Animals of mixed forests. Typical mixed forest animals

Animals living in mixed forests are generally characteristic of the entire forest zone of the territory of Russia. Hares, fox, hedgehogs and even wild boars can also be found in well-manned forests. Proteins already feel great not only in the wild, but also in the ordinary city park. On the rivers far from settlements and now it is possible to see huts of beavers. There are also such animals of mixed forests as the bear, marten, wolf and badger. Losi also quite often come out on roadways and outskirts of villages.

Inhabitants of mixed broad-leaved forests

In a mixed broad-leaved forest, representatives of the animal world of taiga forests feel great: the white hare, the squirrel. In parallel, the most typical animals of mixed forests live: moose, brown bear, badger.

Elk

The European moose is not in vain called a forest giant. It is one of the largest animals living in the zone of mixed broad-leaved forests. Its average weight reaches three hundred kilograms. The head of the male is decorated with huge horns. The wool of this animal is usually gray or black-brown in color.

These inhabitants of mixed forests feed mainly on the shoots of young trees, preferring aspen, willow or mountain ash. In winter, moose as a main food choose pine needles, mosses and lichens. These animals are magnificent swimmers. An adult can safely swim for a full two hours with a fairly good speed (up to 10 km / h). The end of spring and the very beginning of summer - it's time when elk brings posterity. Typically, this is one or two calves, which throughout the summer period live with their mother.

Badger

Badger common is found throughout the mixed forests. In size, this animal can be compared to a small dog. The body length reaches 90 cm, and the average weight of the badger is about 25 kg. He hunts exclusively at night on insects, digs up nourishing roots and along the way various worms. She likes frogs very much. A badger is a nocturnal animal, he spends his day in his burrow.

Badger's burrow is a very interesting building. It, as a rule, has several floors and a huge number of entrances and exits. Sometimes their number reaches 50. The central hole can reach a length of up to 10 meters and is located at a depth of up to 5 meters. The badger is a very clean animal: he always digs all the impurities into the ground. They live in colonies. Winter badger spends in hibernation.

Hedgehog ordinary

Hedgehogs - animals living in mixed forests. This little animal has very poor eyesight, but the hearing and sense of smell are excellent. In case of danger, the hedgehog folds, taking the form of a ball. And then none of the predators can cope with it (this animal has about 5000 needles, the length of which is 2 cm).

On the territory of mixed forests in Russia, the most common are hedgehogs, whose needles have a gray hue and distinctly visible dark transversely located strips.

As a food hedgehog prefers insects and invertebrates: earthworms, slugs and snails. Hunts frogs, snakes, ravages the nests of birds on the earth. Sometimes he eats forest berries.

The common hedgehog has two holes: summer and winter. The winter hole serves him for sleep, which lasts from the middle of autumn until April, and the summer version of the dwelling is used for the birth of offspring. Cubs in hedgehogs are born naked, a little later (within a few hours) appear soft needles of white color, which within 36 hours change their color to the usual color.

Mole

Quite a lot in mixed forests of moles. These completely blind animals spend most of their life underground. They feed mainly on insects, larvae, earthworms. In winter hibernation moles do not fall, because even at this time of year they do not experience problems with food shortages.

Animals of mixed forest

Hare-hare

The habitat of this animal is not limited only to the zone of mixed forests. It can be found both in the tundra and in the steppe shrubs. In winter, the color of his skin acquires a completely white color. Only the tips of the ears still remain black. Paws overgrown with fluffy fur. In summer, these animals of mixed forests have a habitual gray color.

The hare-rabbit feeds on grass, shoots and bark of trees: willow, birch, aspen, maple, oak and hazel. There is no permanent hole in the hare as such. At the slightest danger, this animal prefers to flee.

The hare twice during the summer period brings up to 6 bunks. The young grows up after the winter with the mother.

Bison

The fauna of Russia's mixed forests recently boasted of such a magnificent animal as a wild bull. They met everywhere in the north-western regions of Russia. But, unfortunately, the population of bison was almost completely exterminated. To date, a huge work has been carried out in the country to restore the numbers of these animals.

River Beavers

The animal world of mixed forests represents such an interesting and unusual animal as the river beaver. Previously, they were almost everywhere. But because of their very valuable furs were almost completely exterminated.

Beavers prefer to choose for their homes quiet forest streams, the banks of which are covered with dense thickets. These animals feed on young shoots of trees and their bark.

The dwelling of the beaver is called the hut. As a building material, beavers use tree branches. The size of the hut is not strictly limited. Each beaver builds it in its own way, but it is necessarily repaired every year.

Of particular interest are dams, which these animals masterfully know how to erect. Beavers build dams in case the water level in the river drops very sharply. The finished dam can easily withstand the weight of an adult.

A wild boar

Wild boar is a very strong and fast beast. Despite some external clumsiness, he moves easily and quickly on his strong legs. Boars live in small herds, which consist of males and females with pigs. The eyes of the boar are small and, moreover, this beast is somewhat blind. Therefore, the main sense organs for the wild boar are hearing and smelling. This fully explains the typical behavior of the wild boar with possible danger: he raises his nose to the top, sniffing and simultaneously alerting his ears.

Wild boars are nocturnal forest animals , since they are active mainly at night. Light hours of the wild boar spend in hard-to-reach places. Boars are absolutely omnivorous.

But mixed forests are inhabited not only by herbivores, but also by forest predators: bears, wolves, foxes and martens.

Wolves

The most dangerous animals of mixed forests are, of course, wolves. They always brought a lot of trouble, but nevertheless the call for the complete extermination of the population of this animal is completely unjustified. The wolf is a predatory animal, but it destroys predominantly diseased or severely weakened animals. This helps to improve the health of the animals living in the area. In areas where the number of these predators is relatively small, there is practically no harm from this animal.

Forest marten

Kunitsa is another vivid representative of predatory animals inhabiting mixed forests. Nests this animal arranges in hollows of trees, choosing for this quite high places. Leading a nocturnal life, the marten quite often raises squirrel nests. The squirrel is active during the daytime, but at night it sleeps in a hollow, so it becomes a very easy prey for marten. But the marten also feeds on food of vegetable origin: fruit or berries. He likes to eat wild honey. Because of this weakness, it can take a long time to live right next to the bee nest. Sometimes several martens can gather at the same time.

Fox

The fox is a very cautious predator. The length of the body of this beast reaches a meter and almost the same size and the famous fox tail. The fur of this animal often has a red color, the breast and abdomen are light gray, but the tip of the tail is necessarily white.

These animals prefer mixed forests, which alternate with felling, ponds and meadows. The fox can be seen on the outskirts of the villages, and in the groves in the meadows.

The sight of the fox is poorly developed, therefore on the ground it is guided by the sense of smell and excellent hearing. As a dwelling, the fox uses abandoned badgers' holes. Sometimes digging a burrow on its own, the depth of which reaches 4 meters. There are several emergency exits.

Foxes prefer to lead a sedentary lifestyle. These are night predators. The fox feeds on rodents, hares or birds. In very rare cases, the young roe deer attacks. Life expectancy of a fox is not more than 8 years.

Lynx

Lynx is another representative of predators living in mixed forests. Lynx hunts from ambush. She can quite a long time track down prey, hiding among the branches of trees or thick bush. This predator has long, powerful legs that help the lynx to jump for long enough distances.

The main catch of lynx is roe deer or deer. But it does not disdain small mammals. With pleasure, drive a rabbit or catch a bird. The lynx builds its hole in advance to calmly produce offspring. Usually the number of kittens in the litter ranges from 2 to 4 pups. They live next to the mother for 9 months.

Animals of mixed forests in Russia

Thus, mixed forests have a fairly diverse fauna. Among the inhabitants of this natural zone there are predators, and herbivores, both inhabitants of taiga forests, and "indigenous" inhabitants of the forest-steppe zone. Many animals fall into a deep winter hibernation, while others, on the contrary, lead an active lifestyle all year round.