Spotted ground squirrel. Where and how does the gopher animal live? Gopher what squad

Origin of the species and description

The origin of gophers remained vague for a very long time. They have long been identified in different families, species and even orders.

At the moment there are about 38 types of them and the most common are the following:

• European;
• American;
• Big;
• Small;
• Mountain.

As it turned out, they have a common ancestor who lived quite recently. This was found out thanks to the prisoners of the Gulag, who found several gopher mummies in the pit of Yakutia at a depth of more than 12 meters. After sequencing one of the genes and studying by the molecular genetic method, it was found that this Indigirka species is 30 thousand years old.

During the Oligocene, a new round of evolution was completed, as a result of which new families appeared, in particular squirrel, which includes the oldest species of ground squirrels - Indigirsky. It turns out that gophers are very close relatives of marmots, only smaller and weaker. As well as squirrels, flying squirrels and prairie dogs.

The squirrel family, in turn, belongs to an even more ancient order of rodents. Some scientists believe that they originated 60-70 million years ago, others are sure that they are a logical continuation of the evolution of the Cretaceous period. But, in any case, it can be argued that they are one of the oldest animals that have survived to this day.

Appearance and features

Gophers are small rodents, because the body length ranges from 15 to 38 cm, and the tail is from five to twenty-three cm. They have small ears covered with down. The varied coloration of the back ranges from greenish to purple. Dark stripes or ripples on the back. The belly is light or yellowish. By winter, the fur becomes thicker and longer, because the cold is approaching.

European ground squirrels are relatively small according to the standard. The body length is from 16 to 22 centimeters, the tail is short: only 5-7 cm. The back is colored gray-brown with yellow or white ripples. The sides are yellow with a barely translucent orange tint. The eyes are surrounded by light spots, and the tummy with a pale shade of yellow.

The American ground squirrel is larger than its European neighbor. Inhabitants of Chukotka are 25-32 cm long, American ones are from 30 to 40 cm. They weigh 710-790 grams. The size of the males is almost the same as the females, but they weigh more. They have a fluffy and beautiful tail up to 13 cm long. The back is brownish-ocher in color with light spots, and the head is brown. In winter, the fur becomes lighter, and the juveniles stand out in a duller color.

The big gopher is really big and is second in size only to the yellow one. They have a body length of 25-33 cm, and a tail of 7-10 cm. Weight reaches one and a half kilograms. The back is always dark, most often brown, different from the red sides. The back is strewn with white spots, and the belly is gray or yellow. Large ground squirrels have 36 chromosomes in the karyotype, unlike relatives, which may be why they begin to grow winter fur as early as July.

The small gopher is 18-25 cm in size, and the weight does not reach even half a kilo. The tail is less than four cm at all. Northern individuals have a gray-brown color of the back, in the south it turns into gray-yellow. In total, there are up to 9 subspecies, which differ in appearance and mainly become smaller towards the southeast.

The mountain gopher bears a resemblance to a small gopher, before even few people distinguished them. The body size does not reach 25 cm, and the tail is up to 4 cm. The back is gray with a brownish-yellow tint. There are dark spots on the back. The sides and belly are lighter than the back, with a yellowish coating. Juveniles are darker and more mottled than adults.

The European ground squirrel turned out to be a steppe and forest-steppe inhabitant, as well as, although at the present time it is quite rare. It occupies the eastern part of the center and east of Europe. Most often in Germany, in Poland on the Silesian Upland. Also settles in Austria, the Czech Republic, Moldova. I also like the western part of Turkey and Slovakia. In southwestern Ukraine, it is found only in Transcarpathia, Vinnitsa and Chernivtsi regions.

The American ground squirrel lives not only on the North American continent, but also in the east of Russia. In the north-east of Siberia, it lives in Chukotka, Kamchatka and the Kolyma Highlands. The Yanskaya and Indigirskaya populations exist separately from all the others. On the North American continent, it is abundant in Alaska and Canada. The big ground squirrel occupies foothill steppes and plains of Kazakhstan and Russia. The habitat begins at the Volga River in the west and ends in the interfluve of the Ishim and Tobol in the east. In the south, the border runs between the Bolshoi and Maly Uzen rivers, and in the north along the right basin of the Agidel.

Mountain gophers are most often distributed near the rivers of the Kuban and Terek, as well as the Elbrus region. They climb very high: 1250 - 3250 m above sea level. The settlement area is three hundred thousand hectares, which is quite a lot and indicates a good number. They live as high as possible: where there is vegetation that can be eaten.

Previously, European ground squirrels were considered exceptional vegetarians, because the main diet consisted of plants. Later it turned out that they eat various foods of animal origin. As a result of awakening, they feast on plant bulbs, then they switch to cereal seeds. In summer, they mainly eat fruits of herbs and berries. Able to devastate small fields.

There is little food in the places of residence of the American ground squirrel, so they are ready to eat everything in their path. Before falling into hibernation, they feed on rhizomes and bulbs of plants, adding berries and mushrooms that they can meet. Because of the cold climate, one has to eat caterpillars, ground beetles, filly, and sometimes carrion. Making his way to settlements, he finds food in garbage cans, sometimes there are cases of cannibalism. The life of an American groundhog is dangerous: you can starve to death or be eaten by a relative.

Large ground squirrels live in more favorable conditions and feed on cereals and flower forbs. In spring, they like to find bulbs and roots of plants, moving on to flowers and leaves. Closer to autumn, rye, wheat, millet and oats add a variety of food. They don't stock up on food for the winter. Small ground squirrels eat roots, leaves and flowers of herbs. Sometimes they do not disdain animal food. Nutrition is made very rich by eating plants grown by people. It even digs up acorns and seeds of maple, hazel. From fruit like apricot.

Large ground squirrels have almost the largest food range, Americans literally have to survive, and mountain gophers simply do not think about what awaits them today for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Especially in the mountains you don't go for a walk. They eat almost all above-ground parts of plants, sometimes diluting animal food, but rarely.

Features of character and lifestyle

The European ground squirrel loves the plains in the steppe and forest-steppe, settling on lands where cattle graze, and which are unsuitable for sowing cereals. Dislikes wet areas, trees and shrubs. They live in colonies of 7-10 individuals. Burrows are permanent and temporary, they have several. Includes several nest chambers.

Colonies of American ground squirrels reach 50 individuals! Individual plots reach 6 hectares. On sandy soils, burrows are up to 15 m and 3 m deep. Where permafrost is no deeper than 70 cm. During hibernation, they close their burrows with soil. In settlements, they live in the foundations of houses and greenhouses. Active from 5 to 20 hours a day.

The big ground squirrel settles in dense colonies, having 8-10 personal holes, the earth from which is evenly distributed around the nearby territory. Hibernation lasts up to 9 months, males come out first, and then females. Pregnant for about a month, from 3 to 15 cubs are born. A month later, they are ready for independent life, after two years they can bring new offspring.

Small ground squirrels hibernate for up to 9 months and wake up after the snow melts. During the hot summer, as a result of which the plants die, the animals become dehydrated, they are able to fall into summer hibernation, which can develop into winter. They rarely survive beyond 3 years of age.

Mountain gophers spend a hard time hibernating, the length of which depends on the altitude at which they live. The period of activity is six months. It also depends on the degree of nutrition. Therefore, rather old individuals can hibernate earlier, and young animals need to eat to survive the winter.

Social structure and reproduction

European ground squirrel males, after waking up, begin to wait for females, after which the rut begins. Very often males fight for females. Pregnancy lasts less than a month, and newborns appear at the end of April. In total, from 3 to 9 of them can be born. They weigh about 5 g with a length of 4 cm. After a week, the eyes open, and after 2 wool grows. In mid-June, females dig holes that are inhabited by their children.

American ground squirrels also breed once a year. Females wake up in April-May, after which mating games begin, which most often take place in burrows. Pregnancy is a little shorter than that of European ground squirrels, and gopher cubs are born later due to cold weather, but in larger numbers: from 5 to 10, and sometimes 13-14.

Male gophers also wait for females and, after waking up, begin to deal with the demographic problems of the population. The peculiarity is that females do not dig brood holes separately, but rebuild residential ones. Such a hole has several nesting chambers from half a meter to two deep. From 3 to 16 cubs can be born! A pregnancy can last as long as 20 days or a month.

The female gopher gives birth after 20-25 days from 5 to 10 cubs, while having up to 15 embryos. Under unfavorable conditions, some of the embryos stop developing and dissolve. For 3 weeks they can weigh up to 25 g, be covered with dark fur and come out of the hole. While the cubs get used to the environment, the mother digs holes, and then leaves the brood.

Mountain gophers have different cycles of rearing offspring, because it depends on the height of their residence and the timing of awakening. Pregnancy lasts for 20-22 days, with a small number of ground squirrels born: from two to four. They are born blind, deaf and without fur. Within a month, the female looks after them, and after that they go out into the world and live in other holes in a known territory.

Natural enemies of gophers

The European ground squirrel has recently undergone a severe reduction in its population due to the enemies that surround it and have almost no effect on the local ecosystem. Basically, he was attacked by predatory mammals. These were birds: steppe eagles and harriers, among ground hunters it is worth highlighting the steppe polecat.

American ground squirrels are not in the best situation. To all the troubles and misfortunes, predators are added in the form of skuas, wolves, grizzly bears and polar owls, which do not at all appreciate the introduction of these ground squirrels into the development of the tundra. The big gopher is also exposed to various bad weather. The soil may freeze, the spring may drag on, or a person may be harmed. As for European ground squirrels, steppe ferrets are a great danger for large ones, which eat them all year round, even during hibernation.

Corsacs and foxes also do not disdain easy prey, and those who are smaller are eaten by weasels and ermines. From the sky I can attack steppe eagles, imperial eagles, buzzards and black kites, and in the north also long-eared owls. Small gophers are hunted by approximately the same predators that live in this region. Burrows can be torn by foxes, corsacs and ferrets. The danger from the sky is steppe and grave eagles. Small or immature individuals are attacked by Saker Falcons, Crows or Magpies.

Population and species status

European ground squirrels inhabit isolated parts of a small area. It is included in the Red Book of the countries of Eastern Europe, and in neighboring countries it is under careful protection. In the last century, there was a real struggle, hunting and destruction with them. They obliged the peasants to kill gophers, used poisoned wheat, forced schoolchildren to fight "pests".

Despite difficult living conditions, lack of food and annoying predators, American ground squirrels feel good and thrive. At the same time, they have a beneficial effect on the environment. Many animals live in their burrows, and when they dig, they bring seeds to the surface. Due to the good reproductive properties of the big ground squirrel, it does not belong to endangered species. But in some places it is greatly reduced due to the plowing of virgin lands and direct destruction. For example, in Kazakhstan it is considered a pest. Moreover, it is the causative agent of plague and other unpleasant diseases.

The small ground squirrel is indeed a pest, eating plants planted by people growing in gardens and fields, as well as destroying the most favorable plants in pastures. At the same time, it carries plague and several other diseases. But due to the high reproduction and diversity of food, it does not belong to the species that are protected. The mountain gopher in mankind causes the least concern about survival. And no wonder, because he lives where others do not settle, eats what the neighbors have no interest in, while not disturbing anyone, unlike small gophers.

All types of gophers are very similar, because they:

• They eat similar food;
• They lead a slightly different lifestyle;
• They have the same predators;
• They look almost identical.

Some of them harm people, some only benefit the environment. Someone is almost on the verge of extinction, living in wonderful conditions, while someone is healthy and prosperous, being in a difficult situation. At gophers many different things, but more in common.

The gopher animal is a close relative of the squirrel. This is a small rodent that has earned the reputation of an unwanted guest for people.

What is this small, seemingly harmless creature? Let's try to find out a little more about him.

In our country there are several species of this animal. The most common of these are the lesser ground squirrel, the speckled ground squirrel, and the greater ground squirrel. Some scientists distinguish the thin-legged ground squirrel into a separate category. However, despite the different species, all ground squirrels are similar to each other in behavior, nutrition and the way of breeding offspring.

Appearance of an animal called gopher

Depending on the species, these rodents have some differences in appearance, but we will indicate the average size of these animals.

The body length of an average adult ground squirrel is from 20 to 38 centimeters. The tail, as a rule, is half as long as the body, it is very fluffy in the ground squirrel.

The ears have a slightly underdeveloped appearance, they are more like a roller. The front legs of the animal are shorter than the hind legs. Since this animal belongs to rodents, it has very well developed teeth, they are able to gnaw through hard roots.

Where do gophers live

These animals can be found on a vast territory located in the northern hemisphere. They are attracted by steppe zones, as well as meadow-steppe areas. In addition, ground squirrels can settle in the forest-tundra zone.

Sometimes the populations of these animals reach the Arctic Circle and even beyond it. They meet gophers not only on the flat terrain, but also in the mountains, where they rise to a height of 3.5 thousand meters above sea level.

The way of life of gophers, their behavior in nature and nutrition

Gophers are colonial animals. For a comfortable stay, these rodents dig holes for themselves. If the soil allows. Then underground they build entire tunnels. Sometimes the depth of the gopher hole can be 3 meters. And the length of such a structure can be about 15 meters!

Inside such a dwelling, something like a nest is often created, where gophers hibernate and breed. The “nest” is lined with grass and other natural material for softness and warmth.
But these animals do not spend a lot of time in holes, because. Mostly. They lead a terrestrial lifestyle. Activity is manifested in ground squirrels in the morning. But if they did not have time to do all the things in the morning, then they can continue to be active in the evening.

The diet of these animals consists of all kinds of herbs, grains, rhizomes. Gophers and seeds are eaten.

In winter, ground squirrels hibernate in their warm and deep burrows. Sometimes, due to the lack of food during the summer season, these rodents may also fall asleep.

gopher breeding

Waking up after a winter sleep, gophers begin to breed. The female bears babies for about a month. Gophers are born from 5 to 7 cubs, but the maximum number is 13 babies. Newborns stay with their mother for no longer than one and a half months, after this period of time, the female simply drives her children out to “free bread”.

Gophers are very funny and cute rodents. We very often hear funny and affectionate nicknames that are somehow associated with this animal. But what is known about these animals? How and what do they eat? How do they protect their offspring? What are the adaptations to environmental conditions? These are the questions that will be answered in the article.

Morphological features of gophers

1. The mass of gophers does not exceed two kilograms.
2. The body length of mammals does not exceed twenty centimeters.
3. Males are twice as large as females (thus, these mammals have very pronounced sexual dimorphism).
4. Gophers have a gray-brown color. This coat color is an excellent camouflage.
5. Gophers, like many animals that spend a lot of time underground, have poor eyesight. (Therefore, very often they can be seen on various elevations in the immediate vicinity of their holes.)
6. The jaw of gophers has protruding incisors (fangs, like all rodents, they do not have). Such tooth modifications allow them to create underground passages without swallowing the earth.
7. Gophers, like humans, have lacrimal glands (only they are slightly enlarged) that allow mammals to get rid of dust and dirt that gets into their eyes. For the same reasons, gophers have a barely noticeable auricle.
8. The tail of gophers has special sensitive endings that allow rodents to navigate very quickly and accurately in numerous underground passages.

Behavioral features of gophers

• Gophers have a very well developed care for offspring. This is due to the fact that newborn animals are deaf, blind and have no hair (it appears on them only one week after birth, and after two weeks they gain sight).
• Young cubs live in a separate hole dug out by their mother (since they are completely unarmed in the fight against natural enemies - in the first weeks of life they do not have an antidote to the poisons of various snakes).
• Sometimes snakes penetrate holes with cubs of rodents, then their mother shows unprecedented courage in the fight against such a dangerous enemy: she stands on her lower paws and starts waving her fluffy tail, visually increasing in size. The mother does not retreat from protection up to the bites of poisonous snakes.
• A surprising fact is the ability of gophers to sound notification of their relatives. Moreover, mammals make various sounds (most often it is a piercing squeak or a deafening whistle), it all depends on who is their natural enemy at the moment: a person, a bird of prey, a snake or other equally dangerous animals.
• Gophers, like many mammals, hibernate. They store the amount of fat necessary to maintain life processes and go into their holes. Males can begin their long sleep even at the height of hot summer - in mid-July. Waking up in early March, the animals begin to look for sexual partners for procreation. Thus, hibernation can reach 7.5 months, and this is a large half of the year. What is it like to sleep through most of your life?

Physiological features of gophers

The female brings one brood per year, in which there are from two to twelve cubs. Pregnancy is short (23-28 days). Sexual maturity occurs closer to six months.

Gophers live from one to three years. If they are in favorable environmental conditions, then most of them live up to five years.

There are real centenarians among these small rodents: there are times when individual representatives of the species live up to seven or eight years.

Gophers have a huge number of enemies: antelopes, coyotes, foxes, wolves, badgers, hawks, eagles and snakes. It is noteworthy that in adult mammals, an antidote to snake venom is produced in the body, which makes it possible to avoid death.

But one of the most dangerous enemies for them continues to be a man. (Large representatives of certain species are of great interest in the fur trade for the production of various types of fur products: vests, coats, hats and shoes.) Gophers often serve as an object of sport hunting, which is called warming.

Gophers can rightly be called true vegetarians, since the basis of their diet is various modifications of shoots (such as flowers, leaves and bulbs), seeds (maple, hazel, apricots and other angiosperms), berries, acorns, fruits and modifications of the main roots of plants (carrots, radishes and other no less juicy vegetables).

But they are not averse to feasting on delicacies in the form of grasshoppers, worms, beetles, caterpillars, and locusts. Such nutrition significantly enriches the body with such an important building material as protein.

Gophers have two meals a day (the first meal occurs early in the morning, the second - late at night). They eat quickly enough, stuffing their cheeks to the bone (and this expression in this case is not just a saying, because before chewing thoroughly, rodents place their food in the recesses near the mouth, which serve as a kind of bags).

The influence of rodents on human life

• The fact is that gophers are carriers of very dangerous, and often fatal diseases for humans. For example, brucellosis, plague, and tularemia.
• Since the main food is the seeds and fruits of plants, often agricultural land becomes a constant source of delicacy for rodents, which is very detrimental to the crop.
• Gophers are one of the decorative types of domestic animals. With talented training and incredible intelligence of animals, small mammals can even learn to carry out individual commands.

I would like to hope that in the future people will find safer means of combating the negative impact of ground squirrels on agriculture, and they, in turn, will continue to delight us and our loved ones.

small gopher- a small, but very significant representative of his kind. This is one of the most prominent inhabitants of dry steppes and semi-deserts. It is curious that, despite the colonial way of life, the ground squirrel is a staunch individualist. Each adult lives in a separate burrow, except for females with young in spring and summer.

The feeding ground squirrel raises its head from time to time and carefully looks around.

small gophers prefer areas with sparse vegetation. The animals lead daytime lifestyle. In the thick grass that obscures the view, they feel uncomfortable, but they willingly settle along roadsides and on pastures knocked out by cattle.

The eyesight of the animals is excellent, their large, slightly slanting eyes are raised at the level of the muzzle, providing an almost circular view, which increases even more when the gopher stands up in a column.

By autumn, all young gophers have time to acquire their own housing, in which they hibernate. Small ground squirrels do not make any stocks of provisions for the winter.

ENEMIES OF THE LITTLE GOpher

These mobile and energetic rodents, leading a daily lifestyle, many enemies. The very life of many steppe predators depends on ground squirrels. Eagles and Long-legged Buzzards feed their chicks.

Korsak and the fox will never miss the opportunity to get a young inexperienced animal. No wonder the gophers excellent vision and effective alarm - loud whistle, notifying relatives hundreds of meters about the appearance of an eagle or corsac.

The most dangerous enemies of the small ground squirrel are the steppe polecat and bandaging, because the long and narrow body of these predators allows you to get right into the holes.

Fox caught a small gopher

NORA - THE FORTRESS OF THE SMALL GOOPER.

It is almost impossible to find natural shelters in the open spaces of the steppes and semi-deserts, therefore, ground squirrels, like all rodents living here, - born diggers.

In their underground shelters, they escape from enemies, wait out the midday heat and hibernate. A burrow in the simplest case is an inclined passage, ending at a depth of 1.5–2 meters with a living chamber.

Females waiting for offspring improve the dwelling additional cameras and otnorkami - toilets. Preparing for hibernation, the ground squirrel plugs the main passage with an earth plug, but breaks through a vertical shaft from the chamber, which is a little not brought to the surface. Through it, having made only a narrow hole, the sleepy animal gets out of the hole in the spring, and then restores the old inclined course or digs a new one.

As a result of the tireless digging activity of many generations of ground squirrels, throwing tons of lower, often saline, soil horizons to the surface, a characteristic microrelief of low hillocks is formed on their settlements - gopher- with a peculiar vegetation, sharply different from the surrounding steppe.

Gophers live in large colonies.

Despite the fact that each adult ground squirrel solely owns the habitat area on which he builds the main or several spare holes, these animals live large colonies. Neighbors are constantly in contact with each other through characteristic sounds and poses.

Standing in the distance, a feathered or four-legged predator will appear, as an animal that has noticed it, before diving into a hole, publishes ringing whistle- an alarm signal, which, as if on a relay race, is transmitted from hole to hole.

FOOD

Small ground squirrels leave their wintering holes in March-April, as soon as the snow melts, and are immediately accepted for feeding. They feed on the green parts of cereals, wormwood, saltwort, dig up tulip bulbs, are very fond of viviparous bluegrass seeds and nodules, visit neighboring fields of cereals and melons, and catch insects.

Photo of a small gopher.

THE OFFERING OF THE SMALL GOOPER

The main task of small ground squirrels in the spring is leave offspring. After 25 days, after a short turbulent period, 3 to 8 cubs are born in females. For about three weeks, the mother feeds them with milk, and then goes to another site.

Young growth near the brood hole does not linger for a long time, spreading widely around. This is the most dangerous period of their life. Up to 85% of unintelligent and not yet settled in permanent places of animals become a victim of the steppe eagles, long-legged buzzards, harriers, kites, steppe polecats and corsacs.

Hibernation

The middle of summer comes, and the steppe vegetation dries up under the scorching rays of the sun. Adult males, who managed to accumulate a sufficient supply of fat, appear on the surface only in the morning, and then completely hibernate.

After them, the females go to rest, and the last are the young animals. Small gophers can be found in the steppe until August - September, and in the hottest areas they hibernate up to 8 months a year, that is, three quarters of his life! The total lifespan of a small gopher is 34 years.

Hibernation is a state of reduced activity in warm-blooded animals, allowing them to save energy and survive the unfavorable season. However, their body temperature drops to 5 - 10 degrees, heartbeat, breathing and all other vital processes slow down.

THE ROLE OF THE LITTLE SQUIRREL IN NATURE

Small gopher plays very important role in the life of arid steppes and semi-deserts. This is the main food item for most of the feathered and quadrupedal predators living there.

However, he was unconditionally ranked among the "most harmful rodents of the fauna." This animal was guilty before people in that it harms grain crops and eats pasture cereals.

Amateur video about a small gopher