Dachs, Zeichnung, Naturstudie, Heike Pander
What a lovely and sunny day in spring – we take the opportunity for a ride on our motorbike to the Märkische Schweiz in Brandenburg, not far from Berlin. We love the area with its beautiful hills, forests and lakes. Our first stop is in Buckow to enjoy the best French Fries in the area. We do not stay long as we’d like to head to the artists’ village Ihlow for desert: a delicious home-made cake in the beautiful garden of the organic farm Ihlow.
Today I am riding along as a Sozia – this allows me to enjoy the view over the hilly landscape, which is slowly awakening from its winter sleep. On the meadows, new greenery appears between brown dry tufts of grass. But brown still predominates. My gaze remains fixed on a particularly large pile that seems to be moving. The spot has my full attention – but we pass it too fast on the motorcycle.
As a matter of fact: the grass is moving…
Our visit to Ihlow is a short one, as there is no cake today – like most suppliers the organic farm has closed – thanks to Corona. On the way back we pass the same meadow, and certainly do I keep an eye out for the big moving tuft of grass that had caught my attention earlier. It is still there – and almost at the same spot as before. Again we are too fast for a thorough inquiry – but this time I can clearly see the tuft moving. Not as driven by the wind gently back and forth, but rather from one place to another. This time there is no stopping me and I can convince my driver to turn around.
Quietly he lets the machine roll out at a small bulge directly in front of said meadow and stops. I point to the big pile – and indeed, it moves again. A head emerges from the grass. The animal is looking for food. For a short moment we are irritated. What could this be? Too quickly the head disappeared back into the grass, the animal turns away from us. We stop and puzzle. Badger or tanuki? No, the animal’s legs are too short to be a tanuki! …the head re-appears and the signs are clearly visible this time: the black and white coloration of the face reveals that this is a badger.
Unusual time to forage
So the spring sun does not only lure motorcycle enthusiasts out of their “burrow” and we experience an extraordinary sighting: On the meadows next to the road the badger is moving in broad daylight! We would never have expected this, because the predators from the marten family forage mainly at night. What a meeting in the wild and open. While I can hardly rein in my enthusiasm, Master Grimbart, as the badger is also often called in fables and fairy tales, searches in oblivion on the ground for molluscs such as worms or snails. It still seems a bit too early for fruits or birds’ eggs. I am a little surprised by the brownish colouring of its fur – I had it somehow greyer in my memory.
As cool as a cucumber – the badger keeps on
Suddenly the animal looks at us – and gets a fright! For a short moment it sniffs in our direction, but cannot classify us to friend or foe. Immediately it presses its compact body even flatter into the grass. It looks quite skilfully: because if we didn’t know that it was there – we could hardly see it anymore. The moment of shock does not last too long. The badger realises that there is no danger from us. Quickly it gets up and goes about its business – moving away from us in a zigzag without hurry. I enjoyed this unusual encounter and happily we start our way home.
Hallo Frau Pander,
also … das kam so: ich treibe mich öfters in Sambia herum, weil meine Tochter dort lebt. Bisher waren es zwar diese Leberwurstbäume, die es mir angetan hatten, aber von meinem letzten Besuch ( gerade vier Wochen her ) brachte ich erstmals eine fette Baobab-Frucht mit. Der Zoll winkte mich irritiert durch .. Wie auch immer, das Ding aufgebrochen und an die 150 Samen da herausgepopelt. Und im Netz nach Tips gesucht, und auf Sie und Ihren Blog gestoßen. Verflixt, ich mache das ja nicht wissenschaftlich, und hatte es als nicht notwendig erachtet, die verschiedenen Töpfe mit den unterschiedlichen Vorgehensweisen zu beschriften. War das jetzt eingeritzt und in warmem Wasser eingeweicht ? Oder nur angeschliffen und in Essig ? Oder Essig und im Kühlschrank ? Keine Ahnung, aber bei mir geht die Post ab, jede Menge gekeimte Baobabs ! Wollte ich Ihnen nur mal schnell mitteilen. Ach ja, und in Buckow, Brandenburg, und im Oderbruch kenne ich mich noch besser aus als im South Luangwa. Nur, statt Enduro gehe ich heute lieber zu Fuß oder paddel durch die Gegend.
Viele Grüße, Klaus Nolte
Hallo Herr Nolte,
herzlichen Dank für Ihren netten Kommentar & herzliche Glückwünsche, dass Sie die Baobab-Samen erfolgreich zum Keimen gebracht haben! Das klingt toll. Ich hoffe, Sie haben gute Verwendung für viele Baobab-Pflanzen oder ausreichend begeisterte Freunde, die sich über kleine Baobabs freuen! South Luangwa klingt toll. Ist eine meiner Lieblingsregionen und ja, Brandenburg liebe ich auch sehr! Ihnen wünsche ich viel Freude mit den Baobabs. Herzliche Grüße, Heike Pander