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Polish wildlife and similar wild life where you live.


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SeanBMThreads: 41
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Joined: Mar 10, 08 ♂ 		Edited by: SeanBM  Jan 4, 09, 17:40    #61
wildrover:

Frogs and newts burrow in the ground i believe

I used to catch newts as a kid in Ireland, just for fun, we'd let them go unharmed after because there were not many around.
The toothless guys used to pretend they could bite you. ha ha ha
wildroverThreads: 180
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Joined: Jun 7, 07 ♂ 		 Jan 4, 09, 17:53    #62
i get lots of newts here..as well as some strange ones that are almost black...and of course lots of sand lizards....the cats like to chase them till the tail falls off and remains wriggling while the lizard escapes....
SeanBMThreads: 41
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Joined: Mar 10, 08 ♂ 		 Jan 4, 09, 17:58    #63
wildrover:

and of course lots of sand lizards

Sand? Lizards?
Have you any pictures of the lizards?
I saw a lizard here once but it ran to fast for a good look.
Where's the sand from WR?
wildroverThreads: 180
Posts: 8,188
Joined: Jun 7, 07 ♂ 		Edited by: wildrover  Jan 4, 09, 18:03    #64
just under the surface of the soil in this area its sand....various colours of lizards around these parts....i shall shrink some pics and put em up....
SeanBMThreads: 41
Posts: 8,727
Joined: Mar 10, 08 ♂ 		 Jan 6, 09, 19:01    #65
Nietoperek bat and nature reserve, Poland (Link)
During winter months large numbers of some of the rarest bat species converge in the passages of the WWII Miedzyrzecki underground bunker.





Aren't they the only mamal that can fly? others glide but bats fly?.

Bat is Nietoperz in Polish
PolskaDollThreads: 44
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Joined: Jun 15, 07 ♀ 		 Jan 6, 09, 19:32    #66
SeanBM:

Aren't they the only mamal that can fly? others glide but bats fly?.


That's correct. While they can physically fly other mammals can only launch and glide. They have a scientific name of Chiroptera. Basically instead of forearms/forepaws they have wings. Pipistrelles are the most common here and during the summer (because of location) I see lots in the late evening. :)
SeanBMThreads: 41
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Joined: Mar 10, 08 ♂ 		Edited by: SeanBM  Jan 7, 09, 05:36    #67
PolskaDoll:

Basically instead of forearms/forepaws they have wings.

I watched a program on telly over the Christmas called "evolve" on some History channel. Apparently bats evolved completely separate from birds, that they started off only launching and gliding but ended up going the extra step, Fascinating stuff.
They are not blind but do not see very well but they have sonar, how cool a super power is that!.
I saw one the about 2 months ago on my balcony, weird looking things like strange mice with big ears and leather looking wings.

I wonder why they sleep upside down? Something about blood going to their heads? or maybe it is for more practical protective purposes?.
wildroverThreads: 180
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Joined: Jun 7, 07 ♂ 		Edited by: wildrover  Jan 7, 09, 07:11    #68
hopefully this is a pic of a Polish lizard..? pretty colour ain,t he there are also the normal light brown ones...
SeanBMThreads: 41
Posts: 8,727
Joined: Mar 10, 08 ♂ 		Edited by: SeanBM  Jan 7, 09, 07:20    #69
wildrover:

Polish lizard

Nice photo Wildrover :)



I thought this was interesting (Jurasic park style:)Lizard and Other Inclusions in Baltic Amber

in Gdansk, Poland, Gabriela Gierlowska spotted a small amber piece with a unique lizard.





I know this sounds silly but i was talking to some friends and they were talking about a lizard with no legs or feet but it was not a snake. It did not make sence to me, perhaps I misunderstood?.



They also told me of a cow that was not giving milk. An done day in the farm a guy smashed a lizard with a rock (I don't know why) and all this milk came out, they figured the lizard had been taking the milk from the cow?. Strange.



Lizard is Jaszczurka in Polish
wildroverThreads: 180
Posts: 8,188
Joined: Jun 7, 07 ♂ 		 Jan 7, 09, 07:39    #70
SeanBM:

lizard with no legs or feet but it was not a snake.


That would be what we in the UK call a slow worm...looks like a snake , but is in fact a legless lizard Here is some news about bison...i posted this on the bison thread too....

Poland’s bison hunkering down for winter

Created: 07.01.2009 12:11
Five hundred tonnes of hay and beets have been prepared for the winter months by employees of the Bialowieski National Park (BPN) to feed Poland’s precious bison herd maintained there.



The director of the bison care facility at BPN, Jerzy Dackiewicz, claims that the recent drastic fall in temperatures means that the stocked food will be all the more necessary. The park has been feeding the bison throughout the winter months at a special feeding grounds for several years.



“If it is a light winter, we still prepare the food, but they prefer to graze naturally out in the fields and forest on grass and young trees,” added Dackiewicz.



Park employees also intend to count the herd of endangered bison this year. If such weather – cold and frost – remains, then the herd will be fully counted in two weeks and results will be announced at the end of January. Current bison-count is approximately 450 animals.



The Bialowieska National Park is an internationally recognised protected area for this breed of bison. In the year 1929, the facilities for maintaining a herd of the endangered species were opened and the herd was started with only three bison. The park extends across the Polish border into Belarus
McCoyThreads: 46
Posts: 1,756
Joined: Jul 3, 08 ♂ 		 Jan 7, 09, 08:03    #71
SeanBM:

I know this sounds silly but i was talking to some friends and they were talking about a lizard with no legs or feet but it was not a snake. It did not make sence to me, perhaps I misunderstood?.


no seanski, you got that right. in Pl the legless lizard is called 'padalec':

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anguis_fragilis



very common lizard in a whole Poland
SeanBMThreads: 41
Posts: 8,727
Joined: Mar 10, 08 ♂ 		 Jan 7, 09, 08:09    #72
wildrover:

legless lizard

McCoy:

padalec


Wow,

Silly question No. 40193029.
What's the difference between a lizard and a snake then?

I thought it was the legs.

-The tail falls off a lizard and grows back?.

- The scales don't over lap?.



Ah ha,
From the Wiki link you posted McCoy
(Good to have you back)
The most important is they have small eyes with eyelids that blink like lizards. This is a feature that is not found in snakes. They also have visible ears like lizards do, which snakes do not have. They also have a notched tongue rather than the forked tongue of a snake. They shed their skin in patches like other lizards, rather than the whole skin as most snakes do. Also, the pattern of their ventral scales is totally different from that of snakes.
McCoyThreads: 46
Posts: 1,756
Joined: Jul 3, 08 ♂ 		 Jan 7, 09, 08:18    #73
SeanBM:

(Good to have you back)

thanks :)
SeanBMThreads: 41
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Joined: Mar 10, 08 ♂ 		 Jan 7, 09, 08:24    #74
McCoy:

thanks :)

There is some good info on Bison since your holiday from here.
McCoyThreads: 46
Posts: 1,756
Joined: Jul 3, 08 ♂ 		Edited by: McCoy  May 1, 09, 22:25    #75
some photos of polish nature and wild animals:

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SoftsongThreads: 6
Posts: 588
Joined: Sep 2, 07  Pictures: 1 ♀ 		Edited by: Softsong  May 2, 09, 08:39    #76
Beautiful! I've always enjoyed seeing nature pictures of Poland. In addition to the beautiful landscapes and birds, I really liked the furry critters. Not sure what they are....fox pups? Otters? Hedgehogs?

When I was in Poland, I noticed that the squirrels are reddish and here in SC they are usually grey. We have smaller ones, too. Up north in NY they are about the same size.

In SC the insects are much larger, and the animals smaller. :-/
gumishuThreads: 17
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Joined: Apr 6, 09  Pictures: 1 ♂ 		 May 2, 09, 09:11    #77
wildrover:
SeanBM:

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....

just to state what should be actually quite obvious - children smell different even to humans so think of a canine animal



PM wildrover
Member
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gumishuThreads: 17
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Joined: Apr 6, 09  Pictures: 1 ♂ 		Edited by: gumishu  May 2, 09, 09:29    #78
SeanBM:
This might be a silly question but is there any winter animals in Poland?.
I have noticed very brightly coloured orange breasted birds that I have never seen before.

what you saw was gil (in Polish) Pyrrhula pyrrhula (bullfinch)
the ones met in Poland are mostly migrating here for winter from Scandinavia or northern Russia, they migrate back north in quite big swarms (this year this was a sign of the spring approaching some time in the middle of March) - the ones brightly coloured are males

the interesting thing about bullfinches is they can often be watched from quite near in winter (1 meter) - this is what i read but also have seen this winter (i was not as close as 1m probably 2m but most birds would fly away if I were several meters further already)

as for other birds that come here mainly for winter rooks are a good example - some of them nest while in winter in Poland - some do remain in Poland for summer but not that many
SeanBMThreads: 41
Posts: 8,727
Joined: Mar 10, 08 ♂ 		Edited by: SeanBM  Jun 8, 09, 19:29    #79
I saw one of those lizards, that look like a snake today.Click here

Don't laugh, I come from Ireland and in Ireland there are no snakes (except those in government),
so it is something to write home about :)

And around the mountains here I see quite a few birds of prey, wonderful graceful creatures, there are many different birds here, with beautiful songs most of the day.
But the birds of prey are kings of the sky, they move so effortlessly, with a flick of their wing-tip, they sore through the sky.
Hopefully in a week or two I will be able to photograph them and other birds.
szarlotkaThreads: 14
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Joined: Feb 20, 07 ♂ 		 Jun 8, 09, 19:32    #80
SeanBM:
saw one of those lizards, that look like a snake today.

You mean a slow worm? They seem to be getting quite rare in the UK. Used to see loads of 'em when I was a kid.
SeanBMThreads: 41
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Joined: Mar 10, 08 ♂ 		Edited by: SeanBM  Jun 8, 09, 19:50    #81
szarlotka:
You mean a slow worm?

Yes, that is it Anguis fragilis, or slow worm or blind worm
Padalec po Polsku
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ub4t651OME
gumishuThreads: 17
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Joined: Apr 6, 09  Pictures: 1 ♂ 		Edited by: gumishu  Jun 8, 09, 20:31    #82
And I have seen a badger today :) (borsuk in Polish)

znaczy się widziałem borsuka - for those who want to practice their Polish ;)
SeanBMThreads: 41
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Joined: Mar 10, 08 ♂ 		Edited by: SeanBM  Jun 8, 09, 20:35    #83
Stupid question No. 2538142325
Have you ever heard the story, that if a badger bites you, you are supposed to snap a twig, then the badger will think they have cracked your bone?
because they have lock jaw and you would need a machine to unfasten it's grip.
It sound silly now I write it, anyone?.

I have never heard of anyone ever being attacked by a badger, they are very shy animals, by shy of course I mean scared that humans will kill them.

badger
gumishuThreads: 17
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Joined: Apr 6, 09  Pictures: 1 ♂ 		 Jun 9, 09, 00:14    #84
never heard of it

I haven't pursued the guy (or lass) that I have seen - s/he has noticed me and shyed away into ferns - so I presume they are not an aggressive lot ;)
wildroverThreads: 180
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Joined: Jun 7, 07 ♂ 		 Jun 9, 09, 01:01    #85
Badgers are not aggressive towards humans , and will leg it at the first smell or sign of a human....They do however have some pretty fearsome teeth and claws and would use them if you were silly enough to corner one and grab hold of it.....

Around my home i have seen lots of badger tracks , but not been lucky enough to see one of them as yet...
beckskiThreads: 19
Posts: 2,148
Joined: May 15, 07  Pictures: 3  Gold Member MEMBER ♀ 		 Jun 9, 09, 02:03    #86
wildrover:
similar wild life where you live.

I don't live in Poland, I live in the United States. A skunk has been camping out in my yard the past 2 nights (driving my Chihuahua crazy.) I also get other vistors, including an occasional raccoon or oppossum.

A sincere thanks PF, for putting up with me FIVE terrific years, muah!
wildroverThreads: 180
Posts: 8,188
Joined: Jun 7, 07 ♂ 		 Jun 9, 09, 02:23    #87
beckski:
occasional raccoon

We get racoons in Poland too , which originated in the USA... seems they were brought into what was then Germany by Mr Herman Goring of the Luftwaffe around 1937 as he was a keen hunter , and thought they would be a nice addition to the forest....They have since spread over all Germany , and into Poland too...

I am told they can be a bit naughty , getting into houses , stealing food etc , but the ones around here seem to be quite shy....
shewolfThreads: 5
Posts: 1,835
Joined: Dec 23, 06 ♀ 		Edited by: shewolf  Jun 9, 09, 02:29    #88
Do you have killer bees in Poland?

How about mosquitos that have West Nile Virus?
wildroverThreads: 180
Posts: 8,188
Joined: Jun 7, 07 ♂ 		Edited by: wildrover  Jun 9, 09, 02:57    #89
shewolf:
killer bees

EH..?? Not sure about killer bees , but we have some big aggressive hornets that can kill you if you get stung enough times....

If you are refering to the African bees , which can be more aggresive than the usual European bee , i don,t know if they are in Poland , but no doubt somebody will tell us about that..

All the mozzies here have the deadly Macdonalds virus which , if bitten by one causes you to eat big macs till you burst....

oh.....Shewolf.......... swooooooon
z_dariusThreads: 22
Posts: 5,091
Joined: Oct 18, 07 ♂ 		 Jun 9, 09, 04:58    #90
Here's some wild life for you:

.

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