Russian muskrat is an amazing animal that has been comfortable on planet Earth for more than 30 million years. As in past times, and today, the appearance of this river animal, resembling a small rat and belonging to the mole family for its ability to dig deep burrows, has not changed at all.
Russian desman: description
All the same, like a trunk, a long nose, paws with membranes between the fingers, a long tail compressed from the sides, covered with horny scales and is an excellent steering wheel in fast and sharp turns. Russian muskrat has a well streamlined body; her belly is silver-white, the back is brown.
Such coloring makes the animal almost imperceptible in water, successfully masking under the environment. The coat is quite thick and does not get wet, as the animal greases it with the hind legs with musk produced by special glands located at the base of the tail. With vision, the Russian desman did not work out, its deficiency fully compensates for the excellent sense of smell. Although the desman has a well-developed hearing, it has some specifics. She may completely ignore the conversation of people, but startle at the slightest splash of water, a twig crunching under her foot, and a rustle in the dry grass.
Burrows - favorite places of Russian desman
The Russian muskrat, preferring places of quiet current (lakes and backwaters) for life, likes to dig burrows, complex and long (over 10 meters). In comfortable shores overgrown with forest vegetation, there are entire labyrinths of underground tunnels, the entrances to which are hidden under the water column. When the water level drops, the animal is forced to lengthen the underground passages, again leading them under the river surface.
Also, the Russian desman makes short burrows with a chamber and wet litter, where in winter it replenishes air reserves when moving under ice. Basically, the chambers in the holes serve for rest and eating.
What does the Russian desman eat?
In spring, summer and autumn, leeches, crustaceans, aquatic insects and their larvae, swamp plants serve as food for Ukrainians (so affectionately called the Russian desman in Russia).
In winter, the Russian muskrat will not abandon a numb frog, inactive small fish, bivalve mollusks. Whole mountains of food debris sometimes accumulate in the holes - just what the animal needs: plenty of food and a good pond with convenient places for holes. Sometimes the daily weight of the eaten is equal to the mass of the animal.
Offspring Care
Offspring (from one to five babies) desman can bring twice a year. Cubs whose weight does not exceed 2-3 grams are born tiny, blind and naked. True, in two weeks their body is already covered with hairs. On days 23-24, the mother begins to acquaint them with the outside world. In a month, the animals cut their teeth, they try insect larvae and clam meat.
Helps the female, a wonderful and caring mother, in caring for her offspring father. If adults leave the hole, then the children in this case are carefully covered with a “blanket” of plants. With the approaching danger, the mother on her back takes the babies to a calmer place. By 7-8 months, the grown offspring becomes independent and leaves their home.
Dangers at every turn
The life expectancy of a desman is about 5 years, provided that it is not shortened by external factors. And it can be unexpected winter rises of water, pouring holes in which entire families can die. Surviving individuals are forced to rescue on rafts, or urgently dig temporary burrows in safe places. The desman, devoid of natural shelters, appears in sight, which makes it accessible to birds of prey, raccoon dogs, foxes, gray rats and minks. It is in the spring that the desman migrates to neighboring reservoirs, changing the habitat that she seeks nearby (maximum 5-6 km from her old home).
In water, the Russian desman is in danger from the side of pike perch, pike, catfish and large river perches. In the dry summer period, the animal may not withstand a long transition to a more favorable place and die on the way. Even in one's own hole there is a danger of suffering from the hooves of wild herds, which easily damage holes located near the surface.
The habitats of the muskrat are successfully shared with beavers, sometimes using their trenches and burrows. In the relations of these animals mutual respect is clearly traced. Even the fact was noticed when the desman climbed to the resting beaver on the back, which the latter transferred quite calmly.
See Russian muskrat
Many curious people are interested in what a Russian muskrat looks like, because it is quite difficult to see her with the naked eye: she is very careful and puts her nose on the surface of the water (in order to breathe) early in the morning or in the evening. The closed way of life of the animal does not give full opportunity to penetrate its secrets, no matter how great the desire. It is very difficult to determine exactly where the Russian desman lives. Interesting facts were noticed by the shepherds: at the locations of the burrows of this animal, the cows refuse to drink water. A persistent musky smell gives a living hole to the muskrat, due to which this animal was mined until the middle of the 17th century. In Russia, desiccated tails were transferred to the dressers in dressers, a little later they began to use the secret of musk glands in perfume production as an odor fixer for expensive perfumes.
Negatively, the existence of the desman is affected by the mass illegal fishing with the use of steel nets and "electric landing", which destroy not only fish, but also aquatic invertebrates - the main food of the desman.
