, are covered with a large number of vibrissae.

Chiropterans' vision and sense of smell are extremely weak, so they focus exclusively on sound, and hearing in most species is excellent: the hearing range is up to 190 thousand Hz. They also successfully use echolocation, picking up ultrasonic signals reflected from certain objects.

The main feature of bats is their limbs transformed into wings, the thin bones of which are ideal for flight.

The animals have greatly elongated toes of the front paws (except for the first), which, together with the legs and long forearm, form the frame for an elastic membrane, covered with a few hairs, that forms the wing (interestingly, it is completely penetrated by blood vessels, nerves and muscle fibers). On the heel of the animal there is a bone, a spur, which supports the rear edge of the membrane.

While the muscles that move the wings in birds connect to the sternum, the muscles in bats work differently. The wing is raised by several small muscles, and lowered by three muscles, with only one of them attached to the sternum.

Thus, with the movements of fingers, arms, legs, and forearm, bats can excellently maneuver, so the flight of a bat, according to the description, is distinguished by a variety of styles. They can take off not only from high points (for example, from the ceiling of a cave), but also from the earth and even water surface.

An interesting fact is that during flight, bats constantly scream, emitting ultrasonic signals through their mouth or nose. This helps them catch echoes that bounce off various objects and makes it possible, if necessary, to adjust their flight (to get around an obstacle, to find food).

Differences between bats and fruit bats

Bats differ from fruit bats primarily in the different structure of their aircraft: in fruit bats it is less developed - with wide wings, a single shoulder joint. They also differ in external description:

• They have a shorter muzzle;
• The outer ears of fruit bats form a closed ring around the ear opening;
• Bats do not have a claw on the second toe of their front feet;
• Bats have no down: they are either completely bald or covered only with shaft hair;
• The length of bats generally does not exceed 14 cm (there are species of fruit bats that reach 55 cm). The largest bat in the world is the South American large false vampire bat, which has a length of 13.5 cm and a wing size of 91 cm. Interestingly, the size of one of the smallest representatives of the species (the white bat) ranges from 37 to 47 mm.

What happens during hibernation?

In this state, all life processes occurring in the animal’s body are suspended. During active wakefulness, the heart rhythm in these animals averages 420 beats per minute. In a state of suspended animation, the pulse decreases significantly. The rhythm during winter sleep does not exceed 14-16 beats per minute.

Such characteristics as body temperature also change. If you pick up the mouse, it will seem hot and dry. During wakefulness, during the active life period, the body temperature of these animals remains at the level of 37-40 degrees. As soon as the animal falls asleep for a long time, that is, for the entire duration of the upcoming cold weather, the temperature level changes. Moreover, these changes are quite large. The body temperature of a bat in suspended animation is close to zero degrees. To the touch the animal seems not only cold, but also numb.

Hibernation is an important component of the life cycle for these animals. The longer the state of suspended animation lasts, the longer the mouse will live. Stable “entry” into suspended animation and the absence of forced awakenings from hibernation increase the life span for these animals up to 15-20 years.

Do they fly to warmer climes or stay?

Every autumn, following the passing warmth, not only heat-loving birds fly away, but also some species of bats. Unlike birds, bats do not fly to Africa, but much closer - to Turkey, the Balkans, the Caucasus, and Crimea.

But not all species are disappearing. The vast majority of species of bats - bats, long-eared bats, noctules and others - remain until spring. Colonies of bats overwinter in the same place where they hunted in the summer.

Flight of winged predators

Since in winter there are no insects that constitute the main diet of bats, they hibernate. This state of the animals lasts for 6-8 months. Most bats do not emerge from deep suspended animation for up to six months.

On a note . During wakefulness, the heart of bats beats at a speed of 420 beats/min, the body temperature is about 38-40°C, and the number of breaths is 95-96. The heart of an animal that has fallen into suspended animation begins to beat much less often - 15-17 beats per minute, the number of breaths drops to 2-4 times per minute, and the body temperature drops to 1-2 degrees.

When to release?

If the bat survives until spring, then with the onset of the first consistently warm nights (at air temperatures above zero), the animal can be released. Usually this is the end of March - beginning of April. Also at this time, the first insects appear, and the animal will have something to eat. It should be released after sunset in a park area or outside the city, planted on a hand or on a tree trunk. First give the animal some water and, if there is food left, feed it.

If the bat did not survive until spring, but died during the winter, be sure to give us the frozen corpse. Cadaveric material is necessary for studying the anatomy, physiology and infections of chiropterans.

Chiropterans are the least studied mammals in Ukraine and Russia, so we will be glad to send you letters and photographs about the animals found (date, country, locality, location and features of the find).

Lifestyle and habitat

In the culture and myths of many peoples, such animals usually appear as sinister negative characters. The ancients associated them not only with vampires, but also with other evil spirits: werewolves, sorcerers, witches.

These creatures personified darkness and death, but that is why the totem animal bat serves as a completely opposite symbol - rebirth: the rejection of everything that has become obsolete, the death of old habits and concepts, and therefore the entry into a new life.

If we list the areas of the planet where such representatives of the fauna settled, we should mention almost all of them, skipping only the edges of eternal snow and ice, as well as some islands surrounded by the ocean, since these flyers simply could not get there.

Zoologists believe that a bat can take root almost anywhere, in any climate and in a wide variety of conditions. The only thing she really needs is a quiet shelter where she can hide from the hated sunlight during the day.

Such creatures also do not tolerate noise and fuss, but even in large cities they can take a liking to some little-visited attic, even in a residential building. Therefore, they can rightfully be presented as pets. The bat has no fear of humans.

But some of the people are afraid of such guests, it’s just prejudice. However, this does not prevent exotic lovers from keeping these interesting creatures as pets.

In the wild, for example, in some spacious, mysterious cave, colonies of these animals can number in the tens of thousands of members, and even millions of individuals. In such a shelter they rest during the day, attaching their tenacious claws to the ledges, hanging upside down like ripe fruit.

But despite numerous aggregations and associations into communities, bats cannot be called social animals. Their social urges do not manifest themselves in any way. They communicate little with their relatives. They just sleep together during the day, that's all. And they hunt alone at night.

If bats live in regions with unfavorable climate, in winter they often go in search of nicer and warmer places. And such journeys sometimes take place thousands of kilometers away. But sometimes these creatures prefer to simply go into normal hibernation.

Features of behavior

Voles are quite active living creatures, as their metabolic process is quite fast. They need to eat quite often, as they use up their energy quite quickly. Mice have a hard time withstanding hunger, and even more so lack of water. Without food and water, a vole mouse can live no more than 1 week.

Despite such facts, the vole mouse adapts quite quickly to new conditions. Rodents move in certain ways, and they mark their territory with urine. They show their main activity when it gets dark. Under certain conditions, rodents become more active during the day.

Mice are quite cautious living creatures. They react to the slightest sound or rustle, quickly running away to their shelter. This indicates that rodents have many natural enemies and danger lurks at every turn.

The pest tries to constantly stay as close to its hole as possible, moving away from it only a few meters. As a rule, rodents move in tall grass, under bushes or in the shade. Each individual has its own territory marked. They prefer to live in flocks, controlled by dominant males and females.

Interesting to know! The lifespan of individuals in natural conditions is no more than 1 year, although scientists believe that mice can live up to 7 years. The thing is that mice have many natural enemies. In artificial conditions, the average age of rodents is about 3 years.

Reproduction and lifespan

It is difficult for scientists to find out in detail how exactly the courtship and subsequent mating of these creatures occurs; they prefer to lead a very secretive lifestyle.

Some bats can feed on flower nectar

But at certain periods, very interesting sounds can be heard near the habitats of bats. These are the courtship of gentlemen for their ladies and their calls for love.

Bats inhabiting regions with favorable conditions and a warm climate are ready for mating rituals at any time and are able to give birth to offspring twice a year. In areas with harsh weather conditions, mating of these winged mammals occurs immediately before hibernation.

And this reveals another feature of these animals. A bat, or rather a female of this suborder, is not able to become pregnant immediately, but some time after contact with a partner.

After all, according to nature’s plan, her eggs will be fertilized only after spring awakening. Until this moment, the male’s sperm remains, as it were, in her body in reserve.

The duration of gestation is also impossible to say with precision, because the timing turns out to be too different. And they depend not only on the species, but also on environmental conditions, in particular temperature.

But when the time comes, two or three cubs are born. At first they live in the tail pouch. And a week later they get out of there, but continue to live, feeding on mother’s milk.

In this way, the babies gradually gain strength, and after a month they are already able to feed on their own.

It is difficult to answer the question: what is the lifespan of these creatures, because it depends on the species to which these bats belong. On average it is 5 years, but can be 20 or more years.

It is interesting that when kept at home, such animals do not live longer, as is observed in most living creatures, but, on the contrary, shorter. This is due to the inability to behave with the desired activity and in accordance with natural cycles. And this has an extremely detrimental effect on their bodies.

Trampling and redistributing snow

In order for rodents to get close to such tasty plants - bulbs planted in flower beds and garden beds, bushes and trees - they must make their way through the snow and freely dig a hole or passage. The simplest measure available in winter - trampling down snow - creates a barrier for rodents that is sufficient for effective protection.

They trample down the snow, moving from the perimeter of the tree trunk circles to the trunk, in flower beds - between the plants, trying not to touch them.

Snow is always distributed so that the most vulnerable plants are securely covered, and bare soil is protected from weathering and freezing. In addition, you need to add snow so that in the spring it effectively moistens the soil.

By finishing each snow distribution by compacting it near rodent-attracting plants, you reduce the risk of rodent problems.

Take care of our little brothers

It should be said that the period of hibernation, especially in urban conditions, is the most dangerous and risky period in the life of bats. People often find their “winter apartments” and destroy them, driving half-asleep animals out into the cold, from which they quickly die.

Numerous explorers of caves and dungeons are also guilty of such deeds, especially where they are of historical, cultural or material interest.

In general, a person, as always, harms himself.

How do bats reproduce?

According to known data, bats have inhabited our planet for about 50 million years. Scientists have discovered an almost complete skeleton of an ancestor of bats called Icaronicteris; the find dates back to the Eocene period. These are 8 cm long animals, almost identical to modern bats, so zoologists have not fully decided on their origin and, in particular, it is not known how they learned to fly. It is believed that bats could have evolved from tree-dwelling insectivores.

Although bats are very diverse in appearance, it is difficult to confuse them with other animals. The body of the mouse is covered with fur, which is somewhat lighter on the belly. The wingspan of the species is also huge - from 15 cm to almost 2 m. And the shapes of the wing arms are also very diverse. But, regardless of shape, their wings have the same structure.

The forelimbs of bats are amazingly developed: their shortened shoulders are strong, and their elongated forearms are built from only one radius bone. The thumbs of the forelimbs have hooked claws, and the remaining fingers are balanced by wing membranes located on the sides. The structure of the body and the size of the tail depend on the belonging of the animals to a particular species. A bony process, called a spur, helps to unfold the wings all the way to the tail.

Let's see how bats reproduce. This happens once a year. Most give birth to only one offspring. Some species give birth to a pair, and the hairy-tailed bat or brown bat (a mouse with 4 nipples), which lives in southern Canada and Central America, produces three or even four pups in one litter.

In tropical latitudes, bats bring litter all year round, and in our climatic zones, bats mate in the fall or during hibernation, so that the babies are born in the spring.

Mid-lane bats do not form pairs and often change partners. Sometimes, a baby mouse conceives during the winter: the male fidgets, approaches the nearest female and, in a semi-dormant state, mates with her.

Reproduction of bats in common species occurs during the day. During childbirth, the female is often positioned head down, but more often, she is attached to the side wall of the shelter with her head up. The cubs appear feet first (of all mammals, this is found only in bats), ending up in the mother’s tail pouch.

Food at different times of the year

The field mouse eats a variety of foods, the choice of which depends on the season.

Where should I put the animal?

You can use cardboard box

from under shoes, a thick cotton bag

or
sock
. In the box, hang a piece of fabric on the edge, which the animal can cling to and hang upside down. If the box is cardboard, then one or two ventilation holes with a diameter of 1 cm are enough (you can punch them with a ballpoint pen). Close the lid of the box and seal it with a piece of tape. It often happens that the animal lifts the lid and climbs out. The bag or sock should be tied with an elastic band.

Source

Way of life

Despite the fact that the order Chiroptera consists of a huge number of species that live in different natural conditions, their way of life differs little from each other.

Bats live in flocks: in the places where they have settled, there are from fifty to one hundred flying animals per square kilometer. They lead a nocturnal lifestyle, because it is during this period that it is easier for them to get food for themselves and hide from enemies; during the day they sleep, hanging upside down. Relatives communicate with each other using both ultrasonic and ordinary sounds.