Fauna of Estonia

A beautiful cover from Estonia. 

Northern birch mouse 

 The northern birch mouse is a smaller mouse sized rodent belonging to the family of the Dipodidae. Its characteristics are a black stripe on the back and a tail much longer than its body. The northern birch mouse is an omnivore that eats both fruits and seeds as well as insects and caterpillars of butterflies. It hibernates from September to May. When waking up in spring, the animals weigh only about 8 grams, however, by autumn, they store plenty of fat, weighing nearly 15 grams then. They breed once a year and usually 4–6 young are born per litter. The northern birch mice prefer thick and high vegetation areas in forests, meadows, and around old farms as their habitat. They often climb on higher herbaceous plants and bushes. The northern birch mouse occurs in the forest zone from Norway, Denmark, and Austria to Lake Baikal, but they are rarely seen in all those places. In Estonia, the northern birch mouse occurs on the mainland only.

Issue Date: 25.08.2016
Designer: Sandor Stern

Weasel 

 The tail of the weasel, brownish on the back and white on the belly in the summer, is slightly shorter than that of the other small carnivore, the ermine, and the hair at the end of its tail is never black. In the winter, the weasel turns white all over. Weasels live everywhere where they can hide and where there is prey, from sand dunes to grasslands to forests and hills. They are active round the clock. The tracks mostly come in pairs, and the track of the tail is noticeably only seldom. The weasel likes to sometimes stand up and observe the neighbourhood. When disturbed it hisses or trills at a high pitch. It expresses fear by means of sharp yelping. The weasel is so small (body length 15 to 20 cm) that it can follow rodents into their nests. It mainly catches and eats microta and mice, but does not refuse birds and eggs either. In order not to die it has to eat at least every 24 hours. Sometimes it takes over its the barrow of its prey. When disturbed it hisses at a high trill and expresses fear by means of short sharp yelps. Gestation lasts from 34 to 37 days, and the litter usually has four to six young. There could be two litters in one year. The female takes care of the young. In nature it lives three years old, but in artificial conditions it can live up to ten years. It is common everywhere in Estonia, even on small islands

Date of issue :06-06-2013

Designer : Sandor stern 

Roe Deer 

The Roe Deer is a small crevice with a slender body and thin legs, standing about 135 centimetres high and weighing up to 30 kilos. In summer it has reddish brown and in winter greyish hair. The white or dull yellow rump patch is particularly conspicuous in females. Only males have antlers. Their favourite habitats are landscapes where clear areas alternate with groves. In the summer they eat grass but have to do with shrubs, tree or bush shoots and bark, including spruce and pine needles in winter. The young, one to two fawns per one female, are born in May to June. Roebucks live to be seven to eight years old in the wild, goats a little longer. Their most important natural enemies are the wolf and the lynx. In late winter also stray dogs kill animals that have become week over the winter. The roe deer is one of the most important game animals in Estonia, the population of which fluctuates a great deal depending on the severity of the winter, thickness of the snow cover, disease, carnivores' pressure and other factors. 

Date of issue : 16-02-2012

Designer : Sandor stern 

Three animals from Estonia - and all three with the peculiar and common feature of changing their colour / characteristics during winter . 

Thanks Triin for the lovely cover !