The house mouse is a species of rodent that has spread throughout the planet, becoming one of the most common mammals. This happened due to their ability to coexist with a person.
Habitat
The brownie mouse, the photo of which is presented in this article, is actually a wild animal. She got her name for living around a person. House mice live everywhere in the world, with the exception of permafrost, Antarctica, and highlands. The animal’s Latin name is Mus musculus, and a third word is added to it, demonstrating the habitat, for example, house mice that live in southeast Asia are Mus musculus castaneus. In our country, house mice also live almost everywhere: Krasnodar Territory, Rostov Region, Krasnoyarsk Territory, Astrakhan, etc. The only exception is the regions of the far north.
Lifestyle
The house mouse lives in various biotopes and landscapes, including anthropogenic landscapes. It is very closely connected with people and often inhabits farm buildings and residential buildings. In the north, they carry out seasonal relocations. For example, at the end of summer, animals begin to move en masse to warm places: grain and vegetable stores, residential buildings, and warehouses. The range of such migrations can reach 5 km. Often they winter in ricks, in stacks and forest belts. In the spring they leave their “winter apartments”, returning to gardens, kitchen gardens, and fields. In the south of the range, they often live year-round without human habitation. At this point, house mice are attached to various reservoirs, oases.
In nature, settle on not very dry, soft soils. They dig small holes in a simple device. Inside, they arrange a litter, using a soft vegetable rag for this. The burrows of other animals are often also occupied: mole voles, voles, gerbils - or for housing they use cracks in the ground and natural voids. Settling around a man, they arrange their nests in the most protected and secluded corners, mainly under the floor, in attics, in heaps of household waste and garbage. In this case, any materials available to them are used for the nest: scraps of fabric, paper, feathers, wool, artificial fibers. House mice in their nest diligently maintain order. In the case of severe contamination of the litter, severe infection with parasites or getting wet, they simply leave the place, moving to some new one.
In nature, they are nocturnal and twilight animals, but in human habitation they adjust their daily regimen to the life of people. Sometimes, under artificial lighting, they remain active around the clock, reducing it only during the period of active activity of people. At the same time, the activity of the animals is polyphase, there are up to 20 wakefulness periods per day, which last up to 90 minutes. Like many other mice, they follow certain fixed routes when moving, creating noticeable tracks with small heaps of dust and droppings held together by urine.
House mice are very nimble, moving animals; they run, jump, climb, and even swim quite well. But from their nest, they are far from often removed. Each mouse in nature has an individual area: males up to 1200 m2 and females up to 900 m2. But with a high density, animal populations settle in small family groups or colonies consisting of the main male, several females with their children. Among the members of this colony, hierarchical relations are always established. Males are relatively aggressive relative to each other, females are much less aggressive. Skirmishes are very rare within groups of families, mainly in the expulsion of offspring that has already grown up.
Description
House mice are long-tailed, small rodents with an oval-shaped body, small head, eyes with beads and rounded ears. The tail is covered with sparse hairs and ring-shaped scales. Animals that live in nature are of a zonal type of color, in this case the hair at the base of the tail is brownish-brown in color, the middle is fawn, while the tip is painted in a pale gray shade. The abdomen is colored much lighter - to white. At the same time, decorative mice that were bred by breeding have a huge range of colors: black, white, gray-blue, yellow, as well as colors that combine several shades. White mice are albinos, since they practically do not synthesize melanin, which is responsible for the coloring of tissues. Breeders also bred tailless, long-haired, short-tailed, hairless, satin and curly mice.
Character
House mice are curious, lively, cunning, smart, but very shy animals. Unexpected noise or sharp sounds scare them. They are animals social and do not like loneliness. Without communication and attention, house mice yearn and start to run wild. Females are wonderful mothers, and males show paternal feelings for their offspring only if there are no other males in the cage.
Relationships with other pets
House mice are pets that can be dangerous for dogs, cats, rats and birds.
Attitude towards children
They can be started in those families in which children are 10 years old. They want to have their own animal, although there is no experience in caring for it. Many are interested in the question: "House mice bite or not?" It is worth noting that they are not aggressive, although they can bite until they have time to adapt to the owners and the environment, therefore, first you need to help children get acquainted with the animal, as well as tame it. Very young children with these miniature, while brisk and dexterous creatures should not be left alone.
Training
House mice are domestic animals that belong to the smartest animals among rodents, while decorative varieties quickly get used to their owners and are perfectly tamed if they are given enough attention, while speaking kindly and softly. They are able to remember their nickname. Mice quickly begin to recognize the aroma of the person who brings food, and they will meet him with a cheerful squeak. Animals can be trained to respond to various whistles and various commands, for example, “Come to me!”, “Serve!”, “Home!”
It is worth noting that scientists have long studied house mice. Kotenkova E.V. (Doctor of Biological Sciences), for example, devoted a lot of time to this issue, writing several scientific papers on their behavior, as well as on their role in ancient mythology.
Food
In house mice, the main diet is cereals and seeds. They enjoy eating wheat, oats and millet, unroasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds. They can also be given dairy products, white bread, slices of egg white and boiled meat. The green parts of various plants can make up a third of the ration of the animal with a normal amount of water. At the same time, mice prefer juicy leaves of cabbage and dandelion, slices of cucumber, beets and carrots, and green grass. Mice need up to three milliliters of water throughout the day. In summer, they can feed on insects, as well as their larvae. In mice, the metabolism is very high, therefore, they should always have food in the feeder.
Maintenance and care
The mouse can be kept at home in a fine-mesh metal cage, as well as in a special organic glass container with a lid. It is necessary, since the mice jump perfectly in height. The terrarium or cage should be quite spacious, as the animals are very active and need movement. Strips of unpainted paper or shavings are used as litter. A cottage (a jar, a box, a pot, etc.) is installed in the cage, in which the mice arrange a nest, a drinking bowl, a feeder, put a piece of chalk, as well as other devices for games. Ladders, levels, shelters, branches are suitable for this, it is also advisable to put a wheel for running.
The terrarium or cage is placed as far as possible from windows, batteries, air conditioners and doors, since animals do not like temperature jumps, direct sunlight and drafts. The best air temperature is 20 ° C with an air humidity of 55%. Every day, garbage and food debris are removed from the cage, and feeders and a drinking bowl are washed. The litter is changed three times a week, at least once a month it is necessary to carry out disinfection and complete cleaning of the terrarium or cage. The feces of mice have an unpleasant pungent odor. At the same time, females smell much weaker than males.
In the terrarium, it is advisable to install pieces of large tree branches directly with the bark (birch, willow, mountain ash) so that the animals can grind incisors about them. It should be borne in mind that for these animals lilac is poisonous. In the cage, you can also put wooden toys with which the animal will play, while grinding the incisors. With well-organized housing, walks are not needed for house mice. If the animal does come out for a walk, then the place for his walks must be limited by the hands of the owner or by the table. It must be remembered that various house plants for mice are poisonous, among them are aralia, yucca, Christmas star, feces, etc.
When keeping several animals at once, it is desirable to create same-sex groups: 2-3 males or 2-3 females living in a common cage get along well together. At the same time, those that came from the same brood get along better. Newborn babies can not be picked up and it is undesirable to disturb their mother.
Such mice are evening and night animals, they can interfere with sleep due to the generated noise and various sounds, although they basically adapt to the human mode.
Disease
- Infectious diseases caused by parasites, microorganisms and viruses.
- Cystitis, tumors of various etiologies.
- Mouse smallpox, pneumonia, salmonella, respiratory mycoplasmosis, genital mycoplasmosis, otodectosis, otitis media.
Mouse harm
The destruction of such mice is caused by the damage they cause to human stocks, as well as equipment and household appliances.
Wild house mice, which humans have been fighting for centuries, can eat almost anything. As a result, food, candles and soap, wiring, etc., become eaten up in the house.
Animals in warehouses gnaw grain, destroy crops of various root crops, eat up stocks of cereals, in addition, they significantly pollute the house with their vital products. They actively allocate their waste, therefore, even a small population can cause great harm. Thus, animals do not eat the bulk of the grain, namely, they pollute it.
In addition, house mice (how to get rid of them, we will learn below) are carriers of a huge number of pathogens of various diseases. They can transmit Escherichia coli, helminth eggs to humans, cause plague and typhoid fever. Blood-sucking insects very often live on them, among which fleas and ticks, which are passed with pleasure to humans.
Consequently, house mice can do significant harm. Unfortunately, not everyone knows how to get rid of them. The professional destruction of animals is becoming the main activity for suburban areas, private houses, catering organizations, as well as various types of institutions. This service can be ordered from specialized companies, or use the mousetrap in the old fashioned way.
