Benediktbeuern - The Benediktbeuern monastery has some new, very active guests: beavers have dammed the village stream and created a small reservoir directly in front of the Maierhof.
A few meters further on, a badger has created a cave system with five large entrances.
Benediktbeuern
- "We are happy - this is definitely an enrichment for the monastery," says Father Karl Geißinger, head of the Center for Environment and Culture.
Some Benediktbeurer view the beavers' activities critically.
Geißinger knows these concerns, but thinks "that you shouldn't make an ideology out of it".
So far there have been no problems.
“The beaver family is very active, but we have come to terms with it.” Every day he visits to see whether the animals are overdoing the damming up of water.
If necessary, you have to remove one or the other branch so that the water can flow out of the village stream unhindered.
There is no danger for the Maierhof, as the water can, if necessary, drain off via an old pipe system that runs directly along the Maierhof.
The beavers are not only interested in the water, but also in the trees nearby.
Some of them have already gnawed off the beaver completely, which is why the monastery has fenced in all plants that are interesting for the beaver - including whitebeams, poplars and nut trees.
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An active roof has created a cave system with five large entrances near the adventure biotope.
© Patrick Staar
The situation at the adventure biotope, where the beavers have also dammed a pond, is completely harmless: "No agricultural areas or paths are affected," Geißinger emphasizes.
He thinks it makes no sense to drive the beaver away, as the area is then immediately reoccupied by another animal: "They are based on scents given off by other beavers," explains the environmental expert.
“You can smell the fragrances for several kilometers.
If these fragrances are missing, the next beavers come immediately.
“The extremely fine nose of the animals helps Geißinger on tours.
He then dumps some apple juice into the village stream and lays out pieces of apple.
The beavers register this immediately, because apples are one of their favorite foods.
The animals look for and find the source of food - and visitors can watch them in peace.
Geißinger came as a surprise that a badger has now also settled near the monastery - these animals are a real rarity: "In the past 20 years I haven't noticed any badgers at all in this area." The badger digs in tunnels a hill near the adventure biotope.
A fox seized the opportunity and moved into a part of the roof cave.
He's being attacked by the badger, says Geissinger, “but the fox is already getting through”.
You can tell that he lives in the roof cave by the bitten grave lights, explains Geißinger.
“The fox fetches the lights from the cemetery at night, bites them open and eats the vegetable fat that is the fuel.
A badger wouldn't do that. ”The tits would then pick out the remaining fat.
(Patrick Staar)
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