Revision Of American Voles And The Genus Microtus

Author : Vernon Bailey
Publisher : Forgotten Books
ISBN 13 : 9781334748141
Total Pages : 646 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (481 download)

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Download or read book Revision of American Voles of the Genus Microtus (Classic Reprint) written by Vernon Bailey and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2016-12-23 with total page 646 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Revision of American Voles of the Genus Microtus Certain peculiarities of habits are common to nearly all of the Species. None are known to hibernate, but in the North they have snug winter homes under the snow, where they move about freely in numberless tun nels. They burrow in the ground, and are famous for their little roads or smooth trails which run through the grass from burrow to burrow or away to their feeding grounds. Bulky nests of grass and soft plant fibers are placed in underground cavities, or on the surface of the ground under cover of snow, logs, or dense vegetation. The nest is depressed globular in form, with an open chamber in the center, which contains a soft bed, ' and has one or two round entrances at the sides. These nests are the sleeping places of the old and the nurseries of the young. They are kept surprisingly clean and fresh, and new ones are frequently'made to take the place of those that are Old or imperfect. Breeding. - Voles seem to have no definite breeding season. Four to eight young are usually produced at a birth, and as far north as Min nesota I have found them in the nests at all seasons of the year. Their increase is accordingly very rapid, and is only partially counter balanced by the host of enemies that prey upon them. They form the principal food of nearly all owls and some hawks, while weasels, minks, foxes, coyotes, cats, badgers, skunks, and many other animals, as well as certain snakes, feed extensively on them. But in spite of their enemies they seem to hold their own, and tend to increase faster as the country becomes more thickly settled and the larger mammals and birds are destroyed. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.