RODENTS SNUG IN THEIR NESTS

      Small rodents seem defenseless against predators, but they are not.  They are camouflaged, ever alert and can run to hide.  And they make warm, snug nests to escape bad weather and predators, and deliver young, all in relative safety.  

     Some smaller, adaptable rodents, including wood chucks, eastern chipmunks, muskrats, field mice, deer mice and gray squirrels, living in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, for example, make cozy, sheltering homes with  materials at hand.  Each species creates a relatively comfortable, secure dwelling in its own way, which helps in identifying the presence of those various kinds of rodents.

     Wood chucks and eastern chipmunks dig burrows into the ground, the former species in farmland mostly, and the latter in woods and older suburban areas.  Chucks make at least two exits to their homes so they don't become trapped in them by predators.  Chucks feed heavily on green plant material during summer and fall to gain fat to survive sleeping in their burrows through winter.  

     Chipmunks don't put on layers of fat.  But they store nuts and seeds deep in their underground homes to dine on through winter.  Chippies have two cheek pouches they use to transport food from woodland floors and suburban lawns to their burrows to store.  

     During winter, each chipmunk sleeps in its little den, but occasionally awakens to consume some of its stored food, then falls asleep again.  And so the routine continues until spring.

     Muskrats build two kinds of dwellings in their watery habitats.  They dig into stream banks at the normal water level and slant up to make a living chamber and nursery well above the usual water line.  They also build piles of cattails, grasses and other long vegetation in the still, shallow water of ponds.  These rodents are active the year around, ingesting cattail tubers and other aquatic plants.

     Field mice make nests of fine grass they chew themselves and place in heaps at the bases of tall grasses and weeds in fields and along country roadsides.  They gnaw an entrance in the side of the nest,  and eat seeds and grain through the year.  But these abundant, little rodents are preyed on by a host of predators, including hawks, owls, foxes, weasels and other species.      

     The cute, little deer mice have brown fur on top, white fur below, white feet and bulging, black eyes that see well at night.  Some of these woodland mice live in tree cavities, abandoned woodpecker holes and unused bird boxes.  Sometimes a few mice will winter in each hollow to share body warmth.  

     Other deer mice live in deserted birds' nests of twigs and grasses placed in shrubbery and young trees.  The mice build a roof of twigs on top of those bird cradles and chew an entrance into the side of each one, making a comfortable home and cradle.  Deer mice are active the year around, feeding on seeds, nuts and berries.  And they, too, are preyed on by several kinds of predators.           

     Active the year around, gray squirrels take up residence in tree cavities where they can.  But the grays that don't find tree hollows to live in build nests of dead leaves they carry in their mouths up trees to a group of twigs that will support their leafy, comfortable homes.      

     Gray squirrels feed on nuts mostly, and store much of that food in tree hollows and in the ground for winter use.  And gray squirrels are the prey of mink, foxes, and larger species of hawks and owls.

     All these smaller rodents make relatively cozy and secure homes for themselves.  And females of each kind also use them as nurseries.  These shelters help keep rodent populations abundant.