Because of the wet May, fawns are particularly endangered this year.
In Ammerland, hunters, fire brigades and farmers work together to ensure that no animal is harmed.
Münsing
- In Ammerland, rescuing the fawns is practically teamwork for the whole village: farmers, hunters and the fire brigade help together to save the animals. "We improve every year," says huntress Ursula Scriba. Markus Geigl, First Commander of the Ammerland Fire Brigade, introduced the drone equipped with a thermal imaging camera last year. Hans Hofner, hunting director of the Münsinger Jagdbögen, also spoke out for the topic.
Especially the spring of 2021, when the vegetation is delayed by three weeks due to the cool weather, harbors a great danger for the fawns, because: The goats' set dates coincide with the first mowing.
“We only found the first fawn three weeks ago,” says Scriba.
"This is unusual because the first fawns can normally be expected from mid-April."
A drone does an important job
The process in Ammerland 2021 showed how the cooperation works.
The farmers from the Maxler, Gorythoma, Sterz, and Heiß farms informed the responsible hunters Josef Lanzinger, Ursula Scriba, Markus Feigl with apprentice Birgit Böhm when the mowing vehicles were due.
The hunters used their experience to find out where the fawns might be.
For a long time now, the hunters have been watching goats pacing the meadows in search.
They choose the safe place carefully.
+
It's about them: when in danger, fawns call “Päääp” for their mother.
But this survival strategy doesn't work with combine harvesters.
© private
You have to know that deer mothers give birth to their fawns in the meadows.
“They lie down next to the fawns and offer their teats for a first fundamental strengthening”, explains Markus Feigl.
“After just three hours, they can stand up on their own and take their first steps.” The mother moves away, but stays close and only comes by for about half an hour a day to suckle.
If the little ones feel threatened, they utter a loud “Päääp”.
Then the deer mothers come and get them out of the danger area.
"This backup does not work with the noisy mowers," says Scriba.
The thermal camera shows the location of the fawn
In Ammerland this year Stephan Vogt controlled the drone. If a red dot is visible on the display, it means that there is something warm on the floor, in this case eight degrees different from the floor temperature. Then Markus Feigl started with the experienced hunting dog Alva and Ursula Scriba with Isi to the indicated point: The drone is there to help, exactly above the measuring point. Empty twin beds indicate the dogs, the goat has already fetched the fawns. The combination of drone and human is particularly effective, because: humans and dogs leave behind their smell, which the deer's fine noses recognize as dangerous. “That's why they avoid the area for many hours,” says Scriba. Conversely, hunters and dogs only move in the area indicated by the drone, so the meadows are protected as much as possible.
Also read: Ammerland: Empire for a summer
The drone still has 20 minutes of battery life.
This time is used to fly off the edge of the Weipertshauser forest.
When the battery is empty, the drone automatically comes back at high speed.
The grass-filled boxes in the car for fawns were not used today.
The hunters would have deposited the fawns in the safe garden until the mowing is over, so that none of the little ones would get the idea of quickly running back into the deadly mowing zone on their tall, thin legs.
Everything went well and the moon is high over Ammerland.
Wolfratshausen-Geretsried-Newsletter:
Everything from your region! Our brand new Wolfratshausen-Geretsried newsletter informs you regularly about all the important stories from the region - including all the news about the corona crisis in your community. Sign up here.
