House mice: description and photo. Does the house mouse bite? How to get rid of house mice

House mouse - this is the kind of rodents that spread throughout the planet, becoming one of the most common mammals. This was due to their ability to co-exist with a person.

Habitat

Mouse house, the photo of which is presented in this article, in fact is a wild animal. She got her name for living near a person. House mouse in the world live everywhere, except for permafrost, Antarctica and highland areas. The Latin name of the animal is Mus musculus, with the third word showing the habitat, for example, house mice that live in the southeast of Asia - Mus musculus castaneus. In our country, almost everywhere live mouse mice: the Krasnodar Territory, the Rostov Region, the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Astrakhan, etc. Exceptions are only 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 the summer the animals begin to move massively to warm places: grain and vegetable stores, houses, warehouses. The range of such migrations can reach 5 km. Often they hibernate in piles, in haystacks and forest belts. In the spring they leave their "winter flats", returning to the gardens, kitchen gardens, to the fields. In the south of the range are often inhabited all year round without human habitation. In this place, house mice are tied to various reservoirs, oases.

In nature, they settle on not very dry, soft soils. There dig a simple device small holes. Inside, they arrange a bedding, using a soft vegetable rag for this. Often, burrows of other animals are also occupied: the cuckold, the vole, the gerbil - or for housing use cracks in the ground and natural voids. Settling near a person, they nest their nests in the most sheltered and secluded corners, mostly under the floor, in attics, in piles of household waste and garbage. For a nest apply in this case, any materials available to him: scraps of cloth, paper, feathers, wool, artificial fibers. House mice in their nest diligently maintain order. In the case of heavy litter contamination, severe parasite infestation or wetting, they simply leave the place, moving into some new one.

In nature they are nocturnal and twilight animals, but in human habitation their daily regime is adjusted to the life of people. Sometimes, under artificial illumination, they remain active around the clock, reducing it only in the period of active people. In this case, the activity of animals is polyphasic, there are up to 20 periods of wakefulness per day, which last up to 90 minutes. Like many other mice, they keep constant certain routes while moving, creating noticeable paths with small piles of dust and litter fastened with urine.

House mice are very brisk, moving animals; They perfectly run, jump, climb and even swim well. But from their nest they are not often removed. Each mouse in nature has an individual site: in males up to 1200 m2 and in females up to 900 m2. But with a large population density, animals settle in small family groups or colonies, consisting of the main male, several females with their children. Among the members of this colony there is always a hierarchical relationship. Males are relatively aggressive relative to each other, females aggression is much less frequent. Inside the groups of families, skirmishes are very rare, mostly in the expulsion of the offspring, which has already grown.

Description

House mice are long-tailed, small rodents with an oval-shaped body, a small head, eyes with beads and rounded ears. The tail is covered with sparse hairs and annular scales. Animals that live in nature, the zone type of color, in this case the hair at the base of the tail is brownish-brown in color, the middle is pale, while the tip is painted in a pale gray shade. The abdomen is colored much lighter - white. At the same time, decorative mice that were bred by breeding method have a huge range of colors: black, white, gray-blue, yellow, and also colors that combine several shades. White mice are albinos, since they have almost no melanin synthesized, which is responsible for the coloring of the tissues. Also breeders brought out tailless, long-haired, short-tailed, hairless, satin and curly mice.

Character

House mice are curious, lively, cunning, clever, but very timid animals. Unexpected noise or sharp sounds scare them. They are social animals and do not like loneliness. Without communication and attention, the house mice grieve and begin to be furious. Females are beautiful mothers, and males show paternal feelings for their offspring only if there are no other males in the cage.

Relations with other pets

House mice are pets, for which dogs, cats, rats and birds can be dangerous.

Attitudes towards children

They can be established in those families in which children are 10 years old. They want to have a "proper" animal, although there is no experience of caring for it. Many people are interested in the question: "House mice bite or not?" It should be noted that they are not aggressive, although they can bite until they have had time to adapt to the owners and the environment, therefore, it is first necessary to help children with animals to get acquainted, and also to tame it. Quite small children with these miniature, with this brisk and deft creatures should not be left alone.

Training

House mice are pets that are among the smartest animals among rodents, while decorative varieties quickly get used to their owners and are perfectly tamed if they pay enough attention, while talking gently and gently. They are able to remember their nickname. Mice quickly begin to recognize the aroma of the person who brings food, and to meet him will be a happy squeak. Zverkov can be trained to respond to various whistles and various commands, for example, "To me!", "Serve!", "Home!"

It should be noted that scientists have long been studying house mice. Kotenkova EV (Doctor of Biological Sciences), for example, devoted a lot of time to this issue, writing several scientific works about their behavior, as well as their role in ancient mythology.

Food

In house mice, the main diet is cereals and seeds. They gladly eat wheat, oats and millet, non-roasted seeds of pumpkin and sunflower. They can also give dairy products, white bread, pieces of egg white and boiled meat. Green parts of various plants can make up a third of the ration of the animal with a normal amount of water. In this case, from the juicy forage of the mouse, cabbage and dandelion leaves, cucumber slices, beets and carrots, green grass are preferred. Mice need up to three milliliters of water during the day. In summer they can eat insects, as well as their larvae. In mice, the metabolism is very high, therefore, they always have to feed in the food trough.

Maintenance and care

The mouse to contain at home can be in a fine-celled metal cage, as well as in a special container of organic glass with a lid. It is necessary, since the mice perfectly jump in height. A terrarium or a cage should be quite spacious, as the animals are very active and they need movement. In the form of a litter, strips of unpainted paper or shavings are used. In the cage set a house (jar, box, pot, etc.), in which the mice will arrange a nest, a drinking bowl, a feeder, put a piece of chalk, as well as other gaming devices. To do this, fit stairs, levels, shelters, branches, it is also desirable to put the wheel to run.

The terrarium or cage is placed as far as possible from windows, batteries, air conditioners and doors, as 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, the debris and the remnants of food are removed from the cage, the feeders and a drinking bowl are washed. The litter is changed three times a week, at least once a month it is necessary to conduct disinfection and complete cleaning of the terrarium or cage. Exercises of mice have an unpleasant, pungent odor. In this case, the females smell much weaker than males.

In the terrarium it is desirable to install pieces of large branches of trees directly from the bark (birch, willow, mountain ash) so that the animals can mow down on them. It should be borne in mind that for these animals a poisonous lilac. In the cage, you can also put wooden toys with which the animal will play, whilst grinding off the incisors. With properly organized housing, for house mice, walks are not needed. If the animal does take a walk all the same, then the place for his walks should be limited to the hands of the owner or the table. It must be remembered that various house plants for mice are poisonous, among them aralia, yucca, Christmas star, feces, etc.

With the content of several animals at once it is desirable to create same-sex groups: 2-3 males or 2-3 females living in a common cage together get along well. At the same time, those who came from the same brood get along better. Newborn babies can not be picked up and undesirable to disturb their mother.

Such mice - animals are night and night, they can interfere with sleeping with the created noise and various sounds, although they are mostly adjusted to the human regime.

Diseases

• Infectious diseases caused by parasites, microorganisms and viruses.
• Cystitis, tumors of different etiology.
• Mouse pox, pneumonia, salmonellosis, respiratory mycoplasmosis, genital mycoplasmosis, otodectosis, otitis media.

Mouse damage

The destruction of such mice is caused by their harmful human resources, as well as equipment and household appliances.

Wild house mice, fighting with which man has been conducted for centuries, are able to eat almost anything. As a result, food, candles and soap, wiring, etc., are eaten in the house.

Animals in warehouses gnaw grain, destroy crops of various root crops, eat stocks of groats, in addition, essentially pollute the house with products of the vital activity. They actively allocate their waste, hence even a small population can cause great harm. So, the main part of the grain is not eaten by animals, but is contaminated.

In addition, house mice (how to get rid of them, we'll find out below) are carriers of a huge number of pathogens of various diseases. They can give a person an E. coli, eggs of helminths, cause plague and typhoid fever. They are very often live blood-sucking insects, among them fleas and ticks, passing with pleasure and a person.

Therefore, house mice can cause significant harm. How to get rid of them, unfortunately, not everyone knows. Professional destruction of animals becomes the main activity for suburban areas, private houses, catering organizations, as well as various types of institutions. This service can be ordered in specialized companies, or the old-fashioned use of a mousetrap.

A bit of history

In nature, periodically born mice are white - albino, which is almost impossible to survive, because they are very visible, and immediately become prey. But in ancient times in Crete they were kept in the form of living amulets, which bring good luck. They were also kept in temples where ministers specially courted them. 4000 years ago in Ancient Egypt bred and kept mice, paying close attention to colored species. They attributed the Egyptians to supernatural abilities, in addition, they depicted them on their vessels of clay.

In the period of Ancient Rome and in the Middle Ages, healers used medicines for mice and rats, while in Asia even today they are specially bred for such purposes. With the development of veterinary medicine and experimental medicine, mice and rats have been used for various studies as laboratory animals. There is an opinion that decorative and laboratory mice start from white, spotted and black fighting mice, described in the book in 1787 edition. It tells about animals, which at that time used for fighting. Their English merchants were brought from Japan. Later mice formed a special line of house mice, while decorative breeds were started as pets.

To date, in different countries of Western Europe and America there are Clubs of Mice Lovers whose main goal is the breeding of new species of these animals. Most often, individuals of different colors are obtained: gray, white, red, brown, lilac or pinkish, with specks. There are special exhibitions with expert evaluation.

But in our country decorative mice are less known than in the countries of America and Europe, but among animal admirers they become more and more popular every year. In the clubs of fans of various rodents, special sections of decorative mice are created, nurseries are opened that are engaged in breeding and breeding work, and exhibitions are held where, together with other small animals, house decorative mice are also exhibited.