Approximately on the line Leningrad - Kazan, the taiga goes into a mixed forest. To the south and west of this line, conifers are gradually replaced by broad-leaved ones. The animal world is also gradually changing.
In the mixed forest we find many taiga of animals: hare, elk, squirrel, flying squirrel, wood grouse. But there are also animals typical for deciduous forests: red deer, wild boar, and roe deer. In the deciduous forest is much more than in the taiga, various tree species. There are many shrubs and glades are often found. The fauna in these forests is also richer and more diverse than in the taiga. Insectivorous and granivorous birds dominate here. Squirrels in these forests feed not on the seeds of coniferous trees, but on hazel nuts, seeds of linden, maple and other hardwood, acorns. Acorns are the favorite food of boars. Acorns are eaten by bears and other animals and birds.
Most typical for deciduous forests the beasts: forest cat, brown bear, pine marten, black ferret, mink, weasel, squirrel, several types of dormouse. Among the birds, the green woodpecker, colorful woodpeckers (large, medium and small), pigeon-wood pigeon, oriole, chaffinch, forest lark, tits - large and blue tit, black and song thrushes, western nightingale, barberfish are especially numerous. From the south some steppe animals penetrate into the deciduous forests: a hare, hamster, and a partridge.
Green and viviparous lizards, swindra, copperfish and common viper are found in reptiles in deciduous forests, and grass and mock frogs, frogs are found in amphibians.
Wolves
In the last century, in the deciduous forests of Europe, there were a significant number of huge wild bulls - bison. They inhabited the forest regions of Central Europe and northwest Russia. Predatory hunting and war led to their almost complete destruction. A lot of work has been done in our country to restore the number of bison. Purebred bison are kept and successfully breed in the reserves of Belovezhskaya Pushcha and Prioksko-Terrasny. Now the number of bison in the USSR has increased significantly. Bison feed on grasses, buds, leaves and bark of deciduous trees.
Were carried out earlier in a zone deciduous forests and river beavers. The fur of these animals is valued extremely highly, so they have long served as an object of intensive fishing and in the beginning of the XX century. were almost completely destroyed. Now in our country, these animals are protected by law. Work is underway on their resettlement. Beavers live on quiet forest streams, whose banks are densely overgrown with deciduous trees. They feed on tree shoots and bark, and from the branches they build their dwellings - huts, from trunks and branches - dams, which block the river bed, arranging artificial backwaters. The size of the hut is different. They serve beavers for many years, they are repaired annually, they are completed and sometimes reach enormous sizes. So, in the Voronezh reserve there is a hut, which is 2.5 m high, and the base diameter is 12 m. But usually they are smaller: 1-1.5 m high and 3 m in diameter.
Most amazing beaver facilities - dams. The animals arrange them in case of a strong drop in the water level in the river. The finished dam is so strong that a person can freely cross it from one bank to another. The length of the dams is different - 15-20, 50 m, and in North America there is a beaver dam, reaching 652 m in length, 4.3 m in height with a base width of 7 m and a ridge of 1.5 m.
A lot of moles in deciduous forests. Most of the time they spend underground, in deep holes and passages. Moles feed mainly on insects and their larvae, worms and other invertebrates. Moles do not have winter hibernation, since even at this time of the year there is enough food for them underground. Numerous hedgehogs in deciduous forests also feed mainly on invertebrates.
In the basins of the Volga, the Don, the Urals there lives a very peculiar animal, the desman. He spends most of his time in water, in coastal holes. From the sense organs, the muskrat has the best developed sense of touch, smell, and hearing. It slips with the help of special hairs on the muzzle and forepaws. Its muzzle is elongated in the form of a mobile proboscis, at the end of which nostrils are located. Sometimes, before the swim up to the surface, the muskrat exposes its proboscis and, turning it in all directions, sniffs the air.
In case of danger, he himself can stay under water for a long time, breathing with the help of a trunk exposed above the surface. Eats muskrat worms, leeches, mollusks, aquatic insects and their larvae. Muskrat is a very valuable animal: it possesses high-quality fur. The number of this animal is currently negligible, and the hunt for it is very limited. There are many bats in the deciduous forest zone, which are almost absent in the taiga. They are nocturnal and twilight and feed almost exclusively on insects.
The characteristic inhabitants of the deciduous forest are sony (hazel, garden, forest, and half a forest), which fall into deep hibernation for the winter. They feed on fruits, acorns, nuts, berries and insects. Their favorite habitats are dense undergrowth and shrubs. They live in the hollows of trees or build nests on the branches.
Wild boar - it is a strong beast with fast movements, easily carrying its heavy but firmly knit body on relatively short strong legs. Boars are always kept in small herds consisting of males, females and piglets. A single life lead only old cleavers. The boar sees its rather small eyes with its small eyes, therefore smell and hearing play a very important role in its life. It is not by chance that the first movement of the boar, who suspected danger, is to lift the nose upwards and force the air in, at the same time alerting the ears. Wild boars lead mostly nightlife, and during the day they rest in the most deaf and hard-to-reach places. However, where they are not disturbed, they often feed during the day. Like domestic pigs, boars are omnivores.
Sparse forest tall grass glades and shrubs are the favorite habitats of red deer and roe deer. The pine marten is one of the most valuable fur animals. She arranges her nests at high altitude in hollows. More often than other animals from this predator suffers protein. The nocturnal lifestyle of the marten gives it tremendous advantages in the hunt for a squirrel, since the squirrel is a day animal and sleeps soundly in its nest at night. Marten is easy to capture her sleeping. Having reached the squirrel's nest, the marten searches for an entrance opening, which the squirrel closes from inside with a stopper of some soft material, and, having burst into the nest, grabs the sleeping hostess. Eats marten and vegetable food: fruits, berries. She loves honey very much. Having found a nest of wild bees, the marten sometimes lives for a long time near it; Frequently several martens gather at the nest.
A black polecat is found in sparse light forest. He arranges his nests under stumps, in hollows, among brushwood, in old burrows of foxes, badgers and other animals. Of reptiles in deciduous forests live shieldlordomniki, and of amphibians - numerous newts.
Animals deciduous forests have a different meaning in human activities. Some do harm, others are helpful. For example, mouse-like rodents cause great damage to crops of cultivated plants and planting forests. The wolf has long been considered a dangerous pest of livestock and hunting, but calls for the complete destruction of the wolf are not justified. A wolf, destroying predominantly weak and sick animals, contributes to the improvement of the populations of wild animals with which it feeds (see Art. “How plants and animals live in nature”). In areas where. the number of the wolf is insignificant, there is practically no harm from it.
All ungulates the animals, fur-bearing animals have commercial value, and also are objects of sport hunting. Numerous species of insectivorous birds, especially tits, flycatchers, warblers, warblers, orioles, woodpeckers, cuckoos, destroy a huge number of harmful insects and their larvae, clearing them of forests, gardens, fields and gardens. Extremely useful are some birds of prey - kestrel, buzzard, owls, harrier, exterminating the mass of rodent pests.
Animals and birds living in mixed forests are characteristic for the forest zone as a whole. Foxes, hares, hedgehogs and wild boars are found even in well-developed forests near Moscow, and elks sometimes go to the roads and to the outskirts of villages. Protein is plentiful not only in forests, but also in city parks. On the banks of rivers in quiet places, away from settlements, you can see the hut beavers. In mixed forests there are also bears, wolves, martens, badgers, the world of birds is diverse.
European elk is not for nothing called the forest giant. Indeed, this is one of the largest ungulates of the forest zone. The average weight of a male is about 300 kg, but there are giants weighing more than half a ton (the largest moose is East Siberian, their weight reaches 565 kg - approx .. Males are decorated with huge shovel horns. The moose is coarse, gray-brown or black-brown colors, with a bright shade on the lips and feet.
Moose prefer young logging and woods. They feed on the branches and shoots of deciduous trees (aspen, willow, mountain ash), in winter - pine needles, mosses and lichens. Elks are excellent swimmers, an adult animal can swim for two hours at a speed of about ten kilometers per hour. Elks can dive, looking for tender leaves, roots and tubers of aquatic plants under water. There are cases when moose dive for food to a depth of more than five meters. In May-June, a moose cow brings in one or two calves, they walk with their mother until autumn, feeding on her milk and green food.
Fox - very sensitive and cautious predator. It is about a meter long and has a fluffy tail of almost the same size, triangular ears on a sharp, elongated muzzle. Foxes are most often painted in red color of various shades, the chest and abdomen are usually light gray, and the tip of the tail is always white. Foxes prefer mixed forests alternating with cuttings, meadows and water bodies. They can be seen near the villages, on the forest edges, on the edge of the swamp, in the groves and shrubs among the fields. In the locality, the fox is mainly oriented with the help of smell and hearing, and her vision is much less developed. It swims pretty well - approx. Usually the fox settles in abandoned badger burrows, rarely independently pulls out a hole 2-4 m deep with two or three exits. Sometimes, in a complex system of badger holes, foxes and badgers settle nearby. Foxes are sedentary, they are more likely to go hunting at night and at dusk, they feed mainly on rodents, birds and hares, and in rare cases they attack roe deer. On average, foxes live 6-8 years, but in captivity can live up to 20 years and longer.
The badger is common in Europe and Asia, up to the Far East. The size of an average dog, he has a body length of 90 cm, tail - 24 cm, and a weight of about 25 kg. At night, the badger goes hunting. Its main food is worms, insects, frogs, nutritious roots. Sometimes in one hunt he eats up to 70 frogs! In the morning the badger returns to the burrow and sleeps until the next night. Badger Hole is a capital building of several floors with about 50 entrances. A central burrow covered with dry grass, 5-10 m long, is located at a depth of 1-3 or even 5 m. All the sewage animals are carefully buried in the ground - approx .. Badgers often live in colonies, and then the area of their holes reaches several thousand square meters. Scientists believe that the age of some badger holes exceeds a thousand years. By winter, the badger accumulates a significant supply of fat and sleeps in its hole throughout the winter.
The hedgehog is one of the most ancient mammals - its age is about 1 million years. The hedgehog has poor eyesight, but its sense of smell and hearing are well developed. Protecting from enemies, the hedgehog is rolled up into a thorny ball, which no predator can handle (the hedgehog has about 5000 needles with a length of 20 mm). In Russia, hedgehogs with gray needles are more common, with dark transverse stripes visible on them. Hedgehogs live in birch forests with dense grass cover, in thickets of bushes, on old cuttings, in parks. The hedgehog feeds on insects and invertebrates (frogs, slugs and snails - approx., Frogs, snakes, eggs and nestlings of birds nesting on the ground, sometimes berries. Hedgehogs arrange winter and summer holes. In winter they sleep from October to April, and In summer, ezhata are born. Shortly after birth, the cubs appear soft white needles, and 36 hours after birth, dark-colored needles appear.
The white hare lives not only in forests, but also in the tundra, birch pegs, overgrown cuttings and burns, sometimes in steppe shrubs. In winter, the brownish or gray color of the skin changes to pure white, only the tips of the ears remain black, and fur “skis” grow on the paws. The white hare feeds on grassy plants, shoots and bark of willow, aspen, birch, hazel, oak, maple. The hare does not have a permanent den, in case of danger he prefers to flee. In the middle lane, usually twice in the summer, a hare is born from 3 to 6 cubs. Adults become young after wintering. The number of hare varies considerably from year to year. In the years of high numbers, hares severely damage young trees in the forests and make mass migrations.
Approximately on the line Leningrad - Kazan, the taiga goes into a mixed forest. To the south and west of this line, conifers are gradually replaced by broad-leaved ones. The animal world is also gradually changing.
In sunlit European oak forests live strikingly beautiful purple butterflies - willow shivers. Unfortunately, their range is inexorably reduced, but in the forests one can’t find simple and single-row lentochnikov, the larvae of which feed on honeysuckle, and adult individuals arrange pictorial wedding dances on sunny glades and glades.
As scientists have established, almost the entire life of adult butterflies flows under the canopy of deciduous forests at an altitude of 4.5 to 18 m, but this natural environment has not been studied much. If in the tropical jungle, naturalists often build special platforms and cableways on trees to study the life of the inhabitants of the upper tiers, in temperate latitudes such structures are very rare.
Owls and woodpeckers nest in hollows of ancient oaks and beeches. One of the indicators by which one can judge the age of a forest is the presence of three species of woodpeckers in it - red headed, large variegated and desirable.
In the eternal whirlpool of wildlife open meadows sooner or later overgrown with trees and shrubs, and without human intervention for some two decades, turn into forests and groves. In order to protect protected meadows and pastures, selective grazing of old cattle breeds is often resorted to, which does not cause excessive damage to the grass cover. In heavily overgrown and shaded forests specially cut through glades and glades to prevent the species impoverishment of forest fauna.
Many meadows are taken under protection, having received the status of natural reserves. Hedges as such in England are not protected by the state and are not considered protected areas, but old trees of hedges are protected by special tree protection orders. Such orders are sometimes issued in order to preserve the most unique corners of the forest nature, although many thousands of hectares of forest have long been taken under protection as reserves.
In the mixed forest, we find many taiga animals: white hare, elk, squirrel, flying squirrel, wood grouse. But there are also animals typical for deciduous forests: red deer, wild boar, and roe deer. In the deciduous forest is much more than in the taiga, various tree species. There are many shrubs and glades are often found. The fauna in these forests is also richer and more diverse than in the taiga. Insectivorous and granivorous birds dominate here. Squirrels in these forests feed not on the seeds of coniferous trees, but on hazel nuts, seeds of linden, maple and other hardwood, acorns. Acorns are the favorite food of boars. Acorns are eaten by bears and other animals and birds.
Green lizard
The most typical animals for deciduous forests are: forest cat, brown bear, forest marten, black polecat, mink, weasel, squirrel, several types of dormouse. Among the birds, the green woodpecker, colorful woodpeckers (large, medium and small), pigeon-wood pigeon, oriole, chaffinch, forest lark, tits - large and blue tit, black and song thrushes, western nightingale, barberfish are especially numerous. From the south some steppe animals penetrate into the deciduous forests: a hare, hamster, and a partridge.
Green and viviparous lizards, swindra, copperfish and common viper are found in reptiles in deciduous forests, and grass and mock frogs, frogs are found in amphibians.
Wolves
In the last century, in the deciduous forests of Europe, there were a significant number of huge wild bulls - bison. They inhabited the forest regions of Central Europe and northwest Russia. Predatory hunting and war led to their almost complete destruction. A lot of work has been done in our country to restore the number of bison. Purebred bison are kept and successfully breed in the reserves of Belovezhskaya Pushcha and Prioksko-Terrasny. Now the number of bison in the USSR has increased significantly. Bison feed on grasses, buds, leaves and bark of deciduous trees.
They used to be found in the zone of deciduous forests and river beavers. The fur of these animals is valued extremely highly, so they have long served as an object of intensive fishing and in the beginning of the XX century. were almost completely destroyed. Now in our country, these animals are protected by law. Work is underway on their resettlement. Beavers live on quiet forest streams, whose banks are densely overgrown with deciduous trees. They feed on tree shoots and bark, and from the branches they build their dwellings - huts, from trunks and branches - dams, which block the river bed, arranging artificial backwaters. The size of the hut is different. They serve beavers for many years, they are repaired annually, they are completed and sometimes reach enormous sizes. So, in the Voronezh reserve there is a hut, which is 2.5 m high, and the base diameter is 12 m. But usually they are smaller: 1-1.5 m high and 3 m in diameter.
Noble deer.
The most amazing beaver structures are dams. The animals arrange them in case of a strong drop in the water level in the river. The finished dam is so strong that a person can freely cross it from one bank to another. The length of the dams is different - 15-20, 50 m, and in North America there is a beaver dam, reaching 652 m in length, 4.3 m in height with a base width of 7 m and a ridge of 1.5 m.
A lot of moles in deciduous forests. Most of the time they spend underground, in deep holes and passages. Moles feed mainly on insects and their larvae, worms and other invertebrates. Moles do not have winter hibernation, since even at this time of the year there is enough food for them underground. Numerous hedgehogs in deciduous forests also feed mainly on invertebrates.
In the basins of the Volga, the Don, the Urals there lives a very peculiar animal, the desman. He spends most of his time in water, in coastal holes. From the sense organs, the muskrat has the best developed sense of touch, smell, and hearing. It slips with the help of special hairs on the muzzle and forepaws. Its muzzle is elongated in the form of a mobile proboscis, at the end of which nostrils are located. Sometimes, before the swim up to the surface, the muskrat exposes its proboscis and, turning it in all directions, sniffs the air. In case of danger, he himself can stay under water for a long time, breathing with the help of a trunk exposed above the surface. Eats muskrat worms, leeches, mollusks, aquatic insects and their larvae. Muskrat is a very valuable animal: it possesses high-quality fur. The number of this animal is currently negligible, and the hunt for it is very limited. There are many bats in the deciduous forest zone, which are almost absent in the taiga. They are nocturnal and twilight and feed almost exclusively on insects.
Bison
The characteristic inhabitants of the deciduous forest are sony (hazel, garden, forest, and half a forest), which fall into deep hibernation for the winter. They feed on fruits, acorns, nuts, berries and insects. Their favorite habitats are dense undergrowth and shrubs. They live in the hollows of trees or build nests on the branches.
The wild boar is a strong beast with fast movements, easily carrying its heavy, but well-knit body on relatively short strong legs. Boars are always kept in small herds consisting of males, females and piglets. A single life lead only old cleavers. The boar sees its rather small eyes with its small eyes, therefore smell and hearing play a very important role in its life. It is not by chance that the first movement of the boar, who suspected danger, is to lift the nose upwards and force the air in, at the same time alerting the ears. Wild boars lead mostly nightlife, and during the day they rest in the most deaf and hard-to-reach places. However, where they are not disturbed, they often feed during the day. Like domestic pigs, boars are omnivores.
Boar.
Sparse forest, high grass meadows and shrubs are the favorite habitats of red deer and roe deer. The pine marten is one of the most valuable fur animals. She arranges her nests at high altitude in hollows. More often than other animals from this predator suffers protein. The nocturnal lifestyle of the marten gives it tremendous advantages in the hunt for a squirrel, since the squirrel is a day animal and sleeps soundly in its nest at night. Marten is easy to capture her sleeping. Having reached the squirrel's nest, the marten searches for an entrance opening, which the squirrel closes from inside with a stopper of some soft material, and, having burst into the nest, grabs the sleeping hostess. Eats marten and vegetable food: fruits, berries. She loves honey very much. Having found a nest of wild bees, the marten sometimes lives for a long time near it; Frequently several martens gather at the nest.
Hoopoe.
A black polecat is found in sparse light forest. He arranges his nests under stumps, in hollows, among brushwood, in old burrows of foxes, badgers and other animals. Of reptiles in deciduous forests live shieldlordomniki, and of amphibians - numerous newts.
Marten.
Animals of deciduous forests have a different meaning in human activities. Some do harm, others are helpful. For example, mouse-like rodents cause great damage to crops of cultivated plants and planting forests. The wolf has long been considered a dangerous pest of livestock and hunting, but calls for the complete destruction of the wolf are not justified. A wolf, destroying predominantly weak and sick animals, contributes to the improvement of the populations of wild animals with which it feeds (see Art. "How plants and animals live in nature"). In areas where. the number of the wolf is insignificant, there is practically no harm from it. All hoofed animals, fur animals have commercial value, and are also objects of sport hunting. Numerous species of insectivorous birds, especially tits, flycatchers, warblers, warblers, orioles, woodpeckers, cuckoos, destroy a huge number of harmful insects and their larvae, clearing them of forests, gardens, fields and gardens. Extremely useful are some birds of prey - kestrel, buzzard, owls, harrier, exterminating the mass of rodent pests.
Roe deer
In our time, the animal world of deciduous forests has undergone great changes under the influence of human activity. Many animals have changed the limits of their distribution in this area, expanding them or, conversely, reducing. The number of some animals has decreased, some of them have almost disappeared, others, on the contrary, have become more numerous. In our country, work is underway to restore and protect natural resources. This also applies to the zone of deciduous forests, in particular its fauna (see Art. "The change and enrichment of the fauna").
Typical for deciduous forests: red deer, wild boar, roe deer. In the deciduous forest is much more than in the taiga, various tree species. There are many shrubs and glades are often found. The fauna in these forests is also richer and more diverse than in the taiga. Insectivorous and granivorous birds dominate here. Squirrels in these forests feed not on the seeds of coniferous trees, but on hazel nuts, seeds of linden, maple and other hardwood, acorns. Acorns are the favorite food of boars. Acorns are eaten by bears and other animals and birds.
Green lizard
Most typical for broadleaf forest animals: forest cat, brown bear, pine marten, black ferret, mink, weasel, squirrel, several types of dormouse. Among the birds, the green woodpecker, colorful woodpeckers (large, medium and small), pigeon-wood pigeon, oriole, chaffinch, forest lark, tits - large and blue tit, black and song thrushes, western nightingale, barberfish are especially numerous. From the south some steppe animals penetrate into the deciduous forests: a hare, hamster, and a partridge.
Green and viviparous lizards, swindra, copperfish and common viper are found in reptiles in deciduous forests, and grass and mock frogs, frogs are found in amphibians.
Wolves
In the last century, in the deciduous forests of Europe, there were a significant number of huge wild bulls - bison. They inhabited the forest regions of Central Europe and northwest Russia. Predatory hunting and war led to their almost complete destruction. A lot of work has been done in our country to restore the number of bison. Purebred bison are kept and successfully breed in the reserves of Belovezhskaya Pushcha and Prioksko-Terrasny. Now the number of bison in the USSR has increased significantly. Bison feed on grasses, buds, leaves and bark of deciduous trees.
They used to be found in the zone of deciduous forests and river beavers. The fur of these animals is valued extremely highly, so they have long served as an object of intensive fishing and in the beginning of the XX century. were almost completely destroyed. Now in our country, these animals are protected by law. Work is underway on their resettlement. Beavers live on quiet forest streams, whose banks are densely overgrown with deciduous trees. They feed on tree shoots and bark, and from the branches they build their dwellings - huts, from trunks and branches - dams, which block the river bed, arranging artificial backwaters. The size of the hut is different. They serve beavers for many years, they are repaired annually, they are completed and sometimes reach enormous sizes. So, in the Voronezh zapovednik there is a hut, which is 2.5 m high, and its base diameter is 12 m. But usually they are smaller: 1-1.5 m high and 3 m in diameter.
Noble deer.
The most amazing beaver structures are dams. The animals arrange them in case of a strong drop in the water level in the river. The finished dam is so strong that a person can freely cross it from one bank to another. The length of the dams is different - 15-20, 50 m, and in North America there is a beaver dam, reaching 652 m in length, 4.3 m in height with a base width of 7 m and a ridge of 1.5 m.
A lot of moles in deciduous forests. Most of the time they spend underground, in deep holes and passages. Moles feed mainly on insects and their larvae, worms and other invertebrates. Moles do not have winter hibernation, since even at this time of the year there is enough food for them underground. Numerous hedgehogs in deciduous forests also feed mainly on invertebrates.
In the basins of the Volga, the Don, the Urals there lives a very peculiar animal, the desman. He spends most of his time in water, in coastal holes. From the sense organs, the muskrat has the best developed sense of touch, smell, and hearing. It slips with the help of special hairs on the muzzle and forepaws. Its muzzle is elongated in the form of a mobile proboscis, at the end of which nostrils are located. Sometimes, before the swim up to the surface, the muskrat exposes its proboscis and, turning it in all directions, sniffs the air. B. In case of danger, he himself can remain under water for a long time, breathing with the help of a trunk exposed above the surface. It feeds on muskrat by worms, leeches, mollusks, aquatic insects and their larvae. Muskrat is a very valuable animal: it possesses high-quality fur. The number of this animal is currently negligible, and the hunt for it is very limited. There are many bats in the deciduous forest zone, which are almost absent in the taiga. They are nocturnal and twilight and feed almost exclusively on insects.
Bison
Marten.
Animals of deciduous forests have a different meaning in human activities. Some do harm, others are helpful. For example, mouse-like rodents cause great damage to crops of cultivated plants and planting forests. The wolf has long been considered a dangerous pest of livestock and hunting, but calls for the complete destruction of the wolf are not justified. A wolf, destroying predominantly weak and sick animals, contributes to the improvement of the populations of wild animals with which it feeds (see Art. “How plants and animals live in nature”). In areas where. the number of the wolf is insignificant, there is practically no harm from it. All hoofed animals, fur animals have commercial value, and are also objects of sport hunting. Numerous species of insectivorous birds, especially tits, flycatchers, warblers, warblers, orioles, woodpeckers, cuckoos, destroy a huge number of harmful insects and their larvae, clearing them of forests, gardens, fields and gardens. Extremely useful are some birds of prey - kestrel, buzzard, owls, harrier, exterminating the mass of rodent pests.
Roe deer
In our time, the animal world of deciduous forests has undergone great changes under the influence of human activity. Many animals have changed the limits of their distribution in this area, expanding them or, conversely, reducing. The number of some animals has decreased, some of them have almost disappeared, others, on the contrary, have become more numerous. In our country, work is underway to restore and protect natural resources. This also applies to the zone of deciduous forests, in particular its wildlife
Coniferous animals
The mammals that inhabit these places are mostly herbivorous and live on a diet of moss, pine needles, bark and cones. Insectivorous birds are rare compared to those that feed on seeds and buds of conifers. In these places, forest fires are infrequent, and usually occur in spring when there is little sap in the trees. At this time, vast areas may be devastated.
Coniferous animals
Great prey to taiga inhabitants is caused by predators - lynx and wolverine. Not only large birds and hares, but also such animals as roe deer and musk deer often become their prey. Extremely cautious, these insidious predators hunt at night and at dawn, waiting for prey in ambush, on trails.
There are fewer reservoirs in the taiga than in the tundra. Less here and waterfowl. A duck-gogol characteristic of coniferous forests nests in hollows. Snow in the forest is smooth, loose, shallow, from under it you can get a wintering berry or a cedar cone. Therefore, many taiga birds - wood grouses, woodpeckers, crossbills, nutcrackers, etc. - do not fly far away for the winter, but migrate from place to place within the zone.
Coniferous animals
Taiga is rich in fur-bearing animals. There are squirrels and sable, columns and ermine, hare and marten. Many valuable game birds - grouse, wood grouse, black grouse.
Before the arrival of man, the bear was considered the master of taiga: brown in Eurasia, and grizzly in North America. And now travelers, who spent the night in the taiga wilderness, often joke: “Here comes Uncle Misha to check the documents ...” The bear moves well in the impassable taiga, climbs trees quickly. In the northern regions of the brown bear for the winter hibernates. But he sleeps very sensitively and, if he is awakened, leaves the den.
In the last century, in the deciduous forests of Europe, there were a significant number of huge wild bulls - bison. They inhabited the forest regions of Central Europe and northwest Russia. Predatory hunting and war led to their almost complete destruction. A lot of work has been done in our country to restore the number of bison. Purebred bison are kept and successfully breed in the reserves of Belovezhskaya Pushcha and Prioksko-Terrasny. Now the number of bison in the USSR has increased significantly. Bison feed on grasses, buds, leaves and bark of deciduous trees.
Animals of mixed and deciduous forests
They used to be found in the zone of deciduous forests and river beavers. The fur of these animals is valued extremely highly, so they have long served as an object of intensive fishing and in the beginning of the XX century. were almost completely destroyed. Now in our country, these animals are protected by law. Work is underway on their resettlement. Beavers live on quiet forest streams, whose banks are densely overgrown with deciduous trees. They feed on tree shoots and bark, and from the branches they build their dwellings - huts, from trunks and branches - dams, which block the river bed, arranging artificial backwaters. The size of the hut is different. They serve beavers for many years, they are repaired annually, they are completed and sometimes reach enormous sizes. So, in the Voronezh reserve there is a hut, which is 2.5 m high, and the base diameter is 12 m. But usually they are smaller: 1-1.5 m high and 3 m in diameter.
Animals of mixed and deciduous forests
Sparse forest, high grass meadows and shrubs are the favorite habitats of red deer and roe deer. The pine marten is one of the most valuable fur animals. She arranges her nests at high altitude in hollows. More often than other animals from this predator suffers protein. The nocturnal lifestyle of the marten gives it tremendous advantages in the hunt for a squirrel, since the squirrel is a day animal and sleeps soundly in its nest at night. Marten is easy to capture her sleeping. Having reached the squirrel's nest, the marten searches for an entrance opening, which the squirrel closes from inside with a stopper of some soft material, and, having burst into the nest, grabs the sleeping hostess. Eats marten and vegetable food: fruits, berries. She loves honey very much. Having found a nest of wild bees, the marten sometimes lives for a long time near it; Frequently several martens gather at the nest.
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