Fat sand rat
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Small Israeli mammals
Bats about bats
The small mammals that I see most often are bats, Israel's most common native mammals,
of which there are over 30 species. Today several are endangered in part due to mass poisonings
in earlier decades when DDT was widely (and successfully used) to wipe out dangerous mosquito
populations. Bats were also targetted by farmers in the mistaken belief that all bats are fruit
bats - in fact there is only one species of fruit bat in Israel, all the rest are insectivores,
and as such are very helpful to humans.
The Egytpian fruit bat is a fairly large "flying fox" type bat with an intelligent looking
face. They are attracted to many fruit trees, and so plague gardeners and fruit growers alike,
both because the eat the fruit and because they leave sticky droppings, soiling the pavements
and any laundy hanging in the yard. They are particulalry fond of ficus sycamore trees
(the biblical shikma), a tree which is especially common in certain parks and boulevards
in Tel Aviv. Look out for them flitting around the sycamores unphased by the
bustling streets and traffic, feasting on the fig like fruit as the perch upside down on the
branches.
In most Israeli towns it's not unusual to see small insect hunting bats chasing moths under
streetlamps on warm evenings. While these fluttering darks shapes are rather spooky and people are often
understandably afraid of bats, I think that if you watch them and get used to them they are
fascinating creatures, certainly some of God's weirder creations.
Little furry animals...
Some of Israel's smaller mammals whose presence you're most likely to come across include
three species of hedgehog as well as the Cape or brown hare and
the Indian crested porcupine, Israel's largest rodent. Most of these are
nocturnal, living in burrows or hiding under rocks or bushes by day.
Sadly you are most likely to see these as roadkill. On a couple of occasions we've narrowly
missed hitting a hare or hedgehog frozen in the middle of the road, dazzled by the car lights
before bounding or scurrying off to the relative safety of the roadside woods or bushes.
Porcupine
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Hedgehogs can occasionally be found in urban gardens, though I've more often seen them when
staying in rural or desert areas, depending on the species. The East European hedgehog
is probably the species you are most likely to see in the densely populated centre of the
country.
The smaller long-eared hedgehog is more likely to be found in peripheral areas,
near dunes or agricultural lands, and is usually quite easy to recognise by it's creamy pale,
pointy, shrew-like face, with a high forhead devoid of quills.
It's desert cousin the desert or Ethiopian hedgehog is restricted, as its name
suggests, to the desert, though sometimes it's territory overlaps with that of the
long-eared. While all hedgehogs are insectivores, the desert hedgehog is a particularly intrepid
hunter whose diet includes some of the most dangerous scorpions to be found in the deserts of
the Middle East and North Africa.
Sundevall's Jird
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Israeli hedgehogs will hibernate during the colder winter weather, though the east European
species will generally do so only for a few days a time during extremes of cold, remaining
active for much of the winter. By contrast North African desert hedgehogs, hibernate during
the fierce Saharan summer, while Israeli desert hedgehogs due so during the chilliest days of
winter.
On walks in the woods or along country footpaths keep an eye open for
porcupine quills, often beautifully coloured in shades of brown, black and white. The
porcupines themselves are far more elusive, though with their huge bustle of quills they are
surprisinly large creatures, the huge train of quills inflating their size and producing a
distinctive rustling sound as they move.
Porcupines mostly feed on bulbs and similar subterranean parts of plants, as well as ripe
fruits and vegetables growing close to the ground. Farmers understandably consider them a pest,
and with no natural predators other than the highly endangered leopard, porcupine numbers are
kept in check by hunting in agricultural areas.
Though more common in rural areas some do make their homes in town gardens. A few years back
there was a story in a local Jerusalem newspaper about a porcupine family which settled in the
yard of an apartment block in the city's Kiryat Hayovel neighbourhood. Some residents of the
building where thrilled to see these impressive animals up close, others were frightened because
of the myth that porcupines can "shoot" quills at people.
Fat Sand Rat (fat jird)
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Israel is home to a large variety of small rodents, from the exotic sounding
Bandicoot rat, Cairo spiny mouse, desert jerboa and jirds to the more
mundane sounding brown rats, mole rats and dormice.
The region is home to one of the world's most popular rodents, a denizen of pet shops and
school pet corners the
world over - the gerbil. Yes, that creature so many parents fork out good money for, only
to have it die a year or two later, runs around wild here. Israel is also home to grey
hamsters,a wild cousin of that other popular classroom pet.
The most I've usually seen of any of these creatures is something small and furry scurring for
cover in a grass verge or running across the road at night on a quiet rural road. I have had
some nice sightings of desert spiny mice, mostly in the crater edge town of Mitzpe Ramon in
southern Israel. There are two local species of this charming little spiky furred rodent, the
Cairo spiny mouse and the golden spiny mouse. While both species are usually
nocturnal, in areas where they overlap the golden spiny mouse becomes active by day, to avoid
competition with with it's rival species.
Cairo Spiny Mouse
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The most interesting cute furry rodent I've spotted close to home was a social (Gunther's)
vole, in roadside thick foliage by the Titora Hill nature area in Modi'in. These creatures
are usually nocturnal, but in cold weather they are they're often
active during the morning and early evening.
This fellow was happily foraging in undergrowth not
far from my home, and seemed quite unafraid, so I had a good close look at him. At first I thought
it was some kind of rat, a large, dark, stocky rodent, but then I noticed its short tail and
softer, rounder, more rabbit like face, and small round ears. Much nicer looking than a rat.
I'm sure farmers in the area would be less thrilled to see these voles as
they can do a great deal of damage to local crops. In many areas there have been attempts to
control the vole population by bolstering the number of predators in the area, such as
barn owls, and indeed, I have often noticed these owls near and directly over the Titora Hill.
Another bane of local farmers and gardeners alike is the mole rat, whose mounds pop up
the middle of fields, orchards and gardens. It lives underground for its entire life, except
during the juvenile stage, when they spend time above ground and are easy prey for birds and
other predators. This is the only time in their life that people usually see them, small, cute
helpless creatures with velvety fur.
New immigrants
While we're on the topic of cute small animals, I should introduce the nutria, a
creature I first met while on vacation in the USA, in Maryland's Eastern Shore region, where
it has become established. In addition to Israel's many and diverse native animals, various
species have been introduced or found their way here.
As in many parts of the world the
Latin American nutria has made itself at home in Israel's reservoirs, fish ponds and other
water sources. It was brought here originally in the early 1950s for its fur, but some
individuals escaped and today there is a well established Israeli nutria population.They are
especially easy to spot in the Hula Valley nature reserves in northern Israel. Look out for
them swimming in the lakes and drainage channels or nibbling waterside vegetation.
Israeli Wildlife |
Biblical Animals |
Hai Bar Conservation Programme
Israeli Mammals |
Small Israeli Mammals |
Israeli Reptiles |
Israeli Birds |
Israeli wildlife links
Copyright 2005 by Leiah Elbaum.
Text and photographs on this page are by Leiah Elbaum.
Last updated 5 May 2005.
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