When you mention the phrase "field dog" before your eyes there is an image of anyone, but not a mammalian rodent, a kind of ground squirrel. These mammals got their name for the sharp barking sounds with which they communicate with each other. It is believed that their language is almost as complex as a human one - it contains many combinations with which they communicate with each other, i.e. convey information to their own kind and are even able to describe ongoing events. Let's talk about what field dogs look like and what lifestyle they lead.
Appearance
As mentioned above, the field dog is a rodent native to North America, Mexico and Canada.
Outwardly, dogs resemble marmots, but are somewhat smaller - body length reaches 40 cm, and weight up to 1.5 kg. frontthe paws of the animal are “equipped” with powerful claws, thanks to which they easily tear even hard ground. The back is covered with yellowish-gray hair, the belly is somewhat lighter. Paw pads are also covered with hair. They have a fluffy tail up to 11 cm long.
Lifestyle
Field dogs are social animals. Their colonies can number up to a thousand individuals. At the same time, each of the animals has its own duties, which it strictly observes - they have sentries, builders, educators, defenders. But at the same time, their habitat is in many ways similar to the way of life of a person - each family of these rodents has its own territory, the boundaries of which are not violated by other members of the community, that is, we can say that, like people, field dogs after performing their social functions retire to rest in their homes, which have separate rooms: a kitchen, a nursery, bedrooms. These animals are diurnal, hibernating from August to February.
A family can consist of up to 20 individuals, the main one in which is the male. The rest of the family are females with cubs.
For the construction of their "cities" field dogs choose desert or steppe territories, open meadows and prairies. Up to several thousand of these animals can live on one hectare.
Human Interaction
The field dog is a herbivore that can cause irreparable damage to agriculture. They were also disliked for the fact that they completely dig pastures with their holes, domestic horses and cows are often injured,falling into their burrows. That is why local farmers fight them in every possible way. This struggle has led to the fact that the population of field dogs has not only been significantly reduced - the species is on the verge of extinction.
The other side of this interaction was that these rodents were bred as pets along with cats and dogs. People realized that these are very smart animals, strongly attached to humans. If you raise them from young, they will never even try to escape into the wild. But the maintenance of their home is associated with certain difficulties - they are very curious, therefore they need constant supervision, because because of this character trait they can easily harm themselves and the environment. In addition, they are cunning thieves who love to drag the trophies they receive into their nest.
Rodent protection methods
As we said above, one animal living in your home is a cute, funny creature. But imagine a situation where you have thousands of them. At such a moment, you involuntarily think about how to deal with field dogs. A feature of the existence of these animals is that the sentries, standing along the perimeter of their possessions, will not be tempted by any treats and baits if it is located outside their “city”. That is why, before getting rid of field dogs, you need to clearly establish the boundaries of their residence.
There are two ways to deal with a rodent:
- Ultrasonic.
- Chemical.
The first one is much moresparing, it is safe both for humans and for the rodents themselves. Modern repellers emit ultrasonic signals that force the animals to leave their chosen places.
It would seem that this is an ideal way to deal with rodents, but it has one significant drawback - the high cost of the device. And if we take into account that one device has its own range, then a large number of such devices may be required for one site. And replacing the batteries themselves is not cheap.
That is why many farmers go to more radical methods and use "heavy artillery" - chemicals, forgetting that field dogs are not ordinary mice, but much more intelligent animals. It is not enough just to spread the poisoned baits and calm down on this. You have to spray chemicals over the meadows, add them to the water. Fighting them this way can be exhausting. We said above how many individuals one colony of these rodents can have, and it is clear that it is simply impossible to poison them all. More and more new animals come to the place of the dead. We can say that such a struggle does more harm than good - getting rid of dogs in a particular area is quite difficult, and it affects the total number of animals very strongly.
Field dogs in Russia
At one time, the Internet literally exploded from reports that Russians increasingly began to meet field dogs in the country, but now we can say with confidence that this was an erroneous opinion. These rodentsthey are not able to survive even in the Central zone of Russia, let alone in Siberia. Water voles and hamsters were taken for dogs, which also cause irreparable harm to agriculture, but have nothing to do with them. At the moment, the true culprits have been found, and the dogs have been fully rehabilitated.
Interesting facts
- The field dog family is called cotories.
- Members of the same family are very fond of kisses and caresses - they often touch each other with their faces, while opening their mouths. The true reasons for this behavior have not been identified.
- Field dogs can kill not only other representatives of the order of rodents, but also their relatives who are not related to their colony and dare to encroach on their territory. However, they are herbivores and have not been seen in cannibalism.
- There is a type of field dog that not only does not hibernate, but can also move freely in the snow - the black-tailed field dog.
- Newborn babies are cared for by all members of the family.
