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Bambi protectors in action: Here, fawns are saved from certain mowing death with drones

2022-05-12T19:20:10.880Z


Bambi protectors in action: Here, fawns are saved from certain mowing death with drones Created: 05/12/2022, 21:03 By: Armin Forster Saved from mowing death: farmer Hans Holzner (right) and his employee Aykhan Ismayilov with a fawn in the basket. © Armin Forster In order to save fawns from the cruel mowing death, the Freising hunting club now offers a special service with drones. We were at a


Bambi protectors in action: Here, fawns are saved from certain mowing death with drones

Created: 05/12/2022, 21:03

By: Armin Forster

Saved from mowing death: farmer Hans Holzner (right) and his employee Aykhan Ismayilov with a fawn in the basket.

© Armin Forster

In order to save fawns from the cruel mowing death, the Freising hunting club now offers a special service with drones.

We were at a rescue.

Grossenviecht

– Cows lying on the pasture look curiously through the twilight when cars drive past them at 5 a.m. to the Holzner-Hof.

Arriving at the agricultural estate in Grossenviecht near Langenbach (Freising district), three men and a woman get out.

They are eagerly awaited: the Kitz rescuers are here!

Kitz rescuers from Freising: Grassland mowing begins

Grassland mowing is starting these days in the fields of the Freising district.

Although the grass is not yet fully grown, it is now particularly rich in protein - perfect for the silage, the green fodder preserved through fermentation.

But now comes the catch: It is also the time when young game seeks shelter in the dense grass of the meadows.

Instead of fleeing the noisy mower, the few-week-old offspring crouches further into the thicket - and is caught there by the agricultural machine.

A bloody drama that has occupied the farmers for decades and could rarely be reliably prevented with conventional methods such as scaring away or human chains.

However, the problem has been successfully solved for a few years: through air support.

Briefing: the hunters (from left) Mareike Wulf, Walter Bott and (from right) Christoph Iraschko and Alexander Franckenstein in conversation with farmer Hans Holzner (front) and his colleague Aykhan Ismayilov.

© Armin Forster

The four visitors to the Holzner farm are members of the Freising Stadt und Land hunting protection and hunters' association.

According to the association's statutes, the 750 members are not only committed to hunting, but also to nature and animal protection.

And so the association started a project last year.

The goal: to fly drones with video and thermal imaging cameras over the fields and thus guide the farmers to animal hiding places.

Kitz rescue in Freising: technology for 12,000 euros to protect the animals

"There was a subsidy offer from the Ministry of Agriculture for up to two drones," says Deputy Chairman Alexander Franckenstein.

So it was researched which models are best suited - and now you have two professional sets from the manufacturer DJI worth around 12,000 euros.

To this end, several members were trained to become licensed drone pilots and practiced operations for a month.

Ready to take off: the drone with thermal imaging camera.

© Armin Forster

Today's tour is briefly discussed with farmer Hans Holzner this morning in Grossenviecht, then the group gets into the cars and follows the Bulldog over dusty country lanes.

Holzner's son Johannes is secretary at the hunting club himself, he ordered the drone troop.

The service is offered on a voluntary basis, but a donation to the association's treasury is welcome.

Kitz rescue in Freising must take place in the early hours of the morning

5.15 a.m., the convoy stops at the first meadow.

While birds are giving their morning concert in the nearby forest and a fresh spring breeze is blowing across the plain, the hunters are unpacking their suitcases: drones, batteries and screens are in them, along with binoculars and radios.

Meanwhile, Walter Bott, chairman of the association, explains why this is happening at the crack of dawn: "As soon as the sun comes out, each molehill is heated and it then appears on the display as an additional conspicuous spot that we have to check."

Control and monitor the drone and its camera images: the pilots Christoph Iraschko and Mareike Wulf.

© Armin Forster

Then the pilot duo Christoph Iraschko and Mareike Wulf let the neon-colored camera drone take off.

"Maximum 50 meters high," says Franckenstein.

"Then you don't come into conflict with any law." In the vicinity of the airport, you also need a permit from the authorities.

Kitz rescue in Freising: A dark point causes a lot of excitement

The aircraft whirrs along the sky, the group alternately looks up, into the distance and at the display, looking for anything unusual.

"There's something there," calls Iraschko and immediately everyone crowds excitedly around the pilots.

The man at the joysticks lowers the drone to get clearer footage.

A dark dot can be seen on the left half of the display, the black-and-white thermal image, and on the right the same section as a real aerial photograph, where a brown spot in the middle of the green only becomes apparent during the descent.

Then the spot suddenly jumps away: It was just the adult doe.

The animal runs away and disappears into the area.

Double overview: The dark spot of the thermal image is visible on the left, the fawn in nature on the right.

© Armin Forster

A few minutes later, Mareike Wulf points to the display and is certain: "But now!" Farmer Hans Holzner and his colleague Aykhan Ismayilov pack a basket padded with grass and hurry towards the spot under the flashing drone.

The meadow is still wet from the morning dew, and the two men are dragging a cloud of pollen behind them.

Kitz rescue in Freising: loud screams and great relief

When they reach the spot, Holzner rips up a few more tufts of grass with which he can grab the fawn.

A second cub jumps up and rushes away in the direction of its mother.

Holzner and Ismayilov can grab the other fawn and put it in their basket while the little guy screams loudly.

Relief spreads.

There are wonderful moments in nature included in the early morning search operations.

© Armin Forster

"These drones are the best there is," says Hans Holzner happily.

The 77-year-old has seen too many fawns die in his farming life.

What he cannot understand: "There are always very smart people who ask in letters to the editor why we save fawns if they are shot when they are grown." Holzner gives the answer immediately afterwards: "So that the animals are not tortured!

And because, ultimately, rotting meat can poison farm animals with botulism.”

(By the way: everything from the region is now also available in our regular Freising newsletter.)

The farmer and his helper lift the basket with the fawn over a small ditch at the edge of the field and release the animal to freedom on the other side.

Then it's back to the vehicles - and with them one kilometer further to the next meadow.

Kitz rescue in Freising: Suddenly the police are in the sky

6.15 a.m., the sun slowly peeks through the line of trees on a hill on the horizon.

"We have to get ready now, otherwise it will get too warm," warns pilot Iraschko.

But then he pauses the search himself and starts a hasty descent: A police helicopter flies over the area, nobody wants to get in the way.

The pilots also keep a close eye on high-voltage lines and treetops.

Fawn in the basket: Farmer Hans Holzner releases the rescued young deer in the forest.

© Armin Forster

It takes a quarter of an hour, then the fawn rescuers discover another young animal and repeat the procedure with the basket.

It is released by Hans Holzner after 100 meters through his forest in a clearing, where it escapes loudly and with powerful leaps.

Two fawns rescued – this should remain the case this morning, despite other stations in the group.

For farmer Holzner and the hunters, however, this yield is more than satisfactory.

"In this first week we have already searched almost 50 hectares and found five fawns," reports Alexander Franckenstein, back at the wheel of his Skoda and with pride in his voice.

"Of course, getting up early is bad," says the 53-year-old electrical engineer.

"But if you then experience this atmosphere in nature in the morning and also save a fawn from certain mowing death, then you are more than rewarded for the effort."

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-05-12

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