Poland wildlife and similar wild life where you live.

I see that a lot of people on here are interested in this topic as shown by the Bison thread, so to broaden it a little perhaps we could also include similar animals where you live.

This is from bramkaz another very informative PF poster. Wildlife in Poland.
So I will start with these, just as to get it going as to what is in the wilderness in Poland.

Lynx.
Wolves.
Moose.
Stalks.
Wild Boar.
White tailed Eagle.
European Beaver.
Brown Bear
And snakes

Again from from bramkaz and really worth checking Snake slide show. Please feel free to add as many animals as you like, provided they also exist in Poland. I could not find anything on this subject, so I hope no one minds me starting a thread about it, if a thread already exists please merge and thank you.

What about the black cocks and heath grouse -- cietrzewie and głuszce?

Hey Polonius3,
I hoped you would join this thread as the only thing remotely similar on here is your thread about the north east of Poland, which is a wonderful place, well to be honest I drive through it often, on the way to Lithuania.

Augustuw looks like a wonderful place, like Carrick-on-Shannon in Ireland.
And the area around Białastok has some of the best places to see Bison and other wildlife in their natural habitat, the primeval forests.

As for głuszce, is this what you mean?

I hear lots of stories about the wild life here, it's always enjoyable.

In my area, south of Tarnów, there is an abundance of: Fox, deer, owl, eagle, rabbit, squirrel, stork (in-season), pheasant, and more.

Anyone any stories?
I heard mad stories last night, when I was east of Tarnów,
about a child's parent being late to pick his kid up and as he drove to meet his son,
the father could see wolves on either side of the road, surrounding the boy, hairy, scary stuff.
Are there many wolf attacks in Poland, I know the wolf has been demonised, i think they are a very beautiful animal but I wouldn't want my child gobbled up by one.

I have not heard of any stories of Wolves attacking people in Poland , more of a Hollywood myth than a fact , most of them leg it at the first smell of a human , its very hard to get close to them...Wolves have far more to fear from Humans than we have from them...Further east its more of a problem , i spoke with people who thought i was raving mad to camp in the forests of Belarus and Ukraine where attacks from rabid wolves were not unknown especially in winter....I still believe that the most dangerous animal is the one that walks upright on two legs....

I agree with you on that one, Homo Sapien is the most dangerous and vicious creature ever to walk this Earth

Poland definitely has beautiful wild life!

ok


Of course....A couple of years back i was offered the chance to earn some money driving a party of Danish hunters around the forest in my Range rover , so i agreed to this...i have to state first of all that i am not a hunter , i see no purpose to shoot an animal just to stick its head on your wall , i am not firmly against it , i know its an old noble art and all that , and the hunters do a lot of work to conserve the forest and animals there...Anyways i was short of dosh , and i felt maybe i didn,t have the right to disagree with something i knew nothing about...So , early one frosty morning a hunting we went....

I got no pleasure from seeing lovely wild animals shot and killed , but i did get to smile now and then at those that got away...The place where i had put my vehicle meant that i got to see very close up those animals that got past the line of hunters intact , one very close encounter with a full grown wild boar was enough to convince me that sitting inside my car was a much better idea than standing beside it...

I had deer , foxes , wild boar pass within two feet of where i sat , and it was good to see the lucky ones escape...Most of the animals were killed almost instantly by the high powered rifles , and only once did we have to hunt down and finish off a wounded boar....

If you are not to sensative to see animals shot , and gutted as soon as they are killed then its a great way to see these animals if you are a town dweller...

The place i live now is in Drawski national landscape park , so its not hard to see the wildlife , i have deer in my garden , and wild boar that take great delight in ripping up my grass to eat the shrub roots , i do wish they would fill in the dam holes after they had eaten , but i love having nature this close , and i feel i am very lucky to live here....

Is that en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drawie%C5%84ski_National_Park - Drawieński Park Narodowy?

"Animal life is very rich. There are 129 species of birds, 40 species of mammals, 7 species of reptiles and 13 species of amphibians." (Wiki).

Apparently there are some times wolves and bears here in Beskid Makowski.
I have seen several dear, a snake, a lizard, no wild boar yet, along with a load of different coloured birds depending on the season.

Oh and fire fly, I was surprised to see them, I did not know they were in North Europe.

Nope , i am not familiar with Drawienski , i am in Drawski park , which is north of the towns of Zlocieniec and Czaplinek and goes north as far as Polczyn zdroj ..i live on the northern edge of lake Siecino... ...I have a feeling that Drawski and Drawienski might be the same place....????? stop press...no its not the same park....i am a bit further north than that....

Show us a photo of the area, please?
Is it mountainous or flat, forested or agricultural land?

How big is a Wild boar and do they have tusks?.
There is that thing about a wounded boar being a real danger to humans.

hope this file is not too big to post....its taken from a watch tower near my home...oops..seems the file is too big , i shall have to shrink it and try again...The biggest wild boar i saw close up was about three feet 6 inches tall at the shoulder , but they can get biger than that...The male wild boar have very sharp and dangerous tusks which they use for fighting other males , but they are quite good at ripping a gash down to the bone on a human leg and will do it if you get betwwen them and their escape route...

The females tend to use biting as a form of defence , or if you get close to one with young as a form of attack.... Like most wild animals they would much prefer to sod off out of your way if they get the chance , but it is possible to bump into them accidentally especially if they are having a snooze , and yes i have been close enough to discover that they snore..!

A wounded wild boar is a very dangerous animal , which is why the hunters try to kill with the first shot , you are legally required to hunt down a wounded animal and end its suffering...very nerve wracking i can tell you....

Oh i forgot..you asked if it was flat or hilly etc...well , its a mixture of forest and farm land , quite flat , with lots of pretty lakes around the place...

• 
  Tower17.jpg
  

ha ha ha, I was just thinking the same thing reading your post.

Looks very much like a Capercaille - wonder if its the same thing ?

If anyone is near a river in Silesia keep a look out for freshwater mussels, they are supposed to be extinct in Poland so if you see any its worth letting people know about them.

iop.krakow.pl/pckz/opis.asp?id=127&je=pl

Link is in Polish but if you scroll down there is an English abstract.

Big wildlife
Tiny wildlife

I never even knew there was such a thing.


What's the beetle Pawian?

What, freshwater in Silesia or mussels? LOL

Nothing like Galway mussels I bet.

I am sorry, I don`t possess my book on beetles any more. During vacation, while perusing the book in the forest, I was attacked by a giant beetle, some unknown species. Them! scared me shitless so I ran away, leaving my book behind.

Sorry.

The situation looked like that.

I was in a village called szkała for new years eve, didnt see much of it, it was dark :D

Highly valued for their pearls, they are nearly extinct in mainland Europe but are still around, mostly in Ireland and Scotland
jncc.gov.uk/ProtectedSites/SACselection/species.asp?FeatureIntCode=s1029
I used to go "fishing" for them before it became illegal to do so.
Now I have read a bit more about them and realise how near extinction they are - almost feel bad about it....... if it wasn't for the pearls ;-)

Polish nature:

Prince, Wow and they have the new Ipod things too.
I never think of Polish seals probably because I live in the south.
Lovely animals :)


I honestly never heard of them.
So would you know the difference between a fresh water pearl and a salt water one?

He is not kidding..there are some huge critters buzzing about....i was tootling along on the Harley one evening , and had my visor up enjoying the breeze....I swear the beetle that smacked into my eye nearly blinding me was the size of a B29 bomber...Sometimes on a summer evening they drone past me in the garden , they seem so much bigger here than back in the UK , Polish food must be better than whatever the beetles eat in the UK.....

Of course I am not.


Yes. Run for your lives!!!!


Exactly.

that is the wildlife in my Polish neighborhood... ;)

• 
  kicia
  

This is in mine:

You took that photo, do you have a good zoom?

I would take a photo like that from a safe distance ha ha ha.
I respect snakes, really I do and i think they are beautiful but I am scared of them but not as much as they would be of me.

A polish harvest mouse...slightly damaged...sorry seems all my files are too big to put on here...even if i shrink em... i have lots of really nice pics of wildlife....but just can,t seem to get em sorted to put on here....