Graceful pet caress: a pet or a fierce enemy?

Weasel - animal (photo of the animal presented in this article) with a flexible, thin and elongated body. She has an oblong head, a long neck and round little ears. This is the smallest representative of the family of cunies. The length of her body is not more than 25 cm, of which about 5 cm is on the tail, and at its base there are glands, which gives off a liquid that is unpleasant to smell. Zverek caress in the summer is dressed in brown-brown fur with a white neck, abdomen and chest. In winter, she changes into a purely white outfit.

Basically, caresses lead a nocturnal life, but if she does not see danger for herself, she can hunt in the daytime. She runs, swims, jumps and climbs trees, but her main strength lies in the ability to run through the narrowest holes and cracks. For example, she easily pursues mice in their burrows. This mammal also feeds on all sorts of birds, their eggs and chicks, as well as lizards, snails, various insects, frogs and fish. Zverek caresses even hunting vipers, copper coins and snakes. And if its main diet for some reason is reduced, then weasel attacks animals larger than themselves. These can be rats, hamsters, young rabbits and rabbits, ground squirrels, grouse, partridge and black grouse.

The animal lives affection under piles of stones, in hollows of trees, in ruins. Sometimes she can settle in rat holes or under the washed beaches. In winter, it attracts places warmer: lofts and sheds of rural buildings, and it can also be found on the outskirts of the city. From May to June, the female appears from 5 to 7 cubs. This happens in a place hidden from prying eyes, which is necessarily covered with hay, leaves or straw. Mother is very sensitive to her babies. She feeds them for a long time with milk, and then for several months brings them live mice. But if her children are disturbed, she will immediately transfer them to another place.

And now the grown-up cubs start to come out of the nest. Their mischievous and cheerful muzzles alternately show from it and inspect the terrain. If everything is quiet around, then the kids go out one by one, arranging games on the green grass. The petting caress has many natural enemies - these are all mammal predators that are larger than it, and birds of prey.

In a natural habitat, weasel lives 8-10 years, but in captivity, the life of her does not exceed 6 years. Adult individuals are very difficult to bear the loss of freedom, so to tame you need to take a young animal, which is still with the mother. In this case, the weasiness quickly gets used to its owner and becomes the most gentle, justifying its name by the animal. But for rural residents, it is almost the fiercest enemy, as it exterminates poultry and rabbits. In the old days, to go out, a goat was brought to the farmyard. To do this, choose the oldest. After 2-3 days a small predator left a favorite place.

Even from the uninvited "tenant" can be disposed of with the help of windmills. The fact is that all the underground animals react very sensitively to the earthquake, and the slightest, transmitted through the pole, vibrations into the earth are forced to leave their shelters of moles, rats, shrews and mice. Not an exception and affection. Zverek (how to catch it, it interests a lot of people) can be cracked with the help of such a device as a cherkan, and sparrows are used for bait. Although many gardeners, beekeepers and hunters catch this animal specifically at will, to launch it into their underground, cellars or barns to exterminate mice and rats.