In one of Austria's largest public outdoor swimming pools with access to a branch of the Danube (capacity 30,000 visitors) a group of Canada geese have settled down (which is not without conflicts). Ironically, the name of the lido is "Gaensehaeufel" which means a hoard of geese and a small pile ...
In the same area, one pair of beavers felled 40 trees within one year.
A Viennese school often has to cancel Physical Education because of about 40 wild hamsters living on their sports field and making so many holes that there's acute danger for the kids of wrenching their ankles.
We have hundreds of foxes, kestrels, badgers, bats in hospitals or office towers, boars and wild sows, ring-necked parakeets from Africa, Chinese mandarin ducks and many more within city borders.
According to experts, cities are very attractive for wild animals, because there's plenty of food. Additionally, the design of the parks is more and more near-natural with lots of hiding places and scrubs.
The fellow in the picture above doesn't live in Vienna, but in my home-village. He seems to like the vicinity of houses as he's sitting about 1 metre from my backdoor.
5 comments:
The story with the geese at Gänsehäufel reminds me to the beginning of "The sopranos", when Tony Soprano was so delighted about the ducks using his pool...
He was, really! And it made him sad when they left.
A fascinating post! And I think this is one of the most handsome deer I've ever seen. His antlers are straight up, unlike any here in the U.S. (or that I am aware of). I would feed him if he were near me!
We had marvelous geese in the capitol city of Oregon (Salem) and each year they bring their young to the creek that runs through town. Cars would stop for them to cross the road. Then they expanded the airport and larger planes are being welcomed. Suddenly the geese became the enemy and a "Task Force" was created. Mike and I were in that area last weekend and where the week before I had seen families of geese now there were none. Not one. It makes me sick to think of what they did to eradicate them.....
p.s. did you see my Vienna postcard on Wednesday? :)
Stevie, unlike Tony Soprano a lot of people at the Gaensehauefel are not delighted about the geese, because they're noisy and are leaving dirt and sometimes feel obliged to defend their offspring!
Oh, Lydia, that's a pity that the geese have vanished. But maybe someone saved them or brought them to another place?
Yes, he's a beauty! There's also a female and a one-year old fawn. They visit frequently and like to nibble at the vine leaves (and maybe other plants as well).
Sorry about not being at your blog for so long. The Vienna postcard is beautiful!
You'll get an email very soon.
Carm Soprano was not amused about the duckpoo in the pool, either ...
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