Large tushchik (earthy hare). The value of the earthen hare in the encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron watching what "Earth's Hare" in other dictionaries

Someone souls more traditional views of pets - dogs, cats, hamsters - and someone loves something exotic. No, now it will be not talking about Iguanah or huge cockroaches. In this article we will talk about large tushki, or, as they are also called, earthy hares. We will introduce you to their description and tell about the rules for the content of the animal, because such a room pet see not every day and not in every home.

Big Tushkanchik - One of the largest representatives of Tushkhanchikh, it looks pretty cute and funny, like many rodents. He has a short taurus - somewhere up to 26 cm, but the tail is up to 30.5 cm (on the tip of the fluffy brush of black or white).

Weight - approximately 300 g. The head is round, the face is wide, slightly stretched with a small heel. Ears up to 59 mm in height. The feet are long - 45% of the length of the entire Taurus.

The backing color happens from browning-ocher or brown-gray to pale sand. Bricks, neck, belly - white. The tailings from the outdoor side are reddish, along them there is a transverse strip.

Did you know? In the tail of the tube accumulates ... Fat stocks. Therefore, according to the appearance of the rodent, it is possible to draw conclusions about its diet. For those who eat insufficiently, the vertebrae is visible on the tail, those who are good - they have rounded shape.

The big tube loves forest-steppe and deserted zones, trying to avoid land where it plowed, because the loose soil does not give them to their shelter. Most of all live in Eastern Europe, Kazakhstan, Western Siberia.
In general, due to the fact that this animal can perfectly adapt to the natural environment, it could spread much further than others of his fellow. His living range extends up to 55 ° Northern latitude.

In the modern world of Tushkchikov began to start as pets. On the rules of content and care, as well as to feed this little animal, read on.

Food

Basic food - grain, cereals, nuts. In the grozun diet, the seeds of sunflower and pumpkins, carrots, beets, pear should also be added. Do not forget about insects - grasshoppers, moths - and worms, they are extremely necessary rodent for full nutrition.

Important! Tuccanchikov can not be given sweets and what people eat. They are also contraindicated by the gifts of the sea, exotic fruits and berries, such as blue, raspberries, mango, avocado.

The driver of the animal drinks a little, but despite this, it should always be in his house, and be clean and fresh.

This animal you need to move a lot, which be sure to take into account when purchasing it. In addition, it is a night animal - be prepared for the day that it usually hides, and at night the noise.
- Singles, and you can hardly contain two individuals together. It will not lead to anything good. These rodents are very zealously referring to the protection of their territory. And in contact with each other, they except during the breeding period.

If we talk about contact with people, then it is worth remembering that the Tushkanchik still remains a wild animal. And no one will give you a guarantee that he will quickly get used to your hands, resolving himself without any problems. You will have to gradually teach a pet to yourself.

More often with him in the same room, so that he gets used to the vocals - your and your family members. In hand he will go without much enthusiasm. If the animal is nervous, return it back into the cage and let him calm down.

If you decide to produce a carcass from his dwelling so that he sinks a little, keep in mind that it would be problematic to catch it. Also note that it can bother furniture or wires.

In nature, the life of the tubes is limited by external factors - predators, natural conditions, disadvantage of food. Therefore, they usually live no more than 3 years.
In captivity with good life conditions, they can live to 5 years.

Important! Under good life conditions refer: a spacious cell, a balanced diet, regular motor activity, constant access to clean drinking water.

The marriage period has enough protracted - from April to mid-summer.

The female will be pregnant once a year, but sometimes he has time to acquire the offspring twice during this time. Pregnancy lasts about 24-26 days, after which it is born from 1 to 8 cubs.

After 45-60 days, children can already live separately from the mother. By year, they are already considered to be sexually mature.

Speaking about the departure and content of a home tube, it is important to say about the place of his stay. The rodent cage should be large, and better if it is an aviary. The height of the house is at least 50 cm, since this animal moves jumps.

Tuccans dwell in Norah, so let your favorite opportunity to build your own asylum. For this, the junior will be suitable (in it he will be able to pull the tunnel), or give him a small clay pot, which will replace the mink. It will be nice if you put small branches in the dwelling dwelling and leaflets, with their help he will equip his novelsdishko.

Large Tushkin (Earth Hare)- The largest representative of the five-plated tubes: the length of the body is 190-250 mm, the length of the back of 85-93 mm, the length of the skull is 40-47 mm. There is no white rings ahead of the black part of the Banner; A black part of the banner on the bottom surface is usually not interrupted along a white stripe rod.

Coloring top from brown-gray to pale sand-gray; Belly white; Hips from the outside of rusty yellow. The longitudinal groove on the upper side of the penis reaches only its middle and branches into two grooves, divergent at an angle; On the upper surface of its usually about 60 small spines.

Earthworms are common in the forest-steppe zone, steppes and semi-deserts of the European part of the USSR, Western Siberia and Kazakhstan - west to the Krivoy Rog district of the Dnepropetrovsk region, east to Novosibirsk and Barnaul. Approximate Northern Border: River Desna, Oka, Kama, White, Verkhneuralsk, Troitsk, Chelyabinsk, Shadrinsk, Kurgan, Omsk, p. Order of the Novosibirsk region. South Border: The Lowness of the Dnieper, the Steppe of the Crimea, the coast of the Azov Sea, the foothills of the Caucasian Range, the Northern Coast of the Caspian Sea, Northern Ust, r. Cheese Daria, Chimkent, G. Dzhambul, Almaty region, Oz. Zaisan, the foothills of Altai. From different places of the European part of the area, the discovery of the Pleistocene age from the field of the lower reaches of the Urals to the Kama region in the East and from the South Steppe Crimea to the Chernihiv region in the West.

During the Pleistocene, at least two forms of a large tube dwell here, but the clarification of them requires a detailed comparative study of the bones of the skeleton of the limbs, since the remains of the skull, as in other tubes, are usually not saved. Outside of the modern range, only one location is known - in the Upper Pleistocene asphalt of the Absheron Peninsula.

Earth hare is found in a variety of habitats - from the meadow steppe in the north of the range to the outskirts of the clay desert - in the south. In the steppe and forest-steppe zones, it will be settled mainly on more dense soils with low waste grassy cover - on pastures, slopes of beams, on the roadside roads, etc.

The holes have 1-2 spare outputs, and one of them is often not communicated to Pa 2-5 cm to the surface and easily penetrated by a beast when he suddenly pops up through this output. Among the holes can be outlined the following categories: 1) Permanent holes with a chamber, clogged with the ground and 1-2 spare outputs, closed earthy corks; 2) temporary daily holes having a simpler device and a smaller depth (20-25 cm), and the chamber and scored ground is missing part of the stroke; 3) temporary night holes representing a short straight channel with an open hole; 4) Winter holes that differ from other types mainly more significant depths (up to 2 m or more). The animals go to the surface in 30-40 minutes. After sunset, there are holes at different times of the year in 20 minutes. - 1 hour 30 min. Before sunrise. In the Lower Volga region, they are hibernated when the first night frosts occurs, awaken at the end of March - early April.

The duration of the breeding in a large tushkanchik stretched; In each litter 1-4 young.

It feeds mainly by seeds, roots and rooting parts, with tuber bulbs; When eating seed cleans them from the shell, even in cases where they are very small. When digging the underground parts of plants leaves characteristic pits ("Kopanka"). Sometimes partially feed on the insects (Fenyuk, 1928, 1929).

In some areas (Lower Volga region, Kazakhstan), a large carcass is harmful by eating seeds of watermelons, melons and pumpkins. After ripening of breads, places brings harm by eating grains, the grains of sunflower, pea and lentils are also eating. The harm is also harmed by a rubonic plant of Tau-Sagyz (eating seeds and shoots).

The large tube belongs to the number of secondary fur species. The variability within the considered type is relatively large, and the allocation within this type of individual subspecies based on the attributes currently used for this is largely artificial. As with most other mammals, the painting of fur from more southern and more desert areas is somewhat pale than from the more northern parts of the range. In the structure of the skull, on the basis of modern methods of research and existing materials, it is impossible to notice any features characteristic of individual parts of the range. Ognev (1948) recognizes the existence of the following subspecies:

1) A. j. jaculus.Pall. (1778) - the color of the top is relatively dull, gray-yellowish; The top of the head is usually gray of the back fur; The length of the white part of the banner is usually not large (50-70 mm); From Bug and Dnipro to Volga and Stepai Kuibyshev region.

2) A. j. Fuscus.OGN. (1924) - the color of the top is reddish-rzavo-ocher; Head top with a significant admixture of gray-brown tones; Northeast Predogoca region to the southern parts of the Astrakhan region.

3) A. j. Decumanus. Lichtenstein (1825) - the painting of the top is gray-ocher, with a slight clay tint, the top of the head is gray of the back; White part of the banner reaches 60-85 mm; South Ural and Trans-Urals.

4) A. j. Intermedius.OGN. (1948) - the color of the back of the same type, ocher, with a slight pinkish shade; The top of the head is pale gray with an admixture of pinkish; white length of a banner of 70-84 mm; Central Kazakhstan (Karaganda, South of the Kustanai region).

5) A. j. vexillarius.EVERSMANN (1840) - Top painting pale, sandy-yellowish; White part of a banner of 70-98 mm; From the lower flow r. Urals and from Ust-Urta to Balkhash and Alakul.

6) A. j. SpiculiimLichtenstein (1825) - the painting of the top of the gray-fawn with an admixture of oath-olive tone; Near the nose of the fur is almost black; The length of the white part of the banner is 62-100 mm; ears are relatively short (39-54 mm); Prailtea steppe, Barabinsk steppe, surroundings of Semipalatinsk.

Status in Russia and adjacent regions. The view is listed in the Red Books of Lipetsk and Tambov region.

Spread.

It lives in the European part of Russia (to the Moscow and the Nizhny Novgorod region north), in the south of Zap. Siberia and in the predfaccise, in semi-desert, steppes and forest-steppe. He sticks with a hollow wasteland, clay plains, salt marsh. In Voronezh region Known habitats in Usmansky Bor and Bogucharsky district.

Description.

Size of the animal: body length up to 26 cm, tail up to 30 cm; Body mass 260415. The head is relatively short and wide. The color of the top of the body from brownish gray to pale-sand-gray with reddish tones, belly and lower part of the limbs white, hips from the outside of rusty yellow, the white band comes from behind. The "banner" of the tail is well developed; Black field from below is solid, there is no light rings ahead. In karyotype 2n \u003d 48.

Features of biology and ecology.

Inhabit the desert steppes, semi-deserts and deserts, with the exception of sandy. In areas with dense soil and rare vegetation, the steppes zone (especially west of the Volga) is widespread, penetrates the forest-steppe and even the southern part of the taiga zone (Zap. Siberia). Here he settles on the slopes of the beams of river valleys, roadside, on mezhah and pastures.

Independently root holes: permanent and temporary. Lives singly. May take abandoned sorts of gophers. Leads twilight and nightlife. It feeds mainly by seeds, underground parts of plants and their young escapes, insects.

The female brings 1 litter per year, in the sumps usually 34 young, as much as possible to 8. The population density can reach 58 ° / ha. The number and trends of its change. In habitats, significantly reduced and continues to decline.

Limit factors. Reducing areas suitable for habitat due to changes in agricultural modes. Weak replenishment of the population with young features due to the low rates of breeding and the slow development of young individuals.

Adopted and necessary security measures. Guards in the Voronezh region. Since 1994, the creation of OPTs in key habitats of the species is required.

Information sources: 1. Barabash-Nikiforov, 1957. 2. Klimov A. S., 1996b. 3. www.ecosystema.ru Compilers: N. I. Prostakov, N. N. Kharchenko.