>
>Im just curious...what would happen if you released a colony of pet gerbils
>into the wild? I dont plan on doing this, so dont worry...Im just curious
>as to what would happen. Would they breed in the wild and survive or would
>they die off very quickly?...and what about at winter time, would they
>hybernate?
Hmmm, I'll take an educated guess. Most would die off pretty quickly by
starvation, dehydration, cold, predation, and so forth. Maybe a couple
might survive. They would have to find a place to dig a burrow, a place to
find food, and would quickly have to re-learn techniques to avoid getting
eaten. Depending on the environment, all may die quickly or many may
survive.
I have heard of gerbil colonies on this list once or twice, so some can
survive. As for the hibernation question, check out the NGS page for
information on wild gerbils in Mongolia. Mongolia gets pretty cold in the
winter and pretty hot in the summer. I don't think that gerbils hibernate.
Deb A
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