Which animals are native to Poland?

American mink and slider turtle aren`t native. Recently they found a giant turtle in the Vistula River which weighed 3.3 kg. Amazing.

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Mink is a woman's favorite...

These are native to (or common in) Poland with colonies in the Wisła and Odra. The szczeżuja (Eng: duck mussel). Apparently not very tasty, but the English name suggests that ducks like them.

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Once, at a scouting camp, in conditions close to survival course, we tried to roast them in the campfire but they turned out as tough as a shoe sole. Poor mussels! I still can`t forget their horrible plight. :(:(

They don't feel pain.

The don't have brains either. maybe they should start posting here ;-)

Here's the very big kind (up to 20 cm long), szczerżuja wielka (Eng: swan mussels). They're very protected in the UK, and are protected in Poland under international treaties. Apparently they were common here until the late 20th century but now are vanishingly rare.

Someone once told me that they started to disappear after Chernobyl, however I don't know how accurate that is.

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Spider called bagnik przybrzeżny - shore swamper or in proper English - raft spider - lives close to water . It preys even on tadpoles and small frogs.

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The first specimens of American blue crab appeared in Polish sea. Amazing! I love all seafood and those crabs are eaten by millions of tons in US and Mexico.

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@pawian, that's a nice blue colour :)


We found it once in a river near my grandma's village when I was a kid or a teen. We simply called it "małż". Btw, some women call their husbands in such a humorous way, because in Polish one of the words for a husband is "małżonek" :)


lol

A closest encounter of the third kind with a beautiful red deer in the Tatry Mountains

In Poland the species` formal name is noble deer.

Only truly sick people might dream of killing it as a hunting prey.

What a sweet creature... ❤️ and an amazing encounter... Those people have strong willpower - I'd be tempted to feed that deer :/

Wisents are very careful when crossing roads - they wait until all cars stop.

See a huge herd of about 100 animals