dispersed in certain habitats. Some prefer coniferous taiga, others live only in deciduous forests, and most of all in mixed stands with dense undergrowth, in which there is always food and shelter. Bear, sable, squirrel are typical inhabitants coniferous forests, for an elk, as well as for a white hare, the best fodder lands are young aspen and birch forests, a beaver definitely needs a reservoir in a forest stand of aspen, alder and willow. The favorite habitat of the wild boar in the south is floodplain thickets along the rivers. The marten prefers heavily cluttered areas of coniferous forest. Wolves make their lair among windblows and windbreaks near the water.
All animals in search of food move not only within the boundaries of any tract, but also migrate over long distances. The squirrel lives in summer in Siberia in larch forests, feeding on larch seeds, berries and mushrooms, and in autumn, when cedar dwarf nuts ripen on loaches high in the mountains, it migrates there.
To a certain category of forests, not only one kind of animal is confined, but a whole group of them, connected by one biological food chain. Thus, the wolf follows the roe deer and wild boar, the marten, sable and ermine follow the squirrel and mouse-like rodents, the weasel and ermine follow the rodents and the hay pika. Sometimes these connections are broken due to natural phenomena or ill-considered actions of a person. Where, for one reason or another, the number of moles decreases (prolonged flooding of floodplain forests, increased trapping of animals with traps), the damage caused by the larvae of the May beetle, which constitute the main food of the mole, sharply increases. In cases where plantings of valuable trees were fenced in to protect against hares, these plantations were killed by mice, since they were protected by a fence from animals that feed on mice: foxes, badgers and hedgehogs. A person must know a lot about the role of animals in the biological chain of forest life in order to reasonably intervene in it.
The number of mammal species that inhabit our forests is very large, but we will only get acquainted with those that are most likely to be encountered.
In forest clearings, clearings, on the edge of the forest and in gardens, you can see small piles of earth thrown out by the mole. This "basement" inhabitant rarely comes to the surface, he digs numerous long passages in which he hunts for worms and insect larvae. The mole is useful in that it destroys the larvae of the May beetle, and at the same time it is harmful, as it destroys beneficial earthworms and spoils the roots of plants. The mole stores a lot of live food, lightly biting the head of the worm. In the underground pantry, the mole keeps 100-300 earthworms in reserve.
The structure of the body of the mole is adapted for earthmoving work - its body has a cylindrical shape, the head is pointed in front, the front short paws with wide brushes are turned palms back, the fingers with strong sharp claws are connected by a leathery membrane. With such spade paws, he easily loosens the soil, pushing the earth out of the passages with his head.
There are animals in the forest of the same order of insectivores as the mole, but more often living on the surface. These are earthmovers. They are, as it were, "semi-basement" residents, it is very rare to see them. Shrews feed on insects and their larvae; they build burrows in tussocks, under old stumps.
In dense forest cover, you can often see a hedgehog, although it is nocturnal, hunting only at night. Often you can meet a hedgehog in the daytime in the sun. Forest edges and gardens are his favorite habitats. The hedgehog brings from three to six blind, hairless cubs. After 2 months, they begin to live independently, but in the cold, not knowing how to settle well for the winter, they often die. Hedgehogs do not come out of hibernation until the frost ends. The hedgehog eats everything it can catch, from small insects, snails, centipedes to poisonous snakes. Do not work on the hedgehog and some strong poisons. In captivity, the hedgehog is gloomy and vicious.
forest mice, like their field counterparts, are harmful animals: they destroy tree seeds, gnaw at the bark of young trees, but at the same time they are the main food of valuable fur-bearing animals.
A real tree inhabitant is a squirrel, its whole life passes on trees. True, this animal sometimes descends to the ground for mushrooms and berries. Hats of porcini mushrooms, boletus, oil and especially a lot of mushrooms squirrels are planted on dry branches on the south side of the tree - preparing stocks for the winter. From the Arctic Circle almost to the Black Sea, from the Baltic to the Urals, in the Altai and Sayan mountains, where there are larch, cedar, spruce and pine forests, the squirrel can be found more often than any other forest dweller. Squirrels breed quite quickly, have two broods per summer, consisting of three to five cubs. They arrange nests from moss, dry leaves and dry grass in a fork of branches, sometimes in hollows.
eating in in large numbers coniferous seeds, nuts and acorns, gnawing tree trunks, the squirrel causes significant damage to the forest, in addition, it destroys bird nests, drinks the contents of eggs and destroys chicks. In late autumn, in the forest, you can stumble upon heaps of scraps of fresh spruce and pine branches 10-12 cm long. This is the work of a squirrel. It also destroys flower buds. Having chosen the most dense, spreading spruce, and such trees bear fruit better than others, the squirrel runs along one of its horizontal branches, hooks onto it with its hind legs and, hanging down its body, gnaws off a shoot with a flower bud, climbing onto a branch, eats a bud, and the shoot throws down . In 10 minutes, she manages to gnaw off up to 30 shoots. This devastation of the forest by squirrels continues until spring. If local squirrels are joined by numerous flocks of alien squirrels roaming from forests with a poor harvest of coniferous seeds, then almost not a single coniferous seed and flower buds of the future harvest remain in the forest.
Moose and goats live in our forests, and the horns shed by them should have been caught in the forest quite often, since they can be preserved for a long time. However, almost no one can boast of such finds. The horns disappear into the forest; a dog, a fox, a marten cannot completely destroy them; only the stomachs of rodents can assimilate such food. This is done not so much by mice as by squirrels; sometimes small goat horns and parts of bones were found in their nests.
The squirrel is an object of commercial hunting. The sums received from the sale of squirrel skins abroad constitute a significant share of the income in the fur trade.
In Siberia, the chipmunk is widespread in the forests - a reddish animal that looks like a squirrel, only smaller and with five black stripes along the back. Chipmunk's favorite places are thickets of bushes, windfall and deadwood along the banks of rivers and streams. A chipmunk digs a very convenient hole in the ground.
He lines the residential part of it with dry grass and leaves, in which the animal sleeps at night, spends hibernation, and keeps cubs. A chipmunk most often has five cubs. In the chipmunk hole there are one or two pantries for winter food supplies, as well as dead ends - latrines; in winter, chipmunks wake up from time to time and feed on winter supplies, so they need puffins.
In the spring, when the sun begins to warm up, the chipmunks crawl out of their holes, but they do not go far from them, and disappear into them at the slightest cold snap. If winter stocks are preserved in sufficient quantities, chipmunks take them out of their holes and lay them out in the sun to dry. Stocks in the hole sometimes reach up to 6 kg and consist of seeds of wild herbs, acorns, nuts, dried berries, apples and even mushrooms. In forests located near settlements, grains of wheat, oats, buckwheat, flax and sunflower appear in the stocks of chipmunks. Each type of product in a chipmunk is in a separate pile on a bed of dry grass.
A chipmunk's cheek pouches can hold no more than 10 g of grain, and in order to store 6 kg, he needs to go to the place of food and back 600 times. A one-way passage is sometimes measured 1-2 km, so the chipmunk has to work hard.
Chipmunk is very curious and trusting, which often causes his death. I had to observe the movement of squirrels and other animal species in a floodplain forest in the Altai Mountains, hiding behind a fallen cedar. A chipmunk ran along the trunk nearby and suddenly stopped, interested in rubber boots, which reflected the glare of the sun. Having descended onto another dead tree, the chipmunk looked at the boot for a long time, gradually moving towards it, then he approached, sniffed the boot and disappeared.
Chipmunks are living barometers: a few hours before the rain, they, sitting on a stump on their hind legs or on a fallen tree, make special sounds. They accurately predict summer-autumn floods in the mountains: they are the first to migrate from the river valleys many hours before they begin, while the rest of the inhabitants of the mountain forests are unaware of the danger and die in the flood. The chipmunk has many enemies among small predatory animals and birds of prey.
In the inner, less accessible parts of the forest, you can often find a white hare. In summer, his coat is dirty red-brown, by autumn the hairline sheds and grows a new, white one.
The white hare prefers dense thickets of deciduous shrubs. It is unpretentious, in winter it eats the bark of aspen and willow branches lying on the ground, almost never leaves the forest. This animal once served as an important object of commercial and sport hunting. Its population is small. The white hare has many enemies. Near settlements, domestic cats often exterminate newly born hares, usually sitting motionless for 2-3 days somewhere under a bush until their mother returns.
Once upon a time, from Karelia to the Caucasus, a valuable animal, the beaver, was widespread in forest rivers. Now this animal can be seen in reserves, zoological gardens and in some reservoirs. Beavers are found in the Berezinsky Reserve in Belarus, in Voronezh and in Kondo-Sosvinsky in the Trans-Urals. The latter used to occupy about 800 thousand hectares in the upper reaches of the Konda and Malaya Sos-va rivers, then in connection with the upcoming exploitation of forests and construction for this purpose railway The reserve was liquidated and recently re-established on an area of about 350 thousand hectares.
Among the small forest predators weasel deserves attention, although it is difficult to detect because of its small size (body length 20 cm) and reddish-brown color in summer and white in winter. Weasel lives in hollows of trees, under heaps of stones, in mole holes, and in winter - closer to human habitation: in sheds and barns. Weasel is ubiquitous.
Weasel is very mobile, hunts day and night, is very voracious - the weight of food absorbed by it per day (10-15 mice) is equal to the weight of its body. Having eaten, she continues to catch mice and voles and leaves them untouched. More than 450 half-eaten rodents were found in the omette on the threshing floor. Weasel is an indispensable assistant to a person in the fight against rodents. Appearing indoors or on the estate, weasel exterminates all mice.
Weasel is not content with mice, its prey is made up of moles, young hares and rabbits, chickens, pigeons, larks, lizards, snakes, frogs, insects, chicks and eggs of birds nesting on the ground.
It is difficult to judge how useful or harmful caress in the forest; most zoologists find it useful. At the same time, being dexterous, bold and bloodthirsty, she is sometimes able to cling to the neck of a hazel grouse, partridge or black grouse sitting on the nest and bite through the carotid artery. Sometimes she stays on a flying bird until it falls to the ground.
In terms of lifestyle, it differs little from the weasel ermine. It surpasses it in size (body length 32-38 cm). Ermine prefers mountainous conditions. The color of the coat on the back and on half of the tail is reddish-brown in summer, white in winter, the lower part of the body is always white, the tip of the tail is black.
Two closely related species live in the forest: pine marten and sable. The pine marten is found in the forests of the European part of Russia and goes a little beyond the Urals to the Ob, the sable - in the Asian part and rarely goes to the western side of the Urals.
The marten's favorite habitats are old spruce and fir forests with windbreak, deadwood and hollow trees. Its main prey is protein. The nocturnal lifestyle allows the marten to take the sleeping squirrel by surprise. With a lack of large prey, the marten catches mice, birds, in summer it is content with berries, preferring mountain ash. This animal is rarely seen due to its nocturnal lifestyle and small numbers.
Sable currently lives only in Siberia, Kamchatka, Sakhalin, in the Amur and Ussuri taiga, and not entirely, but in significantly separated foci.
To preserve the livestock of this valuable animal, a complete ban on hunting it was introduced, which was lifted in 1941. Sable catching rates are limited. On fur farms, sable breeds in captivity.
In the Barguzinsky sable reserve on the shores of Lake Baikal and in Kronotsky in Kamchatka, sable lives and breeds in protected conditions. Here the sable is caught and relocated to other places where it once lived, but then was completely exterminated. This event, called reacclimatization, was successfully carried out in the mountains of the Altai Mountains, and the sobrl has already become an object of fishing there.
In the forest, a meeting with a fox is more likely - this obligatory character of fairy tales and fables, in which she acts as a crafty and cunning gossip. In fact, the fox is less cautious than the wolf, often falls into traps and traps, takes poisoned bait. The fox is no less curious, and perhaps even more inquisitive, than a chipmunk. In winter, she will definitely turn off her path if she notices something dark in the snow, and on occasion she will look at the edge if she sees a crow or a jackdaw that has flown onto the snow.
One experienced hunter (the region of Dedinov and Beloomut on the Oka), noticing this feature of the fox's character, came up with a hunting method that worked flawlessly - any mouse fox became his trophy. Seeing a fox looking for mice in the field, he put on a white camouflage robe and crawled under cover of the bushes in such a direction that the wind blew from the fox. At a fairly close distance from her, he began to throw up his hat from behind the bushes. After a while, the hunter's actions attracted the attention of the fox, and then, instead of a hat, he threw up a dead crow or jackdaw, so that it fell into an open place and was visible from afar. The fox slowly, in zigzags, and then crawling approached the subject of interest to her and inevitably fell under the shot
The fox is omnivorous: a mouse, a hare, a mole, a hedgehog, a black grouse, a partridge, a hazel grouse, chicks, a grasshopper, a May beetle, fish in shallow places and rifts, a snake, a lizard, a frog - everything suits her food. The fable "The Fox and the Grapes" is very close to the truth. In the Crimea, during the ripening period, grapes are the main food of the fox, it even sneaks into the places of its storage.
The fox either digs a hole herself, or captures part of the hole, or even the whole, from the badger. She is very unclean, the remnants of food always rot in her hole, and a clean badger fills up the passage with earth, fencing off the half of the hole occupied by the fox, and sometimes goes to a new place.
The offspring of the fox is not only numerous (5-10 cubs each), but also voracious. All the time the fox spends in search of prey, and by the end of summer it becomes thin, flat as a board, with tufts of wool on the sides. If the fox notices that its hole has been discovered by a person, it takes the children to another place.
Fox hunting is intensive, but due to the great adaptability of this animal, it is not on the verge of extermination. The unpretentiousness of the fox in food, subtle hearing (she hears the squeak of a mouse from afar), excellent sense of smell, combined with endurance in running (dozens of kilometers travel during the night) contribute to her survival. If necessary, the fox swims across the river and even climbs trees with a low crown.
Caught cubs quickly get used to a person and do not lose their attachment to him, even when they become adults.
The role of the fox in the forest is twofold: it is useful in the extermination of mouse-like rodents, valuable as fur animal, but at the same time, it seriously harms in forests where black grouse, capercaillie, duck, hazel grouse and hare are found. She has only two enemies - a man and a wolf,
The wolf looks like big dog, only the ears always stick up or are pressed back, never bend down, the tail is always lowered. The wolf settles everywhere, except for dense large forests: in the tundra and in the sandy desert, in the steppe and in the forest, in the lowlands and high in the mountains. The wolf's hearing is better than all the senses: you can't catch a sleeping wolf by surprise, he hears the slightest rustle unusual for the forest from afar. This predator is very mobile, it travels up to 70 km per night in search of prey. With such an energy expenditure, he is almost always hungry. The wolf attacks young deer and elk, catches hares, foxes, badgers, arctic foxes, marmots, does not disdain mice and chicks of birds nesting on the ground. In the forests to the south, the wolf eats berries, wild apples and pears. In winter, when it is difficult to get food, wolves drag dogs from settlements at night.
Wolves do not go in large packs: usually a wolf family consists of wolf cubs born this year - arrived and young wolves of last year - pereyarki.
Adult strong moose and wild boars are not afraid of wolves, and they do not dare to attack them. Only sick or weakened animals become their prey. A herd of domestic pigs, if there are still a few boars in it, repulses the attack of a predator. Wolves also do not attack a herd of cows - cows, having gathered in a circle, putting their horns forward, create a circular defense, and a herd of horses becomes their heads inward, successfully repulsing the attack of wolves with hooves. Therefore, single cows and horses become prey for wolves. In a flock of sheep, those really stupid animals, the wolf can wreak havoc: in the heat of an attack, he vomits right and left, and in a few minutes can kill several sheep. Such attacks now occur only where sheep graze most of the year. Shepherds and dogs are always on guard near the flocks.
In the second half of winter, wolves break into pairs, and each pair usually settles no closer than 10 km from the other. Wolf cubs will be born in five or six. Their father feeds them and the wolf until the cubs grow up. The she-wolf is a selfless mother and protects children even from humans. In captivity, wolf cubs are quickly tamed and strongly attached to people. Adult wolves in captivity, and sometimes in the wild, mate with dogs and give birth.
Wolves are exterminated by all available means, and not so much for the harm they bring, but according to a tradition that has been established for centuries. The wolf himself never attacks a person, and the harm from him is exaggerated by stories and tales of the distant past, when wolf packs roamed the snowy fields and copses. In pre-revolutionary Russia, wolves, indeed, in some areas were a scourge for livestock, especially sheep. The low, straw-covered peasant stables were covered in winter with snow up to the very roof, and through the thatched roof it was not difficult to get into the stable. In our time, in covered strong collective farms, livestock is no longer available to the wolf.
Wolves were completely exterminated in England and Scotland as early as the 18th century; there are no wolves in Germany, Denmark and Holland. In our country, the wolf is becoming a rare animal in the European part and is almost exterminated in the central regions. A wolf is needed in the forest - it contributes natural selection animals, such as elk, destroying sick and weakened individuals. In my opinion, every forestry should be inhabited by a family of wolves, but its numbers should be regulated by employees of hunting supervision.
By including the wolf in the general natural complex of the forest landscape, we can restore the disturbed balance in the forest world. Here is what the American scientist Frank Darling writes in the article "Lands die with the death of trees": "The generally accepted opinion that wolves bring great harm is a psychological delusion, which nevertheless affects the fate of natural biotopes."
In 1934, a raccoon dog was brought from the regions of the Far East to the European part of the country. Here she found better feeding conditions than in her homeland, she multiplied strongly and turned out to be the most harmful animal in our forests. A raccoon dog destroys all living things that it can. Thanks to her exceptional instinct, she finds game where a wolf and a fox pass by prey, is not at all afraid of water, and destroys the nests of waterfowl and marsh birds. Very prolific: annually brings six to eight puppies, and even up to fifteen. The favorite hunting grounds of the raccoon dog are damp deciduous forests, floodplains with dense shrubs and tall grass, where many birds find shelter and nesting places.
Of the typically omnivorous wild animals in our forests, there are badger, wild boar and bear, but the likelihood of meeting them in an ordinary forest is extremely small, it is possible only in nature reserves and hunting farms. These animals are very rare, as in the past they were hunted immoderately.
The badger lives throughout the European part and in the southern strip of Siberia. Leads a nocturnal lifestyle. You can see him in the evening or early in the morning. It is easy to recognize a badger: on a white head, black stripes pass through the eyes and ears on both sides of the muzzle, getting lost at the back of the head. In the forest, on the slopes of ravines or hills, on their sunny side, the badger digs wonderful holes in the bushes. The main living chamber has several exits (sometimes up to eight) and vents for ventilation, and is very neat. The badger feeds mainly on roots, insects, snails, and earthworms. Previously, badger hunting was carried out for their meat, fat and skin, now it is taken under the protection of the law.
The boar, or wild pig, is the ancestor of the domestic pig. This strong beast shoulder height 90-95 cm, body length 1.5 m and weight 150-200 kg. The boar easily carries its heavy, well-knitted body on short, strong legs.
The lower and upper fangs of a male boar reach 14 cm in length, grow upwards, are strongly curved, very sharp, due to friction against each other, their ends, gradually sharpening, become thinner.
The wild boar knows how to stand up for himself, and the old male billhook is not afraid of any animal, except for the tiger. Boar attacks are lightning fast, injuries are severe and even fatal. The boar itself never takes the initiative to attack unless circumstances force it to. He is omnivorous, can live everywhere, except for places where there are deep snows. The wild boar lives in the south of Russia, in the Transcaucasus and in the Central Asian republics. It was also brought to the central regions of the European part of the country, in particular to the Moscow region, but it cannot exist here without top dressing.
Bear was widespread throughout the country. He has no enemies, except for a man who constantly pursues him. And the bear is essentially a harmless animal, he always diligently avoids his enemy and rarely attacks animals. The bear's teeth are adapted to feeding on plant food, with which he is mainly satisfied.
Everything berries- currants, raspberries, lingonberries, cloudberries, bird cherry, cranberries, mountain ash, - pine nuts, acorns, vegetables, ripening cereals, especially oats, and many other plant foods are included in his diet. Ants and their larvae, as well as bee honey, are a bearish dessert. The very name of the beast (honey to know) speaks of his passion for this delicacy. It is not easy for him: the whole swarm of bees fall on the unprotected parts of his body and climb even into the wool to the skin.
On the Far East during the spawning period of fish, the bear switches exclusively to feeding on fish.
The Caucasian bear is very good-natured, about which there are many anecdotal stories. No less safe was the bear in its time in the Gorno-Altai Reserve, accustomed to seeing a friend in a person. During the ripening of cherry plum, wild pears and apples, the Caucasian bear is always relentlessly followed by wild boars - in the distance and a little lower down the slope. As soon as the bear climbs the tree and shakes off the fruits, the boars pick them up, leaving nothing for the bear.
Once, because of a bear, all traffic on the mountain road stopped for several hours. Passing along the rock above the road, the bear accidentally knocked over a stone. Obviously, the bear liked the sound of a falling stone and, leaning over to the edge of the cliff, he began to drop stones, and he threw the next one only after the previous one fell on the road. Either he was bored with this occupation, or the supply of stones ran out, but the rockfall stopped after a while.
In the north, the bear hibernates only after snow falls and leaves the den in March. The thick layer of fat accumulated in autumn keeps him vital during this period.
The bear's hungriest time is spring: the snow has not completely melted, there is no fresh grass, and the stored fat has already been used up. It is especially difficult for a bear. In the second half of winter, she will give birth to two or three cubs, very small - "with a mitten", and they still need to be fed for 2-3 months. During the summer and autumn, the mother tries to work up a large supply of fat, accumulating it up to 100-120 kg.
Bears are mostly hunted in winter: the winter skin is more valuable and the meat can be stored for a long time. In early spring a hungry bear goes to the bait with carrion. In autumn, they lie in wait for him in the oat fields. Oats for him are no less a delicacy than honey. Caught off guard or injured, the bear can be dangerous.
In our forests, one can often meet an elk - the largest forest animal of our ungulates. It was almost completely exterminated before the revolution and is now under the protection of the law. An elk is a powerful animal: it reaches a height of 2.5 m, a length of 3 m, and an average weight of 400 kg. His appearance is awkward: high legs, a thick and short neck, a massive head with large nostrils, an overhanging upper lip and spade-like expanding horns, a very short tail. Thanks to wide hooves with a leathery membrane between the fingers, the elk can run through the swamp where any other animal of its weight would surely get stuck. Especially swampy places the elk crawls on the belly; throwing out its front legs far, it easily crosses large rivers.
This beast has an amazing sense of smell: it can smell a hunter at a distance of 500 m. He has even better hearing: he hears a person walking carefully on soft snow from a kilometer away. Usually the elk avoids the person, and it was not possible to see him very often. But over the past decades, in connection with the ban on hunting for it, new generations of moose have become more trusting, and meeting with a moose in aspen and willow forests is very likely.
Aspen branches are the most favorite food for moose. He cuts the annual or two-year-old shoots of aspen at an equal height, as if with garden shears. From large aspens, the elk strips off the bark in whole strips and even gnaws at aspen firewood left in the forest, scattering woodpile. Elk eat branches of willow and other trees. He does not touch cultivated plants at all, never eats hay and avoids food prepared by man.
It is not uncommon to hear that moose spoil young pine trees in forest plantations. I can say with confidence that if there are a lot of young aspen and willow forests on the farm, the elk does not touch the young pines.
With the proper organization of the economy, keeping the livestock of elk in the forest is a more profitable measure for the supply of meat than raising cattle on farms, since there is no need for fodder and animal care.
In autumn, the roar of bulls is heard far away, calling rivals to fight. At the end of April or at the beginning of May, the elk brings two calves, they suckle their mother until autumn.
Young or sick moose are destroyed by the wolf and wolverine. An adult moose is not afraid of wolves. Standing with his back to the tree, he successfully repels the attack of the wolves. There were cases when an elk killed a bear that attacked him. Wounded, he is dangerous and will not part with his life without resistance to the enemy.
Moose easily become tame in captivity. In the Pechoro-Ilychsky Reserve, work has long been carried out, and quite successfully, on the domestication of the elk.
Among the inhabitants of the forest there is also an insectivorous flying warm-blooded animal belonging to the class of mammals, no less useful than birds - a bat. In spring and summer, after sunset, some black small shadows begin to rush between the trees in the forest and in the gardens. By fast fluttering, uneven flight, you can immediately determine that this is not a bird or an insect, but a bat. There are several types of them in our country. The bat is small, the size of a house mouse, covered with reddish-gray hair, a dark gray bare membrane is stretched between the fore and hind limbs. With the help of this device, the bat glides through the air, only forward, fluttering and not making uniform flapping of its wings.
In our country, the red evening is the most common. The length of her body is 11 cm, of which 4 cm fall on the tail. She is one of the most useful mammals - she energetically cracks down on various insects, even beetles that have hard elytra, like May beetles. Red Vespers is a typical forest animal. In the old forest, on the tops of the largest trees and above them, on the edges and clearings, she is looking for prey. For foresters, the bat is one of the most desirable animals in the forest: it hunts at night, when insectivorous birds sleep, and there are many nocturnal pests in the forest. Vechernitsa flies at such a height where a chiffchaff and a blue tit sometimes fly during the day. May beetles, oak leafworms, silkworms and other insects she destroys in huge numbers, and the weight of her stomach in the morning is not less than one third of her body weight.
For the winter the bats hibernate, gathering in some secluded place, sometimes in large numbers. There is no harm from these animals to humans, but the benefits are very great. With this in mind, one should do everything possible to combat the prejudice that makes one look at these animals as dangerous and carrying illness and misfortune.
Not everyone knows that bats are living sonar. In the dark, they show amazing dexterity, avoiding the slightest obstacles, and catching the smallest insects. It was assumed that the bat is guided by this vision. Then it turned out that vision plays no role in the life of bats: blinded mice hunted insects just as successfully as sighted ones. It has also been suggested that the tactile organs of bats perceive all vibrations of air waves caused by flight and reflected by solid objects in the way. And only in Lately It turned out that a bat in flight continuously emits very short and high-pitched sounds - it emits ultrasonic location pulses directed strictly along the line of its flight in a narrow beam. The closer the obstacle or prey is, the more often the bat sends location pulses, the shorter they are, and the frequency of their repetition increases. Ultrasonic waves are known to be well reflected from the smallest objects, and the animal quickly orients itself, determining the distance to the object in its path. A tiny mosquito only one and a half millimeters long is caught by a bat in the dark just as successfully as a cockchafer.
How the location organs of a bat are arranged, neither scientists nor engineers have yet been able to discover. With this animal weighing several grams, the locating organs weigh milligrams, creating a variable rhythm and variable pulse duration, which is many times greater than the locators created by man. The study of the principles of the arrangement of living mechanisms of nature and the possibility of their use by man is engaged in new science- bionics.
Everyone has long known that the forest is the “lungs” of our planet. It is the forest that purifies the air and nourishes it with oxygen, and also protects the earth from drought. It is rather difficult to describe all the benefits that forests bring to us in a nutshell. It is impossible to imagine anything more delightful than a walk through a sunny, bright birch meadow or through a fabulous, mysterious spruce forest. The forest is a place where animals, birds, insects live. Animals living in the forest get along well in one territory, despite the fact that among them there are harmless animals, and there are also predators.
Russian forest animals
from Eurasia to North America vast taiga, coniferous forests extend, which are not afraid of either frost or crazy heat. Fir, pine, larch, cedar grow there, and moss and grasses grow green under them. In these forests, a real expanse for avid mushroom pickers. Since they are rich in berries and mushrooms. In the taiga forests, you can see sable, a marten making its way through the thickets of bushes, a shaggy wolverine, a hare running away from a wolf, and also a fox. Many animals of the forests of Russia prefer to live in the thickest, as poachers have already mastered the outskirts and frightened them with their shots. In secluded places, bears are laid down for hibernation.
You can meet elk or deer. Autumn is especially beautiful in mixed forests. Trees dress up in yellow, red, orange outfits. They seem to be wrapped in golden shawls. The smell of withered grass is in the air. And, if you look at the sky, you can see the keys of birds that fly to warmer climes. But this does not mean at all that winter time year there are no birds at all. Here the tit sang loudly, red-breasted, ruffled bullfinches merrily jump on a branch. It is only at first glance that the forest seems to be asleep and deserted. In order to find out which animals usually live in a mixed forest, you just need to carefully look around.
Raccoon
Raccoons are peculiar and interesting animals. They are wrapped in thick, long and fluffy fur, and on the muzzle there is a black stripe between the eyes. Raccoons are not afraid of water at all and swim remarkably. They love to fish, crabs and crayfish. Probably the most popular among raccoons is the raccoon. He got his nickname because before eating food, he rinses it in water for a long time. By nature, raccoons are quite curious. Raccoons prefer not to gather in flocks, but places where there is a lot of food are an exception. With the onset of winter, raccoons hide in minks or hollows and sleep. And when spring comes, small cubs appear, which for 2 whole months will not leave the hole. They are under the care of their parents for a whole year.
Hedgehog
Hedgehogs are dressed in a coat of sharp, prickly needles. She protects them from all attackers. Barely sensing danger, hedgehogs instantly turn into a small prickly ball. But when it's safe, a smart little face with a black nose and beady eyes appears to the world. Hedgehogs puff, snort and make funny sounds. During the day, they sleep, huddled in a mink, and in the evening they look for food. In autumn, hedgehogs eat a lot and stock up on fat for hibernation. Then they dig a mink under the stump, carry leaves and grass there and go to bed. In the spring, little hedgehogs are born. They have soft needles that look like wool. But until the kids grow up, they don’t leave their mother a single step. Hedgehogs are very useful. They exterminate harmful insects and mice.
Elk
Looking out what animals live in the forest, you will certainly notice the moose. He has a massive, large body, and on it is a scruff, very similar to a hump. The body is covered with thick, warm hair that protects from frost. These animals have very well developed hearing. Moose can run fast, and if necessary, swim or even dive. The head of an elk is decorated with wide, large antlers. In winter, animals shed their main decoration, and in summer they grow new ones. Moose are very brave and strong. They are not afraid of wolves or bears. In the spring, mother moose cows have cubs. Moose are amazing animals.
Mongoose
Mongooses have a flexible, long body, on which a head with ears is located. They slightly resemble a marten or a cat. Getting close to the prey, the mongoose bends with its whole body. His coat almost merges with dense thickets. Thanks to dexterity, quick reaction and courage, the mongoose defends itself from enemies. Animals live in long holes or in thickets. That's where babies are born. Mongooses live, mostly in families, and the mongoose father is responsible for raising children. In case of danger, the whole family protects the cubs.
Deer
Not all animals living in the forest stand out for their beauty or strength. But this statement absolutely does not apply to deer. They are beautiful and strong and noble. Like moose, their head is decorated with branched horns. Deer have a well-developed hearing and sense of smell. Deer live on mountain slopes, in bushes, or in clearings with dense grass. They prefer to stay in herds. Most big enemy deer is a wolf. The means of protection for the deer are strong hooves and horns. Cubs are born spotted, but this disappears with age. Mom protects her cubs and talks to them.
Wolf
It is the wolf that is the main character of many fairy tales. Wolves are slightly larger than the average dog. The body is covered with thick, warm, gray fur. These are very smart, cunning, and brave animals. Wolves hunt in packs. They drive their prey into ambushes and attack. Despite their cruelty, wolves are very caring and good parents.
Fox
Lisa is very beautiful. She has a warm, beautiful, red coat and a long, fluffy tail. She is very smart, cunning and agile. When threatened, it can run very fast. The main delicacy of the fox is mice, hares, birds, fruits, berries. She has a very well developed hearing and sense of smell. In order to breed offspring, the fox digs holes. Fox cubs are very curious, but unquestioningly listen to their mother.
Sable
Sable is a very beautiful, agile and fast animal. It lives among snags and fallen trees. It has a strong, flexible body and a fluffy little tail. Sable fur, very beautiful, thick and warm. It hunts both night and day. Produces offspring in the spring. Nowadays, sable hunting is prohibited.
Badger
The badger's body is covered with hair. Prefers to feast on bumblebee honey, beetles and worms. Before the onset of cold weather, the badger must accumulate fat reserves. Since he is going to sleep in a hole all winter. Badgers are very clean and tidy animals that carefully and carefully care for their offspring.
Brown bear
Considering what animals usually live in a mixed forest, one cannot fail to note the brown bear. He is, practically, the king of the thicket. Bears have great power. The body is covered with a warm, thick, brown coat. At first glance, bears may seem clumsy, but they are not. They are very agile, fast and silently running. Bears love berries, fish, insects and fruits. They winter in dens. That's where the cubs are born.
The globe is covered with oceans, land and forests. A huge number of animals, insects and other inhabitants live in the forest. The most interesting facts about forest animals cannot leave you indifferent.
- Wolves with tenderness and affection take care of their children. In a wolf family, 5-10 wolf cubs are usually born. And sometimes it is difficult for one mother to cope with such a brood. Here, the father of the family and the young wolves of the pack come to the rescue in raising the kids. The latter are engaged in entertainment for children.
- The bear eats almost everything: from nuts, mushrooms and fruits to chicks, ants, fish. It is most interesting for him to hunt ants, which he does as thoughtfully as possible. Having stuck his tongue in an anthill, the bear waits for all the ants to stick around him. Then he willingly swallows.
- Only male moor frogs are covered with blue. This process is directly related to reproduction, during which an incredible spectacle occurs.
- Inhabitants of the bush forest, monkeys, are very similar to people. For example, by the expression of a monkey's face, you can determine the mood. So a smile is a sign of an aggressive state.
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- A raccoon from the raccoon family is considered a wild animal and lives in the forest for no more than 7 years. But their domesticated brothers live twice as long.
- The elk lives in the forest and is considered a herbivore.. His milk is very valuable and fatty. In terms of concentration, moose milk resembles cream, because their composition is 14% fat. Also, the moose feed product is rich in glucose. But most importantly, such milk does not sour for more than a week.
- Each beaver has a number of amazing qualities and abilities.. big family These animals, due to their strength and endurance, are able to build a dwelling from improvised devices with a height of about 30 m.
- Owls are best known for their ability to deftly hunt mice, which in turn eat a kilogram of cereal in just one season. Each representative of nocturnal birds is capable of exterminating 1000 rodents.
- The otter is perfectly adapted to living in the aquatic environment.. In the daytime, the otter is in a hole dug on its own, and at nightfall it begins to hunt. The otter feeds on fish, crustaceans and small mammals.
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- Wolverine is one of the most mysterious animals in Russia, which is reminiscent of appearance bear and badger. The predator leads an exceptionally lonely lifestyle, not letting anyone near him. Due to its ardent aggressiveness and absolute non-tameability, the wolverine cannot be found in the zoo.
- The Amur cat, which lives in the forest zone, grows up to a meter in length and has a beautiful unusual color.. You can distinguish it by the longitudinal stripes on the forehead of a dark and light shade. Despite the rather cute look of the cat, he is considered extremely dangerous predator, which is not so easy to catch.
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- Amur tiger, listed in the Red Book and living on the territory of Primorye, is distinguished by a large weight of 300 kg and body length. The Amur tiger is resistant to low temperatures, so snow and cold are not afraid of him.
- The peculiarity of the lynx is the gait. The lynx steps with its hind legs on the tracks of the front ones.
- Sakhalin musk deer are currently on the verge of extinction. Animals live on the territory of Sakhalin, inhabiting the dark coniferous forest zones. Musk deer belong to the deer family, but they do not have horns. Their feature is long fangs.
- Forest bats are considered truly brave hunters.. These little mysterious evenings can hunt not only insects, but also birds.
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Russia occupies one sixth of the land. Therefore, the number of vertebrates inhabiting Russia is huge and exceeds 1500 species. Among them:
- more than 700 species of birds;
- more than 300 species of mammals;
- over 85 reptiles;
- more than 35 species of amphibians;
- more than 350 species of representatives of freshwater fish.
Mammals of Russia
Bear
The bear is a large animal, it is considered one of the symbols of Russia.
Bear.
Brown bear is a forest dweller, a forest animal. Very often this animal can be found in Kamchatka. The brown bear is a rather large animal, the maximum recorded weight of a male bear caught in Kamchatka was more than 600 kg.
Bear with cubs. 
The brown bear can eat both plant foods and prey on other animals. More than half of his diet is plant foods: various berries, nuts, roots, and so on. Since the bear is clumsy and cannot run fast, it rarely manages to catch a deer or a roe deer. But such a giant can eat insects and their larvae, catch fish, lizards
In winter, bears hibernate until spring. To do this, they equip dens in pits or caves.
Wolf
The wolf is a beautiful predator, similar in appearance and size to the German Shepherd. Wolves are pack predators, with their devotion to the pack, they can set an example for people.
Wolf. 
The main prey of the wolf is large ungulates. A pack of wolves drives a weak deer, a strong pack can even attack an elk weighing about half a ton. The leader is the first to start the meal, only after him the rest eat.
Fox
Fox - has the glory of a very cunning beast.
Fox. 
Foxes are small animals. An adult fox weighs no more than 10 kilograms. They feed on small rodents, so they can often be found near human settlements, where there are more rodents.
But not only rodents make up her diet, she can hunt small birds, try to catch a hare, but it is difficult for her to do this, since hares are faster than foxes. In hunting, the fox often uses cunning, for example, it can pretend to be sleeping near a flock of partridges, and when the birds lose their vigilance, they suddenly attack.
The fox is a very curious creature. She is interested in everything new and unusual, and this often causes problems. For example, a fox can fall into a hunter's trap.
Boar
Boar are wild pigs. Boars are quite large animals, the weight of an adult boar can reach 250 kilograms. With such a mass, they can run at speeds up to 40 km / h.
Boar. 
Wild boars feed on everything they find in the ground. It can be different roots, worms and insect larvae, fallen fruits, acorns, chestnuts, and so on. A boar can eat a lizard or a toad if it catches one.
Piglets of a wild boar. 
If the boar feels threatened, then it becomes very dangerous. His fangs can reach 20 centimeters in length, he does not hesitate to use them.
In search of food, the wild boar performs the function of a tiller, it loosens the ground and the seeds of plants fall deeper, while their chance of sprouting increases.
Elk
Elk is a large herbivore. This animal gained fame thanks to its spade-shaped horns, they look like a plow - a tool of farmers. Therefore, since ancient times, the elk has a nickname - elk.
Elk. 
Elk with big horns. 
Only male moose have antlers; females do not. Every year until December, moose shed their antlers, then these antlers can be found in the forest.
Moose live in the northern latitudes of Russia, as these animals do not like heat.
Hare
The hare is a small herbivore that is considered to be cowardly. But this is fundamentally wrong, having fallen into the clutches of a predator, the hare fights off with strong hind legs. On these paws, in addition, he has large claws with which he can seriously injure the attacker, or even kill him.
Hare. 
But hares avoid fights with predators, and they have only one way to do this - to quickly run away. They are able to reach speeds of up to 75 km / h if their lives are in danger. Who just does not try to hunt hares! The fox is a danger to young hares; it cannot keep up with adults. Wolves often prey on older hares. Lynxes and large eagles, ermines, wolverines and martens can attack hares.
Bunny with a bunny. 
Wolverine is a predatory animal of the northern forests of Russia. Wolverine is a relative of martens, although outwardly it resembles a bear.
The wolverine can weigh up to 30 kilograms. Females are slightly smaller than males, this is where their external differences end.
It is believed that the basis of the wolverine's diet consists of carrion, which she picks up from bears and wolves. In addition, the wolverine preys on everything that it can catch. big luck for a wolverine - to catch a wounded and weakened deer of small sizes.
Beaver belongs to the rodent family. He is the most large rodent in Russia and Europe. In the world there is only one representative of rodents larger than a beaver - this is South American capybara. The weight of a beaver can reach 30 kilograms.
Often a beaver is called a "beaver", but this name is not accurate, since in the dictionary of the Ozhegov S.I. dictionary, this word is called the fur of a rodent.
The beaver leads a semi-aquatic lifestyle, spending most of its time in the water. Beavers are famous for building dams on small streams. Beavers live in burrows, if it is not possible to dig a hole, a beaver builds a hut.
Beavers are active at night, and during the day they sleep in their dwellings. Beavers feed on plant foods, they make reserves for the winter and do not leave their shelters throughout the winter.
Ermine is a small predator, no more than 40 centimeters in length. But a very aggressive and bloodthirsty animal. It lives in thickets of bushes, on the banks of water bodies, including swamps. Ermine swims well and deftly climbs trees.
The stoat preys on small rodents, but is also capable of killing prey larger than it, such as a squirrel or a rabbit.
In winter, stoats change their coat color to white so that they are more likely to go unnoticed while hunting.
Ermine in winter.
Sable is a predator, similar in shape to an ermine, but larger. The main habitat of the sable is coniferous taiga.
Sable on a branch. Sable mainly preys on small rodents, but may attack squirrels and hares. He also preys on small birds such as capercaillie or hazel grouse.
Sable fur is very valuable, which led to its mass extermination.
Birds of Russia
As mentioned above, in Russia you can meet more than 700 species of birds.
The bullfinch is a bird slightly larger than a sparrow, the males of which are painted bright red. Female bullfinches are not at all a bright color.
Bullfinch in winter 
Bullfinch in May 
The diet of bullfinches consists mainly of seeds and buds of trees and shrubs, bullfinches are especially fond of mountain ash and bird cherry. Bullfinches can also eat small insects, mostly they manage to catch spiders.
In winter, bullfinches do not fly anywhere, but winter in Russia. If the winter is very cold and there is little food, then many bullfinches die. Under favorable conditions, a bullfinch can live up to 15 years.
The tit is a sparrow-sized bird. It is distinguished by a yellow breast and a blue tint on the back.
In the warm season, tits prefer to eat insects, at this time they are the real predators. But in winter they are forced to switch to plant foods.
Tits on a sunflower 
With the onset of cold weather, tits move to cities, since it is easier for them to find food here. In the spring they fly back to the forests.
The woodpecker is famous for pecking trees with its beak in search of insects and their larvae. The knock from his "work" is heard for a hundred meters.
Like tits, woodpeckers have a diet that depends on the time of year. In the warm season, they eat more insects, although they can destroy the nests of small birds, eating eggs and chicks. In winter, woodpeckers switch to vegetable food.
The woodpecker's tongue is visible in the photo. Woodpeckers instead of nests on branches hollow out hollows in trees with soft wood (alder or larch for example). This work is done mainly by the male and takes about two weeks.
The life expectancy of a woodpecker very rarely exceeds nine years.
The body length of an adult cuckoo is just over 30 cm with a mass of 190 grams, the maximum wingspan of a cuckoo reaches 65 centimeters.
Cuckoo with prey. Cuckoos are migratory birds and for the winter they migrate to Africa and tropical latitudes of Asia.
A cuckoo chick in a forest pipit's nest. Fish of Russia
There are more than 350 species of freshwater fish in the water bodies of Russia. Let's consider some of them.
Catfish is a real predator, not a scavenger, as is commonly believed. One of the largest freshwater fish in Russia, which is common in many reservoirs.
Catfish can hunt not only fish and crayfish. He can also attack birds, for example, here is a video about how a catfish hunts pigeons.
Catfish in the Dnieper River. 
Usually catfish reach a mass of 20 kilograms with a length of 1.5 meters. But under favorable conditions, catfish can grow to the size of real giants and weigh 400 kilograms with a length of up to five meters. It's just a monster fish!
Pike is a predatory freshwater fish, the heroine of folk tales.
Usually pike grows up to one meter long and weighs no more than 10 kg, but some individuals reach a weight of up to 35 kg.
Pike hunt from ambush. They can hide in thickets for a very long time, waiting for prey. Then, with a lightning lunge, they grab the victim with their powerful jaws. There is no chance for a fish that has fallen into the mouth of a pike to free itself, since the teeth of the pike grow towards the inside of the jaw.
Zander
Pike perch is another predatory freshwater fish that is widespread in the European part of Russia. It lives only in flowing reservoirs, the water of which is rich in oxygen.
Pike perch can grow up to 120-130 centimeters, while its weight can reach up to 18 kg.
Pike perch is a very aggressive predator, but the diameter of its throat is small, so it does not attack large fish, as catfish and pike do. Its prey: bleaks, small ruffs and so on.
Beluga is the largest freshwater fish, can grow to a length of more than four meters, while weighing more than one and a half tons.
Most Beluga lives in the waters of the Azov, Black and Caspian Seas. Belugas rise into the rivers only during the breeding season.
Belugas lead a solitary lifestyle. For the winter, they hibernate, before which their body is covered with a thick layer of mucus, which acts as warm clothing.
The main food of beluga is small fish, such as gobies and a variety of cyprinids, herring and other similar fish.
Carp is a very cautious fish. Carp are almost omnivorous and survive well in the most difficult conditions.
On the territory of Russia there are two types of crucian carp: gold and silver.
Crayfish
Crayfish is an aquatic animal, reaching a length of 30 centimeters. Although crayfish are usually much smaller, most often their size is 15 centimeters.
Cancer has powerful claws, and outside it is protected by a shell.
Crayfish are nocturnal predators. During the day, they hide in their shelters, it can be a hole or a secluded den in the roots. coastal tree. At night they feed. The basis of the diet of cancer is plant food, from animal food they can get mollusks, worms, and they also do not disdain carrion.
Arctic animals of Russia
Polar bear- the ruler of the northern latitudes of Russia.
The main prey of polar bears are various types of seals, such as bearded seals and seals.
Having a huge mass, the polar bear has no natural enemies. In terms of mass, only walruses are not inferior to him, and polar bears try to bypass them.
Polar bear and walruses. Polar bears spend almost their entire lives on drifting ice floes. Only pregnant females come to land to give birth to cubs.
The fox is an animal that looks like a fox. Lives in the arctic tundra.
Polar fox, photo: August 2014. In winter, the color of the fox is white. But in the summer it sheds and its color becomes brown.
Arctic fox in summer. The main prey of arctic fox in summer is lemmings. Although the arctic fox is not picky about food and can eat more than 120 species of small animals (including fish and shellfish) and more than 20 species of plants. Arctic foxes have a hard time in winter, especially if the winter is cold.
The snowy owl is the largest of all owl species. Also, this bird is called a white owl, because of its color. The wingspan of a large individual can reach 175 centimeters.
Summer polar owls spend in arctic zones, and for wintering they fly to areas of deciduous forests. Their main prey is lemmings, these are small rodents that live in the north in the tundra zone.
The polar owl tries to nest away from people.
Popova Irina Vasilievna
For NQF lessons « Nature and Ecology Krasnoyarsk Territory" was written research"Nature of the village of Bolshaya Kosul" and compiled by the CER "Trees of the village of Bolshaya Kosul". This material is used by teachers primary school. The object of the study was animals that live in the surrounding forests of the village of Bolshaya Kosul
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Animals of the village of Bolshaya Roe
Beaver Roe deer Elk Squirrel Wolf Hare Fox Bear Hedgehog Muskrat
The hedgehog is not large, its length is only 20 - 30 centimeters, weight is about 700 - 800 grams - this is how much a loaf of bread weighs. The hedgehog's ears are small, the head and belly are covered with coarse dark hair. The back and sides of the animal are covered with prickly needles. Needles are the hedgehog's only defense against enemies. Hedgehogs settle in copses, on the edges of the forest. The animals are active at dusk and at night, and during the day they doze in shelters. Hedgehogs are good swimmers. During the winter they go into long hibernation. Before they lie down, they accumulate subcutaneous fat - during hibernation, hedgehogs do not eat anything. Hedgehogs feed on insects, catching frogs, mice and occasionally snakes. The life expectancy of hedgehogs is 10 years. Hedgehog
The fox is a small predatory animal. The fox is called red, this is true, but only in part. Her belly is white, gray or slightly brownish, her chest is light. The back and sides are colored differently - from bright red to gray. The fox has a narrow sly muzzle and a large fluffy tail. It is believed that the fox covers its tracks with its tail. In Russian fairy tales, the fox is called Patrikeevna in honor of the Novgorod prince Patrikey, who became famous for cunning and resourcefulness. And it is not for nothing that the fox is called so - it is really a very cunning and dexterous animal. Despite the short legs, the fox runs so briskly that not every dog is able to catch up with it. Her usual manner of movement is a leisurely trot. When catching prey, it merges with the terrain and seems to crawl on its belly. And he leaves the pursuer with big jumps, swiftly, as if not touching the ground at all. The fox eats everything that it gets: small animals, birds, eggs, fish, frogs, vegetables, berries, fruits. The fox age is about 6 years, but in captivity it can live 25 years. Fox
Hare In our area common hare-hare. It is named so for its blond color. Its skin is gray or brownish, the abdomen is white. The tips of the ears are black. During the day, the hare hides in a shallow hole that serves as a lair, in the morning and in the evening it goes out for food. Hares have poor eyesight, a good sense of smell, and excellent hearing. The hare has many enemies - humans, predatory animals and birds. In captivity, hares live up to 8 years. Young hares grow very quickly: after 5 to 10 days they already begin an independent life. Hares feed on various vegetation: grass, cereal plants, vegetables, tree bark. The hare especially loves parsley, carrots, cabbage, turnips.
The bear is a large forest animal. He is called the master of the taiga. The fur of the bear is thick, brown, the paws are powerful and clawed, the fangs are large and strong, and the tail is small. The weight of the bear is heroic: from 100 to 340 kilograms. He runs fast, deftly climbs trees, swims and dives excellently. When a bear hibernates, its heart beats slowly, digestion and breathing slow down, and the bear's body temperature drops to 10 degrees. In this state, the bear gradually uses up its fat reserves, which it has accumulated in the summer. The bear may be in hibernation several months. Bears hibernate in order to compensate for the temporary lack of food. If a bear is awakened during hibernation, it may die from a lack of food, since the bear needs to new energy which he may no longer have. In captivity, bears live up to 47 years. Bear
Squirrel These animals live in forests and parks. Sharp claws allow them to climb trees, jump from branch to branch. Squirrels arrange their nests in the hollows of trees, sometimes on the branches of pines and spruces. This animal is graceful when running along the trunk, graceful when it touches a thin branch. The squirrel seems to be completely weightless when it jumps from tree to tree. Squirrels do not hibernate during the winter. In captivity, squirrels live an average of 5 years. Animals forage on trees and on the ground. Their menu includes sweet berries, mushrooms, nuts, acorns, seeds coniferous trees, pine buds. They sometimes eat insects and bird eggs. They make supplies for the winter - string mushrooms and berries on tree branches. Where they left the mushrooms, they do not remember, just traveling through the trees in winter, they collect the stocks they meet.
Beaver A genus of mammals of the beaver family (Castoridae) of the order of rodents. Beavers weigh from 15 to 30 kg with a length of 90–120 cm, including a flat tail (41 cm). With large webbed hind feet, they row when swimming, using a wide scaly tail as a rudder. The ears and nose are equipped with valves and close when the animal dives. The animals can swim at a speed of 3 km/h and stay underwater for up to 15 minutes. Usually beavers form strong families. The life expectancy of beavers is usually 10–12 years, although in favorable zoo conditions they live up to 20 years. Beavers build a dam to fill a pond, in the middle of which they build an island "hut", inaccessible to predators prowling nearby. It serves as both a shelter and a pantry for winter food supplies. The beavers always finish the started dam, and do not allow the finished one to collapse. The height of the middle dam is 120–150 cm. During the summer months, beavers are most active at night, but also work during daylight hours. In winter, it seems that the beaver pond is dormant until the spring thaw.
Slow on the ground, the muskrat swims well and dives well. Without air, it can do up to 12-17 minutes. Vision and sense of smell are poorly developed, basically, the animal relies on hearing. Outwardly, the muskrat resembles a rat. Body length - 23-36 cm, tail length is almost equal to body length - 18-28 cm. Females do not differ in size from males. Muskrat fur consists of coarse guard hairs and a soft undercoat. Muskrats live in family groups with their own feeding grounds. For housing, the muskrat builds burrows and huts. Burrow digs in the high bank. The length of the burrows is different, in steep banks - 2-3 m, in gentle ones - up to 10 m. The burrow opening is located under water and is not visible from the outside, and the nesting chamber is above the water level. The muskrat leads a semi-aquatic lifestyle, settles along the banks of rivers, lakes, canals, and especially willingly - freshwater swamps. Muskrat
Elk Moose are found in our forests, they are also called moose. The elk is slightly larger than its close relative, the deer. The trunk and neck of the elk are short, and the withers are high, in the form of a hump. The legs are very long. The elk runs extremely fast through the forest, deftly removing knots and branches with its horns. Elk is not afraid of predators. His strength is great, angry, he turns away whole blocks of earth, and with his hind legs he hits so hard that he knocks over trees as thick as shafts. The elk feeds on young shoots and twigs of small trees: birch, aspen, willow. In addition, he eats green moss that grows on rocks. At the end of summer, moose look for hat mushrooms, blueberry twigs and lingonberries with berries.
Wolf The wolf is a predatory forest animal. Outwardly, he looks like a dog. The wool of the wolf is gray, the muzzle is narrow, the mouth is equipped with strong sharp teeth - wolf weapons. This allows the wolf to hunt even such large animals as an adult elk or horse. A hungry wolf is dangerous to humans and domestic animals. A person can escape from a wolf by climbing a tree. Wolves live in packs and are predominantly nocturnal. This makes it easier for them to hunt large animals. In a flock live from 3 to 40 animals. Of the sense organs, the wolf has the best developed hearing, a little worse - the sense of smell and vision. The wolf is smart. He is well versed in the situation and skillfully avoids danger. Despite the fact that the wolf hunts and often attacks domestic animals, it plays a very important role. Wolves control the number of animals in the forest, destroying the weak and sick.
Roe deer Roe deer is a small deer of light and graceful build with a relatively short body. The ears are long, pointed, the tail is short and does not protrude from the fur. The hooves of the middle fingers are narrow and sharp, the lateral hooves are very small and set high. The coloration is one-color, bright red in summer, dull, grayish in winter. The mirror is yellowish-white and does not reach above the root of the tail. The horns of males are relatively small, even the largest horns of Asian roe deer are no more than 1.5-2 times the length of the head; more often their length is equal to the length of the head or slightly more. The roe deer lives in extremely diverse deciduous and mixed forests, avoiding only the dark coniferous taiga. Roe deer feed on herbaceous and tree-shrub vegetation. Roe deer willingly eats mushrooms, but in small quantities. Roe deer swim well and during migrations freely cross such rivers as the Yenisei and Amur. They do not tolerate high snow cover well, and European roe deer can hardly move on snow above 25-30 cm, and Siberian ones - above 40-50 cm.
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