Mice Rats and Relatives: Muridae - Norway Lemming (lemmus Lemmus): Species Accounts

NORWAY LEMMING (Lemmus lemmus): SPECIES ACCOUNTS

Physical characteristics: Norway lemmings have brown to black fur. Adult head and body length is 3 to 7 inches (8 to 17.5 centimeters) and weight is 0.5 to 4.5 ounces (20 to 130 grams).

Geographic range: They are found in Scandinavia (the northern European region of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands).

Habitat: These lemmings inhabit open tundra and subarctic bog areas.

Diet: Their diet consists of mosses, lichens (LIE-kenz), bark, and some grasses.

Norway lemmings eat mosses, lichens, bark, and some grasses. (© Tom McHugh/Photo Researchers, Inc. Reproduced by permission.)

Behavior and reproduction: Norway lemmings are mostly nocturnal (active at night). They travel long distances in mass migrations, and are active year-round, remaining mostly beneath snow cover. The gestation period is about sixteen days, with a litter of up to thirteen young and up to six litters produced each year.

Norway lemmings and people: Scandinavian people have made lemmings a popular animal in their myths and legends.

Conservation status: Norway lemmings are not threatened. ∎