Fun Norway Lemming Facts For Kids

Norwegian lemmings (Lemmus lemmus) belong to the Lemmus genus and are said to be one of the largest lemmings species around the globe. They have thick fur and large claws to dig shelter deep inside the snow. They are quite active and live a highly productive life.

Norway lemmings have a subspecies named Novaya Zemlya lemming, and they are endemic to the Russian archipelago. Norway lemmings are like small rodents by nature. They can be found in natural alpine regions like temperate and terrestrial marshes and swamps during summer. During the winters, they usually like to stay inside the insulating layers of snow in polar conditions.

To find out more interesting facts and information about other animals. You can also check our guides on lemming facts and muskrat facts for more enriching and mind-blowing facts and guides.

Norway Lemming Interesting Facts

What type of animal is a Norway lemming?

The Norway lemming (Lemmus lemmus), or Norwegian lemming, is one of the largest lemmings species around the globe. They are small rodents that are migratory. Lemming populations are found in different parts of Scandinavian countries and in Western Russia. They belong to the genus Lemmus.

What class of animal does a Norway lemming belong to?

The Norway lemming (Lemmus lemmus) belongs to the Mammalia class, and like other mammals, they also have mammary glands to nurture the new offspring when they are born. They belong to the genus Lemmus.

How many Norway lemming are there in the world?

There is no specified number allocated to the population of the Norway lemmings species around the world. They are not under any conservation or IUCN Red List and come under the category of Least Concern.

However, they are found in quite a huge number around Norway and Norwegian parts, and Scandinavian countries. Norway lemmings have a subspecies named the Novaya Zemlya lemming, and they are endemic to the Russian archipelago.

Where does a Norway lemming live?

Norway lemmings are generally found in tundra-taiga marsh and alpine habitat areas like the Northern habitat of Norwegian ground, which has temperatures of their liking. They are also mainly distributed around Fennoscandia, which includes Russia, Norway, Sweden, and the Scandinavian areas.

During winters, the Norway lemmings generally choose regions that have heavy snow and are polar naturally. They also like to live in different moist environments when they cannot find snow. They change their location as per the climate: be it summer or winter.

What is a Norway lemming habitat?

Norway lemmings are like small rodents by nature and can be found in nature like the tundra and alpine regions. They like temperate and terrestrial marshes and swamps during summer, and during the winters, they usually like to stay inside the insulating layers of snow in polar conditions.

Such shelter provides them with food, warmth, and protection from predators and acts as a safe, natural habitat for young lemmings.

Norway lemmings dig shallow borrows according to the climate or live in already formed burrows and holes under the ground.

The areas where they are found can range from the snow-covered Arctic Kola Peninsula of Russia to the west and northern course of Norway and from the Northern course to the baltic sea. They can migrate even further towards the south if their populations grow under ideal temperatures and natural settings.

Who does Norway lemming live with?

Unlike other rodents who stay in groups, the Norway lemmings usually prefer to stay in solitude. However, there are instances where they even become hostile and aggressive in nature towards other males of the same rodent species during overcrowding of their species' populations in groups.

The population of Norway lemmings tends to peak every three to five years due to many factors like temperature fluctuation and the Arctic and Tundra conditions.

How long does a Norway lemming live?

The average lifespan of Norway lemming species can range from one to two and a half years in the wild and under captivity; these rodents have even recorded a lifespan of three years depending on the breeding and diet of these animals.

How do they reproduce?

Norway lemmings usually breed year-round. They live independently and only come together during mating and breeding.

The males of this species often compete through boxing and aggressive behavior when there are too many males under one territory. The female Norway lemmings rodent animals are post-partum estrous, basically referring to their reproduction and gestation.

Post-partum estrous is the type of reproduction pattern in which the female can mate during her gestation period and get pregnant with a new offspring even before delivering the previous offspring. Such a reproduction pattern results in a sudden surge and an increase in their population every three to five years.

In the genus Lemmus and specifically in Norway lemmings, the female reaches sexual maturity just three weeks after their birth, and the males reach sexual maturity in one month. They have a gestation period of 16 days and can give birth to young litters every three to four weeks.

Females give birth to 5-13 young ones. The young ones can be around 0.1 oz (3 g) in weight.

Generally, the females of this rodent species take care of their new offspring till they reach maturity and are ready and active to breed again. The females are really productive during their gestation period.

What is their conservation status?

The conservation status of Norway lemmings (Lemmus lemmus) is generally said to fall under the Least Concern animal species category. They are not listed in the IUCN Red List of animals either.

Though they are at threat due to humans, loss of habitat, predation, and climate change yet, as the lemming population sees a surge every three to five years, the threat to their species population has relatively reduced. Lemmings are found in almost most of the Scandinavian regions.

Norway Lemming Fun Facts

What does Norway lemming look like?

They have a thick fur cover on their body to protect them from the harsh winter period. They usually display the same coloration during both the winter and summer.

Their body color can range from black to brown with dark and golden yellow bands. Their belly portion, which is towards the inside, is lighter in color than the rest of the body fur color.

Both males and females look quite similar in size as well as color.

Their teeth are the main pointers for them. Their tails are short, and they have sharp claws so that they dig can under-ground and form large burrows beneath the snow for their survival and shelter during the winter, and the shelter also keeps the new ones safe from the predators.

How cute are they?

They are a small Lemmus rodent species with brown and golden yellow bands on their body. You can find them cute for their small size and cute thick fur and color, but they can become aggressive if they feel that they are in danger and can even attack you if you try to come too close to them.

How do they communicate?

They usually communicate through body postures and their behavior; if they feel they are in danger, they might attack you. The habit of boxing and aggressive fights has been recorded between males of the same species during the breeding season or overcrowded in a particular area.

They are active both day and night. To hide from predation, they can make loud calls.

How big is a Norway lemming?

Norway lemmings are usually small in size and length. Their average length can range from 3.1-6.8 in (8-17.5 cm), and their height can range from 2.1-2.5 in (5.5-6.5 cm).

How fast can a Norway lemming run?

Yes, this particular species of lemmings can run quite fast to save themselves from predators and usually hide underground in their hole shelters. Their exact speed is unknown.

How much does a Norway lemming weigh?

Norway lemmings can weigh around 0.7-4.4 oz (20-130 g) depending upon their size, diet, and availability of food.

What are the male and female names of the species?

The male and females of the Norway lemmings species are referred to normally as a male Norway lemming and a female Norway lemming.

What would you call a baby Norway lemming?

A baby Norway lemming offspring is simply referred to as a baby Norway lemming. The babies grow really fast with proper food and nutrition, resulting in a boost in their population number.

What do they eat?

Norway Lemmus lemmings are herbivores naturally, and thus, their food and diet mainly consist of shrubs, vegetation, sedges, grasses, moss, lichens, and bark. They can eat bulbs, shoots, and roots of different vegetation, shrubs, lichens, berries, mosses.

They like places where shrubs are in abundance when there is proper snow during winters. During summer, without any snow, there could be an unfortunate food shortage for their population.

Lemmings are found in the Arctic and in snow conditions. Thus they need proper food to keep themselves well during both winters and summer.

Are they dangerous?

No, they are not that dangerous, but instances of extreme aggression have been reported as they are quite sensitive. If they feel threatened, they get aggressive and even attack you, without thinking twice, with their claws.

There have been instances of the lemmings becoming aggressive and attacking humans if humans try to go too close to them and they feel threatened.

Would they make a good pet?

The lemmings' population make good pets in some parts of America and greater parts of Europe, like the Steppe lemmings, as they are cute, small, and intelligent.

However, instances of keeping Norway lemmings as pets are quite rare as they get aggressive and may attack if they feel that they are at threat and have attacked humans in many instances.

Did you know...

They are quite smart and intelligent and great burrowers, unlike their portrayal by Disney.

Brown lemmings were related to the Norwegian lemmings because of their similarity, and Norwegian lemmings were thought to be a classification of the brown lemmings.

Is a lemming a secondary consumer?

Norway lemmings are part of the tundra natural food web, and they are herbivores. Therefore, they can be termed as both primary and mainly secondary consumers. Hawks, Arctic fox, red fox, and owls often hunt lemmings, and Norway's lemmings' population tends to go down when the reindeer population increases in the food web.

What color is a lemming?

The color of the lemmings can differ and vary from one season to another. They have different color patterns year-round. Their coat is grey or reddish-brown during summer, tinged with dark stripes on the back and face. During winter, the coat color changes into white, and they tend to develop forked digging claws.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! For more relatable content, check out these Bengal slow loris facts and striped hyena facts for kids.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable Norway lemming coloring pages.