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Natural habitat for a Mongolian Gerbil
Natural habitat for a Mongolian Gerbil:
When you play with a gerbil in your bedroom or in the garden have you ever thought of its original habitat? It’s predecessors? Their Original way of survival? I reckon that the answer is no.
As the name suggests, these gerbils originally lived in Mongolia. In 1954, Dr. Victor Schwentker brought these gerbils to U.S for their use in research. As time passed by these cute little critters became a part of our lives and became the most popular pets in U.S.A.
Though these gerbils are so small, cute and innocent creatures—their original habitat is not so peaceful. It comes from the rugged terrains of the Mongolian Steppe, where the environment is terribly harsh and detestable. This places temperature ranges from -40 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter months to122 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer days. The place is semi-arid and rocky in nature. Birds of prey, snakes, weasels, foxes, and wolves are some common predators in this region which are major threats of survival for the gerbils.
Because of that, the evolution process has conditioned these gerbils. They have developed long, strong hind legs in order to jump and escape from being hunted. They are also gifted with their digging abilities. They live in a complex system of burrows which they create using their digging capability. The burrows are a great way of surviving from predators. Its also helpful for storing and hiding foods. During the warmest and coolest part of the day gerbils stay inside their burrows protect ting themselves from extreme temperatures. Usually only one family lives in each burrow system.
Unlike most of the other desert animals, Mongolian gerbils are diurnal,i.e, they are more active during day. Though they possess the ability of communicating verbally (through squeaking), they socialize with other gerbils by thumping their hind legs. Though females are more competitive with each other than males these gerbils are peaceful in general.
Captive breeding of the Mongolian Gerbil has produced a variety of fur colors. Agouti, a sandy gold color, is the natural color for all wild Mongolian Gerbils.
As the climate of the Mongolian area is very very dry the evolution process has conditioned the gerbils in an unique way. They have the ability of storing water in their fat cells. They burn the cells and use the water during times of need.
These interesting creatures have come all the way from Mongolia to not only U.S, but to many parts of the world. Franz Kafka, the legendary writer was fascinated by these little creatures. Influenced by their living style, he wrote an entire existential novel called “The Burrow”.
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