It is said that rabbits do not eat nest grass, in fact, there are some animals with similar lifestyles to it, and they will not eat nest grass, do you know who it is?
The answer is prairie dogs and marmots.
Most people may be unfamiliar with these names, but another name they must be familiar to you is ground squirrels.
What the? Still unfamiliar? That groundhog must have heard of it, right? (Xiaobian is pulling hatred again~)
In fact, the name of the groundhog is more general, because the marmot genus and the prairie dog genus that belong to the ground squirrel family of the squirrel family are called "groundhogs".
However, marmots are large rodents, weighing about 7 kg, there are about 15 species, widely distributed in Asia, Europe and North America, and distributed in Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia in China. The prairie dog rat is a small rodent, divided into 5 species, native to the North American prairies. (The following have been introduced by ground squirrels)
Ground squirrels, as the name suggests, are squirrels that live on the ground. Earlier, ground squirrels were unfamiliar, and some feared that their burrows could be harmful to livestock, people or agricultural machinery, and even thought that they destroyed grasslands and threatened the pastures on which animal husbandry depended to be harmful animals, and then hunted them down.
But with the in-depth understanding of them, people found that they are not only harmless to human beings, but also play a very important role in the ecological environment.
Indeed, sometimes animals actually cause far less damage than people think, and as some argue, "damage" is actually an unappreciated benefit.
The impact of the decline in the number of ground squirrels is not only manifested in their own existential crisis, but also in other species.
Because, like other underlying species in the food chain, they have many key species (such as eagles and owls, foxes and martens) that feed on them, and some species rely on their burrows to hide from predators or reproduce.
In addition to providing food and shelter for related species, ground squirrels directly and indirectly affect the environment of their habitats by foraging and digging holes. In the process of cave excavation, the mixture of the bottom soil and the topsoil not only loosens the land, but actually enriches the soil and improves the quality of vegetation, which are the important roles played by ground squirrels in the ecology.
The researchers also found that ground squirrels prefer to dig holes and nest in overgrazed areas because of the lower vegetation there and the potential predators can be clearly seen, a habit that usually keeps them from competing with most herbivores for grazing grounds. And they don't destroy the vegetation at the mouth of the cave, which is conducive to hiding the location of their nests.
Speaking of the nests of ground squirrels, we have to mention their ability to dig holes. Ground squirrels can dig powerful burrows in a small amount of time, and their workload and scientific degree are even more amazing. We often see that the mouth of the ground squirrel's cave will often have a circle of raised mounds, which can prevent rainwater from being backwater.
Of course, the role of the mound at the mouth of the cave is not limited to this, it can also improve the air circulation in the cave. Usually the burrows of ground squirrels have two exits, one enclosed by mounds and used as observation posts. There is also a flat exit and is used for escape in times of crisis.
Careful observation will find that the ground squirrel cave entrance is high and low, which makes the air flow in the cave produce a pressure difference, which increases the circulation of air in the cave while keeping the cave dry, and its physical principle is similar to a chimney.
And they are built clean and comfortable underground nests, composed of intricate caves, which have small storage rooms, bedrooms and emergency shelters, etc., it can be said that the "multi-room multi-hall" housing structure is quite functional, and it will not be repeated here. How do you think they are very smart now, a typical contrast cute?