In general, here, in the Astrakhan hunting grounds, there are a lot of raccoons (raccoon dogs). I remember an incident when we were camping on the banks of one of the tributaries of the Volga. Every evening, while it was still light, a couple of raccoons came to us and thoroughly cleaned the place where we put the leftover food from our table. At the same time, they squabbled loudly, not sharing a fish head or a bird bone.
And one day, when we were sitting at the table late in the evening by candlelight, I discovered a raccoon sitting at my leg like a dog. Our dogs were hanging around somewhere to the side; Having discovered the uninvited guest, they immediately drove him away, but, I think, not far...
Today we are driving to the far end of the island - the so-called Cape Cormorant. According to our host, this is the place for pheasants. We get out of the car and decide to explore the area surrounding the lake. There are dry eriks, large trees and bushes. Kat, released from the car, immediately begins to rush over someone's ramparts, and one after another, pheasants take off.
Apparently, a whole flock was feeding here, but it was just chickens, and we lowered our guns with regret. We disperse slightly, and Kat and her stand are working on a brood of partridges, one of which I took. Go ahead. A hare jumps out of the dry reeds, but there is no point in shooting too far. Turning around, he walks back into the reeds, followed by Kat. We walk a hundred meters, and again a hare jumps out of these reeds, apparently the same one, and right at us. Seryozha shoots, we are back with meat.
An unexpected surprise awaits us at the edge of the lake. From almost a clear place, none other than a woodcock rises. We stop and think for a long time about where he could have come from in November. After all, the path of the autumn woodcock migration in our area goes towards the Black Sea, but here there is only the Caspian Sea ahead.
We moved on. Dogs literally dive into the reeds that grow along the shores of the lake; one by one the pheasants rise, and all the roosters.
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The guys run as fast as they can, trying to keep up with the dogs, so as not to miss the opportunity for accurate shooting, which turns almost into a cannonade. Kat is ahead of this entire human and canine team, and with her hunting passion she has no time for her owner. My age no longer allows me to run and shoot at such speeds, so I walk closer to the coastal bush in the hope that I, too, will get something from this hunting feast.
And sure enough: ahead, parallel to my progress, a pheasant is running, about twenty meters from me. He apparently doesn’t want to rise to the wing, but quickly runs with long strides - you can’t even think that a bird is capable of such a thing. I wish this nimble runner a safe journey, especially since she is a chicken.
In general, a running pheasant is a difficult bird for a pointing dog. Having sensed him close, the pointer makes a stand, and he, if he does not hide, runs with all his might, significantly breaking away from her. For such a pheasant, a spaniel is more suitable, as it chases the bird without stopping, and overcomes reeds and other supports more easily than a pointing dog. But when hunting with a spaniel, you usually have to run around a lot.
I walk sideways along the lake, and now my hopes have come true. A pheasant picked up by the dogs in the reeds flies straight at me. I hit him, and he, flapping his wings heavily, lands on a tree about forty meters from me. The bird sits openly, sideways to me. Without hesitation, I shoot at her with the second barrel and see that I hit her. But, swaying and shaking itself, the pheasant continues to sit. I reload and hit again over and over again - it sits. One more doublet and the bird finally falls. Apparently, shotgun shot and cylinder barrels are not enough for such a distance.
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While picking up a dead rooster, I remember an old incident. One spring, my friend and I, while in the Arkhangelsk region, went to see a capercaillie. My friend, as the owner of the current, went first, and soon I heard a single shot. After that it was my turn. It didn’t take long for the wood grouse’s song to appear, and I successfully jumped up to the singing rooster while it was still dark. He shot at about twenty meters. After the shot, the bird did not fall, but turned over head down, hung on a branch, holding onto it with one leg. I approach the tree point blank. The bird hangs, showing no signs of life, its wings spread, its head dangling.
The thought arises that the death spasm cramped the capercaillie’s leg and he was hanging on it, already dead. I decide to shoot the branch on which the bird is hanging. I shot half the cartridge belt, but the bitch was at least okay. I’m standing under a tree with a broken gun and thinking about what to do next. And suddenly my capercaillie perked up, pulled himself up on one leg and sat down on a branch; After sitting for about two seconds, he took off noisily and disappeared into the tops of the neighboring fir trees. I, with my mouth open and my gun broken, remained standing in place. A friend who came up, hearing my shooting, thought that at least a bear had attacked me, and rushed to help.
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Photo by Leonid Sonin |
But enough memories, it's time to get back to reality. I come closer to the shore of the lake and see Kat pointing another pheasant right at Seryozha. The hunter strikes, and the bird falls dead into the liquid mud almost in the very middle of the lake. Remembering my yesterday’s torment in almost a similar swamp, I really sympathize with Seryozha, but that was not the case. Kat rushes headlong into the liquid mess and pulls the bird out to a dry place.
Actually, I never taught my pointers to serve dead game from the ground (this is not a royal thing!), but from the water - always, but this required some effort.
We go further along the lake and come out to the opposite shore. Here the water comes to the very edge of the earth, there are no reeds, which means there is nothing for pheasants to do here. We go deeper into the forest, consisting of bushes and tall trees surrounding a dry erik. Kat begins to fumble between the trees, and there it is: about five birds, all roosters, rise from the bushes and fly straight towards us.
We unload the barrels to the fullest extent, but in vain: the pheasants flew and continue to fly. It’s clear that everyone is a moron. We walk further, about five hundred meters, and see Paula, standing with her head down, wagging the rod. Let's get closer. What kind of parable? A dog stands over a pheasant beaten to death - a nurse, and nothing more! Apparently, during our indiscriminate shooting, we finally got one bird. We head through the reeds closer to the car.
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We've been here before, and there shouldn't be any pheasants, but Kat does anyway. Who would it be for? Forward! And again a woodcock rises from an almost completely clear place - apparently the same one that was raised when approaching the lake. I shoot and the bird is in my hands.
Woodcock is large, heavy, covered in fat. This is not a spring flyer, consisting mainly of a sublime of feathers, bones and dry muscles. Of course, against the background of golden pheasant roosters, the woodcock looks like a small gray bird, but if you take a closer look... Here and at this time, it is a very rare trophy and, accordingly, an enviable one. And the dog - oh yes Kat!
But let's return to the Astrakhan reeds. We returned home with rich booty and impressions, had a hearty dinner, drank a traditional “glass of blood,” lit the stove and went to bed; fortunately, our four-legged friends were already snoring peacefully. Well, what else does a hunter need?! This is our joy!
During fairly frequent hunting trips, sometimes for almost a whole month, my comrades and I had to eat exclusively game, and sometimes fish, cooked without any culinary tricks, most often directly over the fire. And believe me, this food, usually consumed for breakfast, lunch and dinner, is boring as hell.
Therefore, now, when I find myself at a feast where hospitable hosts offer ungutted woodcock, wrapped in bacon and taken out of the oven before your eyes, or pheasant stuffed with prunes and nuts, baked in Antonov apples, I always answer the same: “Can I take my share some sausage? However, there are exceptions to this rule - fried quail.
Halloween is just around the corner! Can you guess which nocturnal creature makes its appearance in Halloween costumes and decorations?
Do they fly like birds, see very little in the dark, and hang upside down from tree branches or in caves?
Yes, these are nocturnal creatures called bats.
Have you ever wondered why these flying mammals hang upside down? What if you try to hang upside down from a bar counter? Will you feel dizzy when you get up later?
Hanging upside down is a great way for bats to avoid predators. This puts them in an optimal position to take off if they are attacked.
Why don't bats fly like regular birds?
Bats are mammals that have some of the heaviest wings. They cannot take off while standing upright. Because their wings are heavy, they do not give bats enough lift when they stand like birds.
Another reason for these poor little creatures is that they have underdeveloped back legs. Like an airplane that runs before flying, unfortunately bats cannot do this. Bats will fall if they try to run and then fly.
Thus, bats happily hang upside down from attics, caves, bridges and other similar places.
How do bats fly?
Bats use their claws to climb to high places and then hang upside down. When they are supposed to fly, they let go, fall down and in the middle of their fall they take off. When bats sleep, they hang upside down, as this means they can easily fly up if attacked by predators. Hanging upside down is also a great way for bats to hide from predators.
In South Asia, from Australia to Bombay, there lives a family of hanging parrots - bats, which are so nicknamed for the peculiar position in which the birds sleep.
Funny and cheerful birds sleep on a branch, hanging upside down, clinging to only one paw until dawn. When enemies appear, parrots quickly unhook from the branch and fall down like a stone, and only then spread their wings, this allows them to quickly hide from predators. Sometimes not very educated people mistakenly call them. The genus of hanging parrots has 12 species.
All of them are small in size, comparable to the size of our tits, body length is only 10-16 cm.
But the plumage is quite rich in its color shades; green with blue and red splashes predominate. The rump is formed by red feathers, the tail is cut straight. The legs are strong, but rather short. The beak is adapted for feeding on plant foods; its shape is slightly compressed on the sides. The cere on the beak is feathered.
Parrots are found on the islands of Malacca, Borneo, Kalimantan, and Sumatra. The names of the species are mainly related to the habitats of the birds: Mollucan, Ceylon, Sanguin, Flores, Philippine, Golden-fronted, Blue-headed, Yellow-throated, Red-capped, Spring, Green-fronted and Kamigan Island Hanging Parrots.
Loriculi (the Latin name for parrots) form pairs in their natural habitat, sometimes living alone. Tropical lowland forests abound in plant foods. Seeds, flowers, buds, nuts, fruits, tree sap, which birds drink from cracks in the bark of tropical trees, are all eaten by parrots.
Loriculuses nest in tree hollows; they are excellent tree climbers and are able to easily run along branches. The behavior of parrots during the breeding season is interesting. The male lures his girlfriend and persuades him to build a nest with his offerings. Tasty pieces of fruit and flowers as a gift can conquer any heart, including a bird’s.
Parrots carry building material - leaves, pieces of bark, dry plants, stuck into the plumage of their necks, chests and even backs. During the breeding season, the female lays 2-4 eggs.
Incubation lasts about 20 days. Chicks of the nesting type appear, both parents feed the chicks for several weeks, then the grown birds leave the nest and get their own food. And the female builds a new nest and lays eggs again. Hanging parrots are of interest for breeding and keeping in captivity.
Birds were caught in huge quantities and exported to Europe, but they did not tolerate the difficult journey and change of food. For a long time, people did not care too much about the nutrition of hanging parrots, and fed them with anything. For this reason, birds often died, did not produce offspring, and were practically not bred in captivity. But people again caught the poor birds and put them in cages, like...
It was only with the advent of real bird lovers that professional knowledge was required to make the life of hanging parrots at home more comfortable. But even now, when information about the biology of birds has become more accessible, the too delicate and sensitive loriculi do not live long in captivity; they do not tolerate confinement at all, although with proper maintenance and proper care they reproduce and give birth.
An aviary or a free cage is best suited for birds to live in; living conditions should be as close as possible to natural conditions so that the parrots can hang on their feet and rest peacefully.
Loriculus are freedom-loving birds. If there is not enough free space, parrots cling to the bars of the cage, which causes their paws to become injured and sore. In addition, loriculuses are picky about food; they prefer berries, fruits, and flower nectar. Birds often die during acclimatization, when a change in diet occurs and natural food is replaced by artificial food. Brush-tongued lorises and parakeets feed similarly in captivity.
Nature can sometimes surprise us no less than the dreamers from Hollywood. Well, who would have thought that horses, unlike elephants, do not sleep standing up, dolphins turn off half of their brain, and swifts generally sleep while in flight. About this and much more in our selection.
Horses
Contrary to popular belief, modern domestic horses do not sleep standing up. Standing, they can only be in a state of some kind of slumber. Such a pastime cannot be called complete sleep. In order to fall into a real, deep sleep, during which both the body and the brain will rest, horses, of course, lie down. Most often on the side. However, due to the structural features of the body, its mass, as well as the thinness of the bones, horses can sleep in this state for no more than 3-4 hours. If a horse lies on its side for more than 6 hours, it will develop pulmonary edema.
Dolphins
Dolphins, unlike other mammals, sleep in a very interesting way. When it's time to rest, the dolphin turns off only one hemisphere of the brain, while closing the opposite eye. The other half of the brain at this time monitors the environment, controls breathing, and other basic physiological processes. During such sleep, dolphins can remain on the surface of the water, sometimes swimming slowly with the current. In captivity, dolphins sometimes sleep at the bottom of the pool, periodically rising to the surface for air.
Giraffes
Perhaps one of the most interesting questions is how do giraffes sleep? Indeed, at first glance, with such a long neck, it is quite problematic to rest. But nature has everything thought out. Giraffes sleep with their neck bent so that their head is on the lower part of their hind limb. The entire installation process takes 15-20 seconds. Giraffes first land on their chests and then on their bellies. Interestingly, giraffes sleep only for a few minutes at a time. The duration of deep sleep per night does not exceed 20 minutes.
Whales
It was long believed that whales sleep in the same way as dolphins - switching off one hemisphere at a time. But recent research by scientists has shown that this is not the case. It turned out that whales sleep during short periods of rapid immersion in water. Thus, they do not have a clear division of the day into sleep and wakefulness. Whales gain 10-15 minutes of sleep over the course of several hours.
Penguins
As with horses, there is a myth that penguins sleep standing up. This is, of course, not true, at least not entirely true. Firstly: there are several species of penguins on Earth and many of them sleep differently. For example, gentoo penguins and some others sleep as if they had a pretty good party yesterday. Well, just without hind legs. But the emperor penguins, which, however, are also difficult to call worthwhile. Rather, it is a sitting pose. Penguins stand and walk completely differently.
Hippos
Hippos spend most of their lives in water. They usually sleep either in the shallows with the top of their heads exposed, or completely submerged in the water. In the latter case, hippos reflexively surface every 3-5 minutes to take a breath. And they don't even wake up.
Squirrels
You can often hear that squirrels sleep with their tails wrapped around them. Not that this is not true at all, but rather that it is part of the truth. In fact, squirrels are like many other animals in this regard: they sleep as they lie down. Just like us. Sometimes they wrap themselves in tails, and sometimes they look like penguins returning from a party.
Elephants
Let's start with the fact that there are African and Indian elephants, and they sleep differently. Africans often sleep standing, leaning their side against a tree trunk or clasping it with their trunk. This is due to the fact that African elephants are afraid of overheating their bodies from too hot soil. If the ground is not too hot, then they can sleep alive, with their legs tucked under them, or on their sides. Indian elephants often sleep lying down, with their hind legs bent and their front legs extended forward and their head resting on them. Elephants sleep lasts about 2-3 hours. The animal can wake up, listen and sniff for danger, and then fall asleep again.
Opossums
Another animal that disproves myths about their own sleep is opossums. Yes, they have a very strong tail, yes, they can hang with it upside down on a tree branch, but they do not sleep in that position. In general, possums are nocturnal animals; during the day they rest, sleep, and when it gets dark, they go after prey. Opossums sleep a lot, sometimes up to 18-20 hours a day. To do this, they are located on a tree branch, or curled up in a hollow or other shelter.
Swifts
In general, swifts are known for their records. They are one of the fastest flying birds, and by far the longest flying birds. A swift can fly for up to 4 years. All this time the bird eats, drinks, sleeps and even mates on the fly. A young swift, when it first takes to the air, can fly up to 500 thousand kilometers before landing for the first time. In order to sleep while sleeping, birds gain a high altitude, up to three thousand meters, and then fly at an angle to the direction of the wind, changing direction of flight every few minutes. Thanks to this rhythmicity, swifts continue to fly back and forth over the same place. But in light winds, as has been noted, swifts fly in circles in their sleep.
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