During the corona pandemic, more and more people are drawn to nature.
Especially in spring they can do a lot of damage there.
Munich
- The forest is nature's living room.
In spring it is also your nursery: the birds breed and the game has its offspring.
For many people, the forest is a place of relaxation during the pandemic.
To ensure that this is compatible, consideration is the top rule for all visitors.
The pheasant stretches up.
He seems to be screaming from the yellow sign at the top of his throat, “I'm a pheasant and I breed here.
Please watch out, my nest is so well camouflaged that I am glad to find it again myself.
You don't see it until you're inside. ”Signs like this have been hanging in the woods in the Starnberg district for a few days.
The chairman of the district hunting association, Hartwig Görtler, designed it and had it printed in collaboration with a graphic artist.
The hunter boss and his colleagues have installed a total of 500 pieces so far.
Corona virus in Bavaria: More walkers in the forest - hunters do not want to prohibit anything and therefore warn
The notices in A4 format, printed on recycled plastic, are aimed at the many walkers who are looking for relaxation in the forest during the pandemic.
“People have to get out,” says Görtler.
The hunters do not want to set bans, but rather to draw attention to the fact that animals live in the forest.
Who are just giving birth to and raising their offspring.
Unlike human babies, animal children stay quiet and well camouflaged in their nursery.
In this way they can avoid many predators.
It is different with walkers.
Often, supposedly lonely animal children are touched or even collected.
"Game touched by humans may not be accepted by the mother again and then starve to death," says Hannah Reutter from the Bavarian Hunting Association, who also uses signs to promote more consideration in the forest as part of a visitor guidance campaign.
According to Reutter, getting too close to offspring can be dangerous: "While deer and hares tend to flee, a wild boar brook can defend its little ones against enemies."
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The Starnberg hunters draw attention to the forest dwellers and their needs with colorful signs.
Hartwig Görtler (left) and Markus Ortner put the information up in many places in the forest.
© Dagmar Rutt
When walkers run off the beaten path, it bothers the animals.
“Even if it is difficult: Please stay on the paths!
Disturbances on the trails are more 'predictable' for the game. ”And although there is no leash requirement in Bavaria, the hunting association strongly recommends keeping dogs on a leash during the breeding and setting season until July.
"Even well-behaved dogs follow their prey drive," says Hannah Reutter.
"Unfortunately, for fawns packed by dogs, there is often no other option than to redeem the animal."
Excursions in Bavaria: Strollers disturb animals - Google intensifies the problem extremely
The fact that animals are repeatedly disturbed by strollers is also due to Internet services such as Google.
If many people walk through the forest on the same route, Google will mark the route as a path - even if it is just a beaten path.
Hartwig Görtler says that a deer crossing area suddenly becomes a promenade.
He has received a lot of positive feedback for the signs, and there have been inquiries from all over Germany and Austria.
But the reactions in the area are particularly valuable.
“People ask questions, you start a conversation,” he says.
“And that is the most important thing.” After all, the hunters want to use their signs to inform and raise awareness - before the walkers unintentionally stand in the pheasant's nest.
