Russian muskrat: description, interesting facts and photos

Russian muskrat - an amazing animal, comfortably feeling on the planet Earth for more than 30 million years. As in past times, so today the appearance of this river animal, resembling a small rat and belonging to the family of moles for its ability to dig deep holes, has not changed at all.

Russian muskrat: description

It's the same long trumpet-like nose, paws with membranes between the fingers, a long tail clamped from the sides, covered with horny scales and being an excellent rudder on fast and steep corners. Russian muskrat has a well streamlined body; The abdomen is silver-white in color, the back is brown. This coloring makes the animal virtually invisible in water, successfully masking the environment. The coat is thick enough and does not get wet, as the animal with its hind legs lubricates it with musk, produced by special glands located at the base of the tail, with glands. With sight, the Russian desman has not developed, his deficiency is fully compensated by an excellent sense of smell. The hearing in the musk deer is well developed, but has some specificity. She can completely ignore the conversation of people, but shudder at the slightest splash of water, crunching under her leg a twig, rustling in the dry grass.

Nora - favorite places of the Russian desman

Russian muskrat, who prefers to live in the place of a quiet current (lake and backwater), likes to dig holes, complex and long (over 10 meters). In convenient, forested vegetation, there are entire labyrinths of underground tunnels, the entrances to which are hidden under the water column. When the water level falls, the animal is forced to lengthen the underground passages, again leading them to the surface of the river. Also, the Russian muskrat makes short holes with a chamber and a wet bedding, where in winter the air reserves are replenished when moving under ice. Basically, the chambers in the burrows serve for rest and eating.

What does the Russian desman eat

Food for the Khokhuli (so affectionately called the Russian desman in Russia) in the spring, summer and autumn are leeches, crustaceans, aquatic insects and their larvae, marsh plants. In winter, the Russian muskrat will not give up the numb frog, inactive small fish, bivalve mollusks. The holes sometimes accumulate whole mountains of food remains - exactly what the beast needs: a food supply and a good pond with convenient places for burrows. Sometimes the daily weight of the eaten is equal to the weight of the animal.

Care for the offspring

Progeny (from one to five kids) desman can be given twice a year. Cubs, whose weight does not exceed 2-3 grams, appear light tiny, blind and bare. However, in two weeks their body is already covered with hairs. On the 23-24th day the mother begins to acquaint them with the surrounding world. In a month the animals cut their teeth, they try insect larvae and mollusk meat. Helps the female, a wonderful and caring mother, in the care of the offspring father. If the adult leaves the burrow, then the child is carefully covered with a "blanket" from the plants. With the approaching danger, the mother on her back takes the kids to a calmer place. By 7-8 months, the grown-up offspring become independent and leaves their home.

Dangers at every turn

The life expectancy of the desman is about 5 years, provided that it is not shortened by external factors. And this may be unexpected winter water rises, flooding holes in which whole families may die. Surviving individuals are forced to flee on rafting, or they are urgently digging temporary holes in safe places. The desman, devoid of natural shelters, appears in sight, which makes it accessible to birds of prey, raccoon dogs, foxes, gray rats and mink. It is in the spring that a desman moves to neighboring water bodies, changing habitual habitats that she is looking for nearby (maximum 5-6 km from her old dwelling).

In water, the Russian desman is awaited by pike perch, pike, catfish and large river perch. In a droughty summer, the animal may not survive a long transition to a more favorable place and die on the road. Even in its own hole there is a danger of suffering from the hooves of wild herds, easily damaging the holes located at the surface.

The environment of the dwelling is successfully divided with the beaver, sometimes using their trenches and burrows. In the relations of these animals, mutual respect is clearly traced. There was even a fact when the muskrat climbed to the resting beaver on his back, that the latter suffered quite calmly.

To see the Russian desman

Many curious people are interested in what the Russian desman looks like, because it's quite difficult to see it with the naked eye: she is very cautious and pokes her nose on the surface of the water (in order to breathe) early in the morning or in the evening hours. The closed way of life of the animal does not give full possibility to penetrate into its secrets, no matter how great the desire. It is very difficult to determine exactly where the Russian desman lives. Interesting facts are seen by shepherds: at the sites of the holes of this animal cows refuse to drink water. The living musk deer gives out a persistent musky smell, because of which, until the middle of the 17th century, this animal was extracted. In Russia, dried up desiccants shifted linens in the dressers, a little later the secret of musk glands began to be used in perfume production as an odor fixer for expensive spirits. Negative image on the existence of the desman is affected by massive illegal fishing with the use of steel nets and "electric cutters", which destroy not only fish, but also aquatic invertebrates - the main food of the muskrat.

Poaching is the main danger for aquatic animals

The most valuable fur of the Russian desman was the reason for poaching this animal, which sadly affected its number. In 1835, 100,000 skins of this animal were exported to the fair in Nizhny Novgorod, 60,000 in 60. Predatory destruction of river animals took place for many centuries, so today the Russian muskrat (the Red Book confirms this fact) is found only in several places , Declared protected areas. This is the basin of the Ural River, the Don, the Volga, or rather certain areas of them. At the moment, according to expert estimates, the Russian desman is about 35,000 individuals.

Human anthropogenic activity also causes a decrease in the number of animals; Is deforestation, development of the shores of the water basins - the indigenous habitats of the muskrat, industrial waste pollution of river waters, drainage of water bodies. Even the usual presence of a person on a pond is the reason why the Russian desman feels uneasy. The Red Book of Russia and Ukraine on its pages recorded the existing problem of the Russian desman population, for the salvation and preservation of which special reserves were created : Khopersky, Oksky, Klyazmen.