Who eats mice

In the world there are about 130 types of mice, of which the majority lives in Russia. These rodents are divided into those who live next to a person (house species) and wild or field individuals. Both those and others are considered pests, because they harm agricultural crops. Also mice suffer diseases and cause damage to a person living next to him in the house. They have a lot of enemies, so the story of who eats mice will interest most people who have a negative attitude towards such animals.

Field mice and their enemies

Wild species of rodents - field mice inhabit almost all continents and the islands of the Northern Hemisphere have many different subspecies. Most of them prefer to live in open landscapes in a temperate climate, where they find food: crops and many parts of plants (tubers, bulbs, etc.), sometimes they eat shellfish and insects.

Due to its enormous fertility, small rodents multiply very rapidly, their population is able to grow several dozen times over a year. The widespread distribution of these rodents makes them quite accessible prey for many species of animals. They have the most activity at night, and then they are attacked by their enemies: birds of prey and animals.

Who feeds on mice living in the wild? First of all, these are foxes, martens and weasels, in which mice form the main diet. They are caught and eaten by ferrets, who consume 10–12 voles per day, and the caress, thanks to their long and narrow body, can even make their way into the mouse holes and eat the little mice. They feed on rodents in the absence of other larger prey and wolves, lynxes, mongooses, arctic foxes and other predatory animals.

Animals that eat mice

Very fond of eating voles and foxes. In winter, rodents make up the only diet of foxes. Moreover, the number of foxes in a population often depends on how many foxes eat mice in these months.

Another key enemy of mice is birds of prey: owls and owls, which are capable of annually destroying up to 1200 rodents each individual. Owls catch mice and eat them whole, along with bones, wool in connection with a specific digestive system.

An owl hunts on mice usually at night. Sometimes birds like ravens and shrike are not averse to eat with mice.

On a note!!

Owls hunt rodents not only for their food, but also for feeding their chicks: sometimes the life of the younger generation and its normal development depend on the number of mice caught by mom.

Natural enemies of field mice in nature are also forest and domestic cats (especially if there is a person’s dwelling next to the habitat of a rodent), hedgehogs and snakes. For hedgehogs, the rodent is not everyday food, since for him it is difficult to keep up. Hedgehogs eat miceif they get in their way.

Interesting!

Among snakes, the biggest lovers of eating mice are vipers and snakes. For them, these rodents are the main food. The viper goes on a hunt every night; it catches mice and eats, swallowing and digesting it entirely. Also, these snakes are often used as housing burrowed by rodents burrows and passages. Mice are also eaten by large lizards.

Plant that feeds on mice

Mice that live in deserts or on islands in the tropics, are also the object of hunting and a delicious meal for some predatory animals and even for plants.

The famous plant that eats mice is Nepenthes spathulata, grows on the islands of Java and Sumatra and belongs to the family of insectivorous plants. Nepenthes spathulata, growing in length up to 5 m, is a predator that swallows small animals and digests them entirely with teeth and bones, dissolving them with the help of digestive enzymes.

Such a plant looks like a number of flowers-jugs hanging on the stem. Inside the jar is slippery and emits a sweet floral scent. Small animals, including both mice and insects get into it from the slippery edge, and then are digested at the bottom of the flower for several days.

Mice as food

Who eats pet mice

House mice have been living in houses or close to human habitation for centuries, eating food or vegetable food found near housing.

The main competitors of domestic mice - gray rats, they also try to settle closer to the person and often kill and eat their small brethren.

People whose small rodents settle in the house try to get rid of them as soon as possible, because they can not only eat food, but also pollute them with droppings and urine, creating a peculiar odor, spoiling furniture and other household property. In garden plots, they destroy part of the crop, damage the bark of trees, spoil crops and store vegetables for the winter.

The most common way to help a person get rid of rodents is to have a cat or a cat that catches mice. Although not all cats eat mice, but the majority of hunting instinct works. In addition to cats, some breeds of dogs (fox terriers, dachshunds, huskies, Yorkshire terriers, etc.), as well as domestic ferrets that have become fashionable over the past decade, can be engaged in catching rodents.These animals, like in the wild, love to hunt rodents, even if they live in a normal city apartment. Ferrets are caught by both mice and rats, they can hunt other small animals, birds, which will be in the house.

Interesting!

Some breeds of dogs were specially bred for hunting rodents. Known now as the decorative-couch breed "Maltese" was a constant companion of the Maltese knights, who kept these dogs on ships to fight rodents.

The role of mice as food for other animals should not be underestimated, because these rodents are a very important link in the food chain of many predatory animals, for many they are the main source of food.