Species: Citellus major = Rufous (large) ground squirrel. Questions of the environmental action "ecological dictation" A natural monument is

The gopher is a small rodent, a representative of squirrels, a pest and carrier of plague, tularemia and brucellosis. Due to the significant damage that this animal can cause to farmland, it is constantly hunted for varmint - sport hunting.

The animal, communicating with its relatives, constantly makes peculiar sounds. It was this feature that formed the basis for the name of the small rodent. In the Old Church Slavonic language the word “susati” means “to hiss.”

Description of the gopher

The body size of the animal varies from 16 to 26 cm, especially large individuals can reach 39 cm. Sexual dimorphism is observed among gophers: females are always lighter and smaller than males. The weight of rodents can reach 1500 grams, but in most cases the animal weighs about 190 g.

The hind legs of the gopher are slightly longer than the front ones. There are sharp, strong claws on the limbs that help rodents dig holes.

The animals' heads are small and elongated. The ears look a little underdeveloped. They are covered with a small fluff. The eyes are small with well-developed lacrimal glands. Thanks to this, the cornea is reliably protected from dust.

The structure of the jaw allows rodents to dig holes without swallowing soil. Some representatives of marmots have well-developed cheek pouches. They enable the animal to carry food into the hole.

The presence of gophers in the field can be easily determined by whistling. Animals, standing on their hind legs, constantly squeak. Peculiar voice signals are heard first from one side, then from the other. Thus, a family of rodents communicates with each other, informing members of their group about danger and the availability of food.

Depending on the species, the tail of an animal can be from 4 to 26 cm in length. Sometimes it is almost equal in size to the body. The tail in rodents performs a number of functions:

• in the steppe, to prevent overheating, the animal covers itself with it like an umbrella;
• in a hole, the gopher feels the walls with it, thus orienting itself in space;
• In winter, a sleeping gopher is covered with it like a blanket.

In the warm season, the animal’s fur is coarse, short, and not thick. When it gets cold, it becomes very soft and fluffy. Depending on the habitat, the color of the animals’ backs also changes. It can be with dark stripes, speckled, sandy, brown, greenish. The abdomen is most often yellowish or white.

How many live gophers?

Under natural conditions, no more than three years. As pets, some individuals live up to eight.

The gopher lives in temperate latitudes. It can be found in the forest-tundra and steppes of the Northern Hemisphere. Most often, the rodent prefers to settle in open landscapes.

The animal leads a terrestrial lifestyle. It independently digs holes, the length of which depends entirely on the soil. So, on sandy lands, it can reach 16 m, on clay lands no more than 8. Inside the hole there is often a nesting chamber, carefully lined with grass. Where the gopher lives, you can see sand mounds in front of the entrance.

Animals are active during the daytime. They rarely stray far from their burrow. Rodents settle in colonies of 19-29 individuals. Several gophers constantly guard near their burrows. If they see danger, they immediately signal the rest of the family. To protect their lives, rodents settle not far from animals similar to gophers - marmots. They also carefully monitor their surroundings and emit signals at the slightest threat. When danger appears, gophers stand on their hind limbs and whistle.

What do gophers eat? Despite the fact that the basis of the diet of rodents is plant foods, their diet varies greatly depending on the species and habitat.

In mountainous areas, the animal feeds on 78 species of plants. Of these, 19 are annual, 49 are perennial, 7 are subshrubs. In spring, the rodent's diet includes the roots of Tien Shan onions, dandelions, knotweed, and tulips. When greenery appears, the upper shoots of plants are used for food.

In mid-summer, rodents eat grass and seeds of small-petalled zeravshan, dandelion, bluegrass, knotweed, geranium, and hollyweed.

Animals also eat mushrooms and berries, young willow branches and birchberries. The diet of gophers also includes animal food: insects, voles, and small birds. They do not disdain carrion.

During the experiment, it was found that in the presence of a sufficient amount of food, only lactating and pregnant females ate the corpses of other animals.

Gopher breeding season

After the females awaken from hibernation, the mating season begins. The breeding process is short. The mating season lasts about 11 days. However, in some cases its duration increases to a month.

Females give birth once a year. Their pregnancy lasts 29 days. Cubs are born in May.

There are 3-16 cubs in a litter. But most often the number of cubs does not exceed 9. The number of newborn marmots is directly dependent on the habitat and sufficient food.

Lactation in females lasts 33 days. Males do not take part in raising the young.

Cubs are born blind. Their eyes open 21 days after birth. After just 28 days, the young gopher begins to feed on grass and move around. However, he continues to feed on milk. Having grown stronger, the juveniles leave the burrows for the first time. After a few days, young gophers begin to look for a home not far from their family.

Small representatives of rodents reach sexual maturity by next spring. The inhabitants of the northern regions begin to reproduce only after several hibernations.

In the first year, 69% of the juveniles die. This is facilitated by predators and the late onset of spring.

Hibernation in rodents lasts for six months. The gopher sleeps, sitting on its hind limbs, pressing its head to its abdomen and covering itself with its tail. During sleep, the animal loses half its weight. That is why it is so important that the animal accumulates a sufficient amount of fat during the warm season. Otherwise it may die.

Some time before hibernation, American ground squirrels begin to produce steroids in their bodies. Their number exceeds the average by 199 times. This allows you to increase muscle mass many times over. Experts have found that the adrenal glands help produce such amounts of hormones. An interesting fact is that in ground squirrels, under the influence of steroids, only muscle mass increases; other tissues are not affected.

With the onset of cold weather, rodents climb into their holes. The temperature there does not exceed zero degrees.

Winter is a real challenge for many animals. The sleeping gopher copes with frost thanks to anabolic hormones. During hibernation, the body's metabolism does not stop.

Accumulated fat does not provide the nutrition necessary for vital organs. The necessary glucose is synthesized from muscle proteins.

Animals hibernate not only because of the onset of cold weather. This is often caused by a lack of sunlight. The rodent body cannot cope with the winter cycle of night and day.

Once gophers enter their burrows, their circadian rhythms are blocked. Their body temperature at this time drops to -3°C. To prevent the blood from turning into ice, rodents clean it of all impurities that can freeze.

The duration of sleep of animals depends on their habitat. In the southern regions, hibernation is very short; in the northern regions it lasts up to six months.

Types of gophers

Experts count 9 species of ground squirrels living in Russia. In other latitudes there are about 29 of these rodents. The most studied species include:

A small animal with a short tail. The body does not exceed 23 cm. The fur on the back is brown with speckles. Light rings are clearly visible around the eyes. Small-sized cheek pouches.

Gophers live all the way to Turkey. They live in small groups of up to 10 individuals.

There are two entrances to the hole. Inside are three chambers, carefully covered with grass. They are located at a depth of about 90 cm.

The habitat of this gopher species consists of small isolated areas. The animal is under protection as it is in danger of extinction.

The body weight of a rodent can reach 790 g, body length 39 cm. The sizes of females and males are the same, but the weight of the latter is much greater. The tail is 12 cm long and fluffy.

The size of animals varies depending on their habitat.

The gopher's back is brownish with large light spots. The head is brown. The belly is bright, fawn. In winter, the animal's skin becomes light.

The animal’s habitat is Eurasia and North America. Rodents live in families. The number of individuals in them can reach 49.

The animal's body reaches a length of 31 cm. The tail is 9 cm. The back is brown. The head is grey. The large gopher has red sides and paws. There are ocher spots in the eye area.

The large ground squirrel prefers to live in mixed-grass steppes and forest-steppes. Often its burrows are located on roadsides and pastures. They can rarely be seen on forest edges. The large gopher never settles on clay soils.

The diet is based on bulbs, grass leaves, and cereal grains. The great gopher rarely consumes animal food. In search of food, it makes long journeys.

The large ground squirrel emerges from hibernation in mid-spring. First, adult males awaken, only then females. Starting in July, the great ground squirrel prepares for hibernation.

The great gopher is a pest of cultivated plants. Causes particular damage to grain crops. Because of this, it is subject to extermination. The large gopher is not a game animal.

The size of the rodent does not exceed 22 cm. It is one of the smallest representatives of the species. The back is light, sometimes with speckles. The soles are bare. The tail has a faint border.

Habitat from Lake Balkhash to the Dnieper. The northern border is located south of Poltava, the southern border to the Crimean mountains. The largest number of rodents is found in Kazakhstan.

The animal is active during daylight hours, but when temperatures rise, it seeks refuge in a burrow. During drought, it goes into hibernation, sometimes turning into winter sleep.

The diet is based on annual wheatgrass, tonkonogo, tulip grass, onion, and wormwood.

An animal similar to a small gopher. Length 23 cm. The back is dark, the spotting on it is weak. The belly and sides are gray. Similar to gophers, it was considered a species of small gophers.

Lives in low-mountain meadows of the Caucasus. The burrows are shallow and the nest chamber is small. It feeds mainly on plant foods. There are up to 4 cubs in a litter.

It is a natural carrier of such a dangerous disease as plague.

Body up to 25 cm. Superciliary and cheek spots of buffy-rusty color. The fur does not change with the changing seasons of the year.

The rodent is distributed in Siberia, Kazakhstan, the Caucasus, and Mongolia. Prefers to settle in semi-desert areas and feather grass steppes. It rarely digs holes in arable lands.

Rodents live in families. Each animal has its own territory. The burrows are shallow. Rodents breed in late spring. There are up to 11 cubs in a litter. Feeds on cereals.

The red-cheeked ground squirrel is a carrier of tularemia and plague.

The largest representative of the species. Body length can reach 38 cm, tail 11 cm. The steppe ground squirrel has a yellow back with a small number of dark hairs. The belly is slightly lighter than the top. Winter fur is very different from summer fur.

The yellow gopher digs long, deep holes. In addition to permanent ones, there are rescue and temporary ones. The animal lines the nest with leaves and grass. Habitat: loess-sand deserts, foothills, river valleys. Where a rodent lives, the territory always has a varied landscape. The main source of nutrition is tulips and cereals. Doesn't drink water.

The yellow ground squirrel is active in the evening and morning. In the heat it sits in a hole, closing the entrance with a plug of wet sand. Hibernation begins in summer and lasts until the end of winter.

Pregnancy lasts 29 days. There are up to 11 cubs in a litter.

The steppe gopher practically does not harm crops. The rodent is a carrier of tularemia, relapsing tick-borne typhus, and plague.

Another name is Eversmann's gopher. Animals, unlike other representatives of the species, have a more developed auricle. Body length reaches 31 cm.

The fur in winter is gray, fluffy, thick.

Gophers live in Transbaikalia. There, rodents eat 49 species of plants. Animals give preference to legumes. The diet also includes cereals, onions, and sedges.

The animal often wanders and can travel up to 149 km.

The burrows are complex and have earthen outbursts in front of the entrance. In front of the nesting chamber there is protection from flooding, which is a sharply raised passage.

After hibernation, rodents eat very little. When the animals wake up, they eat wormwood branches that are not covered with snow. As soon as thawed patches appear, gophers begin to dig up the roots of cereal plants. With the arrival of warmer weather and the appearance of fresh greenery, the diet of rodents is enriched with young shoots.

In summer, gophers bite off the top three leaves of the plant. If the stems are very tall, then they bend them with their paws. Animals can eat dandelion and lumbago flowers.

In the summer months, the animals happily eat various insects, mice, chicks, mushrooms and berries.

When there is a shortage of food, cases of cannibalism occur.

A small rodent with a short tail. The body does not exceed 21 cm. The back is variegated. In juveniles, the specks are often arranged in rows. The bottom of the head is white. The chest is yellow.

Pregnancy lasts 29 days. There are up to 7 cubs in a brood. It feeds on bluegrass, oats, feather grass and fescue.

Carrier of plague.

The cute-looking rodent attracts the attention of people who love pets. However, gophers are not suitable for keeping as pets. Taming a rodent is extremely difficult. In addition, animals emit a specific unpleasant odor.

Gophers are often used for experiments and observations in laboratories. When breeding, rodents are placed in large enclosures in groups. It is best if the cages are located outdoors. Where the gopher lives, it should be cool. In warm rooms, animals do not reproduce and die soon.

For a pair of rodents, arrange a cage measuring 1.9x1.9. The foundation must be high and concrete. Inside the enclosure there are all kinds of shelters: pipes, boxes. It should also contain containers with water and logs.

At the end of summer, domestic gophers are given a large amount of leaves and straw in their enclosure to serve as bedding. As soon as the gophers begin to hibernate, the cage is covered with the same material. During suspended animation, animals are kept alone.

With the onset of spring, females wake up and are ready to mate. After 32 days, the cubs are born. It is extremely important 41 days after birth to remove them from the cage with the female. Otherwise, the young may be eaten.

It is better to keep thin-toed ground squirrels at home. They adapt to humans more easily and tolerate captivity more calmly.

How long gophers will live depends on their diet. The diet of animals should be based on:

• granulated feed;
• corn;
• vegetables;
• sunflower;
• corn;
• mealworms;
• gammarus;
• grass;
• fruits.

You can sometimes add beef bones and dog biscuits to the food. Clover, plantain, and dandelion are well eaten by rodents. Hay should be collected away from roads and well dried.

To prevent your pet from having problems with its teeth, branches of a pear, apple, and willow tree are placed in its enclosure.

Interesting facts about gophers:

• When a snake enters a hole, the female gopher stands across the passage and waves her tail. This creates the feeling that she is much larger than her actual size. The female protects her young even after being bitten by a snake.
• Juvenile rodents are the last to hibernate, after adult animals.
• The territory inhabited by a family of gophers is always guarded by several individuals. They stand motionless on their hind legs and if they see a threat, they emit a high-pitched squeak. It serves as a warning to all other animals.
• Rodents communicate with each other using ultrasound. At the same time, a person can distinguish a barely audible hoarse whisper.
• The animal's sleep resembles something like deep suspended animation. At this time, the rodent can be taken out of the hole, but it still will not wake up.
• The yellow gopher can hibernate for up to 9 months.
• The earthen emissions at the entrance to the burrow are called gophers.
• An animal similar to a gopher lives in the Caucasus. Despite the same phenotype, it belongs to the order of marmots. This rodent is a carrier of diseases dangerous to humans.

Introduction

Greater or reddish ground squirrel ( Spermophilus major) - a rodent of the gopher genus.

1. Appearance

This is a large gopher, second in size only to the yellow one. The length of its body is 24-33 cm, tail 6-10 cm; weight before hibernation reaches 1.4 kg. The dark, ocher-brown color of the back is noticeably different from the reddish sides. The back shows whitish streaking or ripples formed by the white ends of the guard hairs. The top of the head is silver-gray. There are distinct red or brown spots above the eyes and on the cheeks. The abdomen is grayish-yellow. In young ground squirrels, the ripples on the back are less pronounced. Molting, like that of most ground squirrels, in the large ground squirrel is extended over a considerable period. Winter fur begins to shed 3-4 weeks after emerging from hibernation, and many individuals begin to grow winter fur in July. The general color tone fades and becomes paler towards the southeast, but its intensity strongly depends on the humidity of the habitat.

There are 36 chromosomes in the karyotype.

2. Distribution

The large ground squirrel is common in the lowland and foothill steppes of Russia and Northern Kazakhstan. In the west, its range begins at the Volga. Its northern border comes from the Volga-Vyatka interfluve (56°40’ N) and the Kama, along the right bank of the river. Belaya, left bank of the river. Bolshoi Ik and the right bank of the river. Sakmara, skirting the Ural ridge along the foothills. In the east, the large ground squirrel is found between the Tobol and Ishim rivers; the easternmost point of its distribution is Omsk. The southern border goes approximately from the city of Volsk through the interfluve river. Bolshoy and Maly Uzen up to the river. Uil and Emba (48° N), then goes around the Mugodzhary Mountains from the north and reaches Ishim with the eastern edge of the Turgai Plateau.

3. Lifestyle and nutrition

The great gopher is an inhabitant of lowland (no higher than 400-600 m above sea level) forb, grass-forb, feather grass and wormwood-fescue steppes. Due to its choice of habitats, it is called the “meadow gopher.” In the north, along steppe areas it reaches the forest-steppe and southern parts of the forest zone; in the south it penetrates through river valleys into semi-deserts. It goes further north than other European ground squirrels. The large ground squirrel settles on light soils: chernozem, chestnut soils, sandy loams, and silty loams. It inhabits pastures, long-term fallow lands, roadsides and embankments, edges of fields and household plots; less often - turfed sands, forest edges. In the forest-steppe it lives in biotopes not typical of other gophers - among tall grass and bushes. Here the large ground squirrel has even lost its habit of standing up in a column to inspect the surroundings - the tall grass still interferes with the view.

The great ground squirrel is characterized by sparse settlements; Only in the south of its range, where there are few suitable areas for habitation, does it settle in dense colonies. In its area, each gopher has 8-10 burrows of two types - permanent (residential) and temporary. Residential burrows are from 40 to 130 cm deep and from 3-9 (in the north) to 15-20 (in the south of the range) m long. There is no earthen mound in front of the exits from the burrows ( butane, gopher meat); The gopher apparently scatters the excavated soil evenly throughout the territory.

The great gopher differs from other types of gophers by its greater mobility. In search of food, it can move 100-200 m away from its burrows, and when the vegetation dries out, it can move to more feeding areas at distances of 300 m and further. These gophers are good swimmers and can even cross such wide rivers as the Ural in the middle reaches. Ground squirrels are active most of the day, sometimes without a break at noon.

3.1. Nutrition

The diet of the large ground squirrel is dominated by cereals and flowering herbs. The admixture of animal feed is small. In spring, gophers feed on the root parts of plants and bulbs, then move on to flowers and leaves. Cultivated cereals (oats, rye, wheat, millet) are eaten by them mainly in the stage of milky and waxy ripeness. They don't make stocks.

4. Life cycle

Hibernation in the great gopher lasts 6.5-8.5 months. Gophers wake up at the end of March - the first half of April, when there is still snow in some places. The first to emerge from hibernation, as usual among ground squirrels, are the males, then, with a slight gap, the females. 2-4 days after the females awaken, the mating season begins in gophers. Females do not build special brood burrows, but they rebuild and complicate their residential burrows. In the brood hole there are several nesting chambers (up to 3), located at a depth of 0.6-1.8 m. After 23-30 days of pregnancy, 3-16 cubs are born; The great gopher is one of the most prolific species of gopher. At the age of a week, the sows begin to become covered with hair, after 2 weeks the hair becomes full, their eyes open, and at about the age of a month, the young animals settle down and begin an independent life. They reach sexual maturity after the 2nd wintering.

Natural hybrids of the great ground squirrel with all species of the genus are known Spermophilus, whose habitats are in contact with its habitat: with yellow, red-cheeked, small and speckled ground squirrels.

In most of the range (except for Kazakhstan), summer hibernation is not observed. However, in dry years, old males and dry females, which have accumulated enough fat, go into hibernation in mid-June. By the end of July - August, young animals also hibernate. In other years, mass hibernation occurs in August.

The main factors of mortality of the great ground squirrel, as in other species, are winter freezing of the soil, a prolonged spring, human influence, as well as predators and epizootics. The most dangerous for gophers is the steppe ferret, which destroys animals not only in spring and summer, but also during hibernation. Foxes and corsacs also hunt them; young animals are hunted by ermine and weasel, and near populated areas by domestic dogs and cats. Of the birds of prey, the main enemies of gophers are eagles - steppe, imperial eagle, long-legged buzzard and black kite, and in the north of the range, in addition, the common buzzard, great spotted eagle and long-eared owl. The ground squirrel rarely survives 3 years of age.

5. Conservation status

Due to the high number and intensity of reproduction, the great ground squirrel is not an endangered species. However, in most of its range its numbers are declining due to anthropogenic impact: reduction of natural habitats due to plowing of virgin and fallow lands, and direct extermination. In Kazakhstan, the great gopher is one of the pests of agricultural crops (grain crops). With its digging activity it can cause soil salinization. Natural carriage of plague and tularemia pathogens has been registered.

Bibliography:

Sokolov V. E. Five-language dictionary of animal names. Mammals. Latin, Russian, English, German, French. / under the general editorship of academician. V. E. Sokolova. - M.: Rus. lang., 1984. - P. 138. - 10,000 copies.

Order - Rodents / Suborder - Squirrel-like / Family - Squirrel-like

History of the study

The large or reddish ground squirrel (Spermophilus major) is a rodent of the genus Gophers.

Spreading

The large ground squirrel is common in the lowland and foothill steppes of Russia and Northern Kazakhstan. In the west, its range begins at the Volga. Its northern border comes from the Volga-Vyatka interfluve (56°40’ N) and the Kama, along the right bank of the river. Belaya, left bank of the river. Bolshoi Ik and the right bank of the river. Sakmara, skirting the Ural ridge along the foothills. In the east, the large ground squirrel is found between the Tobol and Ishim rivers; the easternmost point of its distribution is Omsk. The southern border goes approximately from the city of Volsk through the interfluve river. Bolshoy and Maly Uzen up to the river. Uil and Emba (48° N), then goes around the Mugodzhary Mountains from the north and reaches Ishim with the eastern edge of the Turgai Plateau.

Appearance

A large gopher with a relatively long tail. Body length 230-330 mm, tail 60-105 mm. The dark ocher-brown back is noticeably different in color from the reddish-ocher sides. The buffy color is especially noticeable in the area of ​​the front legs. There are light ripples on the back. The color of the top of the head is gray, different from the color of the back. The tail has a pronounced two-color edge. There are distinct rusty or rusty-brown spots under the eye and above the eyebrow. In spring, all colors are especially contrasting.

Reproduction

Hibernation in the great gopher lasts 6.5-8.5 months. Gophers wake up at the end of March - the first half of April, when there is still snow in some places. The first to emerge from hibernation, as usual among ground squirrels, are the males, then, with a slight gap, the females. 2-4 days after the females awaken, the mating season begins in gophers. Females do not build special brood burrows, but they rebuild and complicate their residential burrows. In the brood hole there are several nesting chambers (up to 3), located at a depth of 0.6-1.8 m. After 23-30 days of pregnancy, 3-16 cubs are born; The great gopher is one of the most prolific species of gopher. At the age of a week, the sows begin to become covered with hair, after 2 weeks the hair becomes full, their eyes open, and at about the age of a month, the young animals settle down and begin an independent life. They reach sexual maturity after the 2nd wintering.

Nutrition

The diet of the large ground squirrel is dominated by cereals and flowering herbs. The admixture of animal feed is small. In spring, gophers feed on the root parts of plants and bulbs, then move on to flowers and leaves. Cultivated cereals (oats, rye, wheat, millet) are eaten by them mainly in the stage of milky and waxy ripeness. They don't make stocks.

Lifestyle

The great gopher is an inhabitant of lowland (no higher than 400-600 m above sea level) forb, grass-forb, feather grass and wormwood-fescue steppes. Due to its choice of habitats, it is called the “meadow gopher.” In the north, along steppe areas it reaches the forest-steppe and southern parts of the forest zone; in the south it penetrates through river valleys into semi-deserts. It goes further north than other European ground squirrels. The large ground squirrel settles on light soils: chernozem, chestnut soils, sandy loams, and silty loams. It inhabits pastures, long-term fallow lands, roadsides and embankments, edges of fields and household plots; less often - turfed sands, forest edges. In the forest-steppe it lives in biotopes not typical of other gophers - among tall grass and bushes. Here the large ground squirrel has even lost its habit of standing up in a column to inspect the surroundings - the tall grass still interferes with the view.

The great ground squirrel is characterized by sparse settlements; Only in the south of its range, where there are few suitable areas for habitation, does it settle in dense colonies. In its area, each gopher has 8-10 burrows of two types - permanent (residential) and temporary. Residential burrows are from 40 to 130 cm deep and from 3-9 (in the north) to 15-20 (in the south of the range) m long. There is no earthen hill (butane, gopher) in front of the burrow exits; The gopher apparently scatters the excavated soil evenly throughout the territory.

The great gopher differs from other types of gophers by its greater mobility. In search of food, it can move 100-200 m away from its burrows, and when the vegetation dries out, it can move to more feeding areas at distances of 300 m and further. These gophers are good swimmers and can even cross such wide rivers as the Ural in the middle reaches. Ground squirrels are active most of the day, sometimes without a break at noon.

Number

Due to the high number and intensity of reproduction, the great ground squirrel is not an endangered species. However, in most of its range its numbers are declining due to anthropogenic impact: reduction of natural habitats due to plowing of virgin and fallow lands, and direct extermination.

Big gopher and man

In Kazakhstan, the great gopher is one of the pests of agricultural crops (grain crops). With its digging activity it can cause soil salinization. Natural carriage of plague and tularemia pathogens has been registered.

Species: Citellus major Pallas, 1778 = Rufous (large) ground squirrel

Large or reddish ground squirrel - Citellus major Pallas, 1778

Due to its ecological plasticity and high reproductive intensity, the great ground squirrel is not a species with an important conservation status. However, in most of the range there is a decrease in the number or disappearance of individual populations. The main reason for this process is the reduction in the area of ​​permanent habitats of gophers due to the plowing of virgin and fallow lands, however, the anthropogenic factor (direct extermination) also plays a significant role.

Large ground squirrel: body length up to 34 cm, tail length up to 11 cm, weight up to 1400 g. The general color of the back is from ocher-brown to gray-yellowish-ochre, with whitish streaking or ripples formed by the white ends of the guard hairs. The top of the head is silver-gray. There is a red stripe above the eyes, and below them there is a pronounced cheek patch of the same color. The sides and limbs are reddish, the ventral side is gray-whitish-yellow. Tail with light edge. The overall color tone fades and becomes paler towards the southeast, but the humidity of the biotopes apparently has a significant influence on the color intensity. It differs from the closely related red-cheeked ground squirrel in its coloring, large size, and relatively long tail.

Spreading:

The plain and foothill steppes of Russia and Kazakhstan, along steppe areas, enter the forest-steppe and southern part of the forest zone, and along the meadow areas of river valleys into the semi-desert. To the north it penetrates farthest of all European ground squirrel species.

Northern forb, grass-forb, feather grass and wormwood-fescue steppes; along river valleys there are meadows that are not flooded with flood waters; long-term deposits; forest edges. It settles on pastures, on the territory of non-residential settlements, roadsides and embankments, dry lands and along the edges of ravines, on various household lands and crops. It does not rise into the mountains above 400-600 m above sea level. Prefers light soils: chernozem, meadow-chernozem, dark chestnut, sandy loam and light loam. It typically gravitates towards mesophilic, slightly turfed, moist and sandy biotopes with grass and forb vegetation, which is why in many places it is called the “meadow” gopher. Often the choice of habitat depends more on edaphic conditions than on the nature of vegetation, so the great ground squirrel is often found in areas of steppes rich in xerophytic plant elements - fescue and wormwood.

The large gopher forms sparse settlements, the structure of which is formed by mosaically scattered groups of animals. Coloniality is well expressed only in the south of the range, where areas suitable for habitation are small and clearly isolated in the landscape. The density of settlements in the south of the range can reach up to 110 burrows and 12-18 individuals per 1 hectare. However, in the northern and central parts of the range it rarely exceeds 30 burrows and 4-6 individuals/ha.

The number is subject to sharp fluctuations and can change by several orders of magnitude. Periods of mass reproduction are followed by depression in numbers, when single animals are found in settlements. The main factors of mortality are soil freezing during the hibernation period, late, long spring, human influence (including direct persecution), as well as pressure from predators and epizootics. Of the enemies, the most dangerous is the steppe polecat Mustela eversmanni, which destroys animals not only during their active life, but also during hibernation. A large number of ground squirrels are killed by foxes Vulpes vulpes and corsacs V. corsac. Young animals are hunted by the ermine Mustela erminea and the weasel M. nivalis, and near populated areas by domestic dogs and cats. Of the birds of prey, the main enemies are eagles - the steppe Aquila nipalensis and the imperial eagle Aq. heliaca, Buzzard Buteo rufinus and Black Kite Milvus migrans; in the north of the range, in addition, the common buzzard B. buteo, the greater spotted eagle Aq. clanga, and the long-eared owl Asio otus.

A large gopher in its area usually has from 8 to 10 separate burrows of two types - permanent and temporary. The first of them are more often located on elevated meso- and microrelief; Most of them have one entrance hole, so a characteristic feature of the settlements of the great gopher is the absence of gophers. The depth of the nesting chambers is 0.7-1.3 m; the total length of all passages is 1.8-9.0 m, the diameter of the entrance hole is 7-12 cm. Temporary burrows are less deep (0.3-0.8 m) and extended (0.8-1.4 m) and are simpler in structure; They break out both near permanent burrows and in feeding and temporary habitats remote from them. Females do not specifically build brood burrows; during pregnancy, they rebuild and complicate their wintering burrows.

The age structure is characterized by a significant predominance of one-year-old and two-year-old animals; in different years, the share of these two age groups in populations ranges from 74 to 95%.

Hibernation lasts 6.5-8.5 months. The awakening begins at the end of March - the first half of April, when in some places there is still snow. The timing of awakening depends on spring conditions and can last 20-25 days. Males are the first to emerge from hibernation, but there is no noticeable difference in the timing of awakening of females and males. True summer hibernation, which passes without interruption into winter, is noted in Kazakhstan, however, in other parts of the range, in dry years, old males and barren females go into hibernation in mid-June.

The usual two-phase daily activity for gophers is most pronounced in adult and old animals in the hot months of summer and in the south of their range. The young are active most of the day, usually without a break at midday. They show the greatest activity and mobility during the period of resettlement. In the northern and eastern parts of its range, the great ground squirrel exhibits a single-phase pattern of daily activity.

The great gopher differs from other types of gophers in being more mobile. The animals can move away from permanent burrows by 100-200 m, and when the vegetation dries out, they can move to more feeding places at distances of up to 300 m. They swim well and, if there is a lack of food, they can swim across rivers en masse, even as wide as the Ural in the middle reaches. The settlement of young ground squirrels occurs in 2 stages: first, within the boundaries of the mother’s individual territory, then the settlement space, free from other individuals, is developed. When settling, males move further from the brood burrow than females.

The composition of plant feeds ranges from 32 to 52 species with a predominance of cereals and flowering herbs. Animal feed does not seem to be of much importance. After waking up from hibernation, gophers feed on the root parts of plants and bulbs, then move on to flowers and leaves; cultivated cereals (rye, wheat, millet) are eaten preferably at the stage of milky and waxy ripeness.

The size of individual home ranges of large ground squirrels depends on the food supply of the biotopes and the density of settlements, and in general does not fall outside the range of 0.22 – 0.85 ha. Individual areas sometimes overlap (up to 30% of the area). In areas of overlap, aggressive territorial contacts are observed. In most cases, they develop according to the “dominance-submission” scheme, much less often they end with the active avoidance of one of the individuals from direct contact.

The Great Ground Squirrel has a polygynous breeding system. It is based on territorial groups of animals, the core of which is formed by aggregations of females, and the high mobility of males. Reproductive behavioral sequences have a clear beginning and end. However, more than 1 interaction with the same female was not observed. After contact is completed, the male begins to search for a new partner. The contact of opposite-sex individuals itself consists of repeatedly alternating sniffs and approaches of the male to the female. The leading role in contacts belongs to females. Substituting postures – lateral posture and “sitting” posture lead to the implementation of reproductive behavior, and hiding – to a short-term increase in the activity of males and the cessation of contact. A large number of expressive movements of females are associated with aggression, which is associated with the short time period of females’ readiness for mating, as well as with the high activity of males during this period. Similar variants of sexual behavior in New World ground squirrels are described in the literature as competitive polygyny. Mating occurs both on the surface at the entrance to the burrow and in the burrow.

Caring for the offspring consists of females monitoring the broods during their activity on the surface and preparing temporary burrows for the settling suslyats. There have also been cases of females transferring still blind cubs to better warmed parts of the burrow or to the surface when meteorological conditions worsen.

Group behavior of suslyat of one brood before the start of settlement is characterized by a gradual decrease in the degree of group cohesion and an increase in the proportion of agonistic contacts between its members. A special place in the behavior of young people belongs to play, which develops according to the “dominant-subordinate” scheme in two typical forms - with a change of the dominant role and without a change. The expressive movements recorded in play interactions correspond to the expressive movements of adults in reproductive and agonistic contacts. An important feature of all play contacts was the dominant role of males in them (83.3%).

http://www.bcc.seu.ru/programs/rodent/species/spermophilus_major.html