Lemming

Lemming is any of 20 species of small rodents, a few of which undertake large and swarming migrations. Lemmings animals can be found only in the Northern Hemisphere. They have stocky, short bodies with stumpy tails and short legs, a bluntly rounded muzzle, small ears and small eyes, which are nearly hidden in their dense, long, soft fur. Wood lemmings (Myopus schisticolour) and steppe lemmings animal (Lagurus lagurus) are the tiniest, measuring 8 to 12 cm (3.1 to 4.7 in) in length and weighing 20 to 30 grams (0.7 - 1.0 ounce).

The other species are bigger, weighing 30 to 112 grams and measuring 10 to 22 centimetres in length. The colour of the collared lemming differs seasonally. During the summer its coat is grey tinged either with reddish-brown or buff and with dark stripes on the back and buff. They moult into a white coat and acquire forked digging claws throughout the winter season. Sandy yellow, grey, different tints and tones of brown, or black and slate grey are the other kinds.

Natural History

Lemmings or baby lemmings live throughout polar and temperate regions of Eurasia and North America, inhabiting semideserts and steppes, arctic tundra or treeless alpine, coniferous forests, sphagnum bogs and sagebrush-covered slopes, where they are typically and individually intolerant of one another.

They eat on practically everything, including roots, vegetation, leaves, buds, bark, twigs, grasses, seeds, mosses, and sedges, and they are active all year. Lemmings scamper along with extensive runway systems and construct nests either beneath rocks or burrows. Brown and Collared lemming animals (Lemmus and Dicrostonyx) make nests beneath the snow or on the tundra surface. Breeding from the season spring to fall, females can produce up to 13 young after a gestation period of up to 20 to 30 days.

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Lemmings animal and baby lemmings do not, contrary to common belief, jump into the water on purpose to commit lemmings suicidal. Historically, brown and collared lemming populations fluctuate dramatically, with the highest levels reached every 2 - 5 years. After years of ideal breeding circumstances, little predation, and overuse of food resources, populations grow to be overly big and aggressive.

Resultantly, the lemmings may migrate either in late summer or fall. Most travel only in short distances, but the Norway lemmings animal (called Lemmus lemmus) in Scandinavia are a dramatic exception. They migrate outward in increasing numbers from a central location in all directions, at first irregularly and under cover of night, but subsequently in bold groups that may travel in daylight. Huge hordes overrun broad areas, and often, a few lemmings are forced either to swim water barriers or into human settlements.

Several dies because they cannot locate a suitable habitat, and the others drown when pushed into the sea by the pressing momentum of masses behind them. An especially massive outbreak takes place every 30 - 35 years in Lapland, with the lemmings swarming to the Gulf of Bothnia and central Finland.

Since the mid-1990s, lemming populations in the Southern Norway region have not followed the historical patterns. Norway lemmings overwinter in the spaces between the ground surface and the deep snow. Winters that have been warmer and more humid have created some sections of this specialised environment, but heavy, wet snow has rendered the remaining places less safe.

Taxonomy

Commonly called lemming, this small rodent belongs to the class ‘Mammalia’ and kingdom ‘Animalia.‘ Lemming belongs to the family ‘Cricetidae’ and goes by the scientific name called ‘Lemmus lemmus.

Often, the term “lemming” is used to define someone who joins a mass movement without thinking about the consequences.

Appearance and Behaviour

Lemmings are very small animals, usually, three to six inches long and they weigh up to 23–34 grams. Usually, they are round in shape and their bodies are covered in thick fur, the colour of which can carry from one to another species. However, it is mostly grey or brown.

These animals hold stout bodies and their tails, limbs and ears are very tiny. Their small ears help them to conserve the heat of body. Also, they have very sharp teeth as the well along claws to help them feed on roots and tear out. These rodents are impressive swimmers with their waterproof fur, but it may be difficult for them to swim when multiple animals reach the water at one point. With all of the confusion and little extra room, a few lemmings die of drowning.

Usually, the lemmings are solitary animals. They do, however, spend a portion of their day associating with others in colonies with rodents that are similar to them. In general, the only time when they come together either only for migration purposes or when they have to mate.

Upon sensing danger, these specific animals turn very aggressive towards their predators – at times, leading them into trouble with larger animals. Also, it is said that the thing up to lemmings animal committing mass suicide is just a myth and it does not happen.

These rodents spend most of their time in summer under the ground and in multiple tunnels. However, when the earth grows colder and more difficult to dig into in the autumn, they are forced to come to the surface.

They can endure severe circumstances by living in tunnels and underground, which reduces the need to hibernate. Also, it protects them from large wild animals that usually prey on these tiny rodents.

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Habitat

Usually, rodents are found in the Tundra and Arctic region (arctic lemming). They are commonly found in Alaska, Norway, northern Canada, Europe and Asia. At times, they can also be found in Taiga that is another region with a cold atmosphere.

Especially, these rodents, in the summer months, live underground in tunnels. They generally emerge to the surface during the fall season when the temperature begins to cool, as digging for food in the cold is difficult.

Their underground tunnel habitat keeps them warm and prevents them from having to hibernate. Also, it protects them from any possible predator, which would usually prey on them above the ground.

Usually, lemmings make up nests out of grasses, ox wool, and feathers as both a shelter and a way to stay warm. During the spring season, the rodents move further up and start living in forests and mountain heaths for the warm weather, returning to the Alpine zone during the autumn.

Predators and Threats

Much like every other animal, lemmings are said to be a vital part of the natural food chain that means that a few animals feed on them. Their small size is a primary disadvantage since it makes them more likely to be a source of meat for any of the carnivorous animals.

Lemmings hold a greater number of predators like snowy owls and wolverines, but almost any carnivore will consume lemming as a small meal. These rodents are a primary source of protein for these animals and are most essential for the ecosystem. According to a few sources, whenever the lemming population decreases, there is normally a decline in the number of arctic foxes also.

Meanwhile, there is no threat to the population of these animals in general as they are found very commonly and the IUCN has declared these species as “least concerned.” Without much of a threat from humans, there exist no broadly publicized conservation efforts. In fact, people in few parts of Europe even keep them as pets.

Population

The lemming population differs from one to another area and also from time to time. At a few places, they might be nearing extinction, while in the other places, the population is booming. Likewise, a few years are great for the lemming populations, but some are not. In some of the areas, there might be as many as 3000 lemmings per million sq ft.

In the Zoo

Real lemmings are solitary creatures but they are usually not kept in zoos. If any of these rodents are kept together for a longer period, they might turn hostile towards one other and they come together only for migration purposes.

While not in captivity in zoos, in Europe, the lemmings are often kept as pets, though they are a less common pet in the US. To keep them more healthy, pet owners provide them with most of the similar diets that they have in the wild, offering up to a cup a day of leafy greens. They need a terrarium as their home since the wired cages for the other rodents are too easy to escape.

Lemming Facts

• Real lemmings can reproduce within below one month of being born themselves

• Generally small in size, lemmings are the animals, which can very well reach 3-6 inches in length.

• Lemmings do not at all hibernate

• There are up to 20 different types of lemmings

• Most of their lives are spent alone. They come together only when they required to mate.

Some Unique Characteristics

A remarkable feature of the lemming cycle is that the extreme scarcity of individuals at the cycle’s "low point." Although many species of small rodents, which live in temperate climates also reach peaks of abundance up to every four years and a few of them reach much higher densities at the peak than lemmings do, at the lowest point, no one can match the severe shortage of lemmings.

Such kind of extreme scarcity raises the possibility of extinction. However, going through the population "bottleneck" likely favours those who are most adapted to surviving in harsher polar conditions. The cycle of every 4 years or so may be a device to keep selection abreast of the changes continually going on in the Arctic region (arctic lemming).