As of: February 13, 2024, 7:06 a.m
By: Josef Ametsbichler
Comments
Press
Split
Almost within reach, several wild boar packs start to feast on the food spread out in front of the viewing platform in the game rest area.
© Stefan Roßmann
The Ebersberg Forest offers more than peace and fresh air.
If you know the right places, you will sometimes find yourself face to face with wild boars and the like - from the safety of the viewing platform.
District - Abandoned and forgotten, the two coffee mugs lie on the picnic blanket that Monika and Emil Halas have spread out on the seating steps of the viewing platform.
The couple from Aschheim leans against the wooden railing and watches the grey-brown, squeaking hustle and bustle of snouts, bristles and rumps that romp around on the forest path a good 150 meters away.
“She's watching us closely!” says Monika Halas about a stream that keeps raising its head towards the wildlife viewing platform deep in the Ebersberg Forest on the edge of the group of around 30 people.
There is a mutual eyeing between the wild boars and their human visitors.
The couple from Aschheim (Munich district) is happy.
As dusk falls over the game rest area in the Ebersberg Forest, the wild boars have jumped on the scattered fodder corn.
The brooks, the newbies and even some old male leaders who otherwise value their peace and quiet.
“When it comes to food, the boar comes to places where it would otherwise be too noisy,” says Heinz Utschig, smiling from under his green-brimmed felt hat.
Utschig, 64, is the head of the Bavarian State Forests in Wasserburg, and therefore something like the landlord in the Ebersberg Forest.
Host: Forsten boss Heinz Utschig (right) with EZ reporter Josef Ametsbichler.
© Artist S. ROSSMANN
On this day in the showroom, less than half an hour's walk from the nearest designated parking space at the St. Hubertus forester's lodge, the Halas turn out to be inquisitive chance acquaintances.
They want to know what happens to deceased pigs, carrion (disposed of when found) - and whether the wild boar meat still contains increased radioactivity 37 years after the Chernobyl reactor disaster (it depends on whether the animals have too many acorns, beechnuts or... deer eat truffles, every animal killed is tested).
Then Monika Halas says: “This is such a beautiful forest.
The good air!” And her husband Emil adds: “And it’s quiet!”
The retired couple, both 74, have been coming to the forest from the urban area of Aschheim for years.
Get some fresh air and nature.
Forest bathing, some call it in modern German.
“You have to recover,” says Monika Halas.
Forestry fans: Emil and Monika Halas from Aschheim near Munich.
© Artist S. ROSSMANN
The two observation booths in the wildlife sanctuary are both an attraction and an insider tip.
The game is not hunted there, but is fed.
The animals remember this and romp around.
Some visitors, like the Halas couple, come with picnic blankets.
Others with nature film requirements and a camera tripod, preferably under a full moon.
Forestry boss Utschig tells how he once met a dozen enthusiastic earwitnesses in the middle of the night during the deer rutting season.
The audience is welcome, that's what the observation booths and show feeding are for.
The busiest time is at dusk, at sunset or early in the morning.
“The early bird always catches something,” says Utschig.
The Halas talk about a wild hare and a snake that they once spotted in the grass.
Through the night vision device, numerous deer can be seen in the clearing even without a full moon.
© Utschig
My news
Open door to Kirchenwirt triggers large-scale police operation
Secret under the field: Researchers explore mysterious, ancient tunnel near Aßlinglesen
Path closed, danger of collapse: Concern for Ebersberg monument read
The moving beer crate from Oberndorf: How much work goes into a carnival float
“Judge Uncomfortably” interrupts the process: Defaulting debtor sent to the ATM read
After death threats: Aggressive football fan arrested at Markt Schwaben train station read
With the light, the color slowly fades from the clearing in front of the viewing platform.
The scattered spruces and larches, which are intended to give the game a feeling of cover, now appear more gray than green.
A flock of crows caws past over the trees, and a plane paints a white contrail across the pale blue sky.
In a hushed voice, Heinz Utschig explains to the Halas family how best to avoid a charging wild boar (“You have to do it exactly right: jump to the side, but not too early and not too late”).
(By the way: Everything from the region is now also available in our regular Ebersberg newsletter.)
However, as long as they are not baches with young offspring, the animals are usually much more afraid of people than the other way around.
This can be seen in the excitement that grips the group when someone steps out of the viewing platform onto the path and sends half of the animals off into the trees.
It's less than half an hour's walk from the St. Hubertus forester's lodge to the next observation platform.
© Neubert Verlag
Actually, everyone is waiting for the highlight of the evening.
As darkness falls, the deer enters the clearing if it feels undisturbed.
That evening, the game has more patience than the Halas, who pack coffee mugs and picnic blankets because they are going home.
A little later, Heinz Utschig will use the night vision device to film the deer, calves and butterflies as they feast on the feed mixture of hay, apple pomace, carrot and corn silage that is supposed to get them through the winter.
The foresters bring it from a nearby barn to the meadow, which has a fence that if not makes it impossible for the wild boars to enter, then at least makes it difficult for them.
“They get along well with each other,” says Utschig as the early February night falls over his forest.
You can find more news in our brand new Merkur.de app, now in an improved design with more personalization functions.
Direct download, more information can be found here.
Are you an enthusiastic user of WhatsApp?
Merkur.de will now keep you up to date via a new Whatsapp channel.
Click here to go directly to the channel.
The viewing pulpit offers a secure, far-sighted view.
© Artist S. ROSSMANN