Scientific name:
Gliridae

Natural spread:
Africa, Asia

the Bilche is mouse a family - until squirrel-big rodents. With its hairy tail, some remind of croissants without being relative however with these nearer. The Bilche are a quite old rodent-sex. The big eyes and the usually bushy tail blur the typical Nagerbild. Bilche have also a soft and very dense fur.

Nutrition Also the diet is some different one(s) than with many other rodents. Bilche admittedly live also from Sämereien and fruits, however also real small hunters are beside it. they consume insects, snails, eggs, yes also small birds and mice. Only in the spring, buds, foliage and the bark are picked up from trees.

Way of life As the big eyes already indicate are the Bilche night-animals. At the hunt, its distinguished hearing benefits them furthermore. While they hide during the day, they do gymnastics around in trees and in the hedge at night.

Hibernation Our native Bilche frequently are called also sleepers. Because in the restrained zones, they hold an usually very long hibernation. So, the St. Swithin's Day begins end of September with the hibernation, first around middle of May again from the hiding place hervorzukriechen. it actually oversleeps with it as its name, over seven months of the year, indicates. The sleepers either get themselves a fat-layer as food-reserve or a feed-reserve. Given native Bilche are beside the St. Swithin's Day of the garden-sleepers, the tree-sleeper and the possierliche dormouse. The dormouse quite similar is the Japanese Schläfer (Glirulus japonicus).

In Africa, the Pinselschwanzbilche live, in Asia the Stachelbilche and the Salzkrautbilch.