2023-06-04 03:20:45
Despite offers of help for farmers, young deer keep dying while mowing the meadows. The “cry of the animal goes through marrow and leg,” says one farmer.
Altenstädt – There shouldn’t be any more pictures like this: A doe stands on a freshly mowed meadow near Altenstädt and sniffs at her fawn, which was dismantled by the mower. The photos and also a video, says the old town resident Martina Wächter, she took on Sunday. “In the morning we cut. The doe was in the meadow several times in the followingnoon, right at the spot where her fawn is lying.” And even on Wednesday evening, the guard watched the mother deer once more at the spot.
Drone helps search for endangered animals
Martina Wächter is a member of the Rehkitzrettung Nordhessen association and, whenever she has time, goes to the meadows at sunrise in the morning, which the association’s teams are currently flying over with their drones equipped with thermal imaging cameras. The group led by Oelshausen chairman Florian Bayan works on a voluntary basis and does not even ask for money from the farmers, who are obliged under the provisions of the Animal Welfare Act to be diligent and have to do everything possible to ensure that no fawns get into the mower.
When the fawn rescue team use the drone to locate fawns in tall grass, they are carefully placed in special rescue boxes that are securely placed at the edge of the area until the mowing is complete. Immediately followingwards, the young deer are put back into this meadow. It might hardly be easier or safer.
Knowledge “not yet reached all farmers”
In Altenstädt there was no request from the farmer to the kitz rescuers, says Florian Bayan. The plan to mow was also not reported to the leaseholder of the Altenstadt district or the responsible game warden, says game warden David von Knebel. Because then the kitz rescuers would have been brought on board. “The knowledge of how to behave correctly has not yet reached all farmers,” says von Knebel. He later spoke to the farmer, who explained to him that he had walked the lawn before mowing.
However, Johannes Gerhold from the Kassel District Farmers’ Association also knows how difficult it is to spot a fawn walking through tall grass. The graduate agricultural engineer knows the problem from his own experience as a farmer. When walking through, he says, you can hardly see the fawns in the grass, even if you’re standing right next to them.
“The cry of the beast goes through marrow and bone”
However, Zierenberger is certain that the majority of farmers are aware of their responsibility towards the animals when mowing the green areas and act accordingly. “Those who don’t care are the exception. They tend to marginalize themselves by doing nothing,” says Gerhold. “As a farmer, you get angry because you’re lumped together with these black sheep.”
And Gerhold mentions another aspect of why negligence in this area is likely to be the exception: “There is nothing more cruel for someone who mows a fawn, because this high-pitched cry of the animal goes through marrow and bone. Nobody wants to experience that a second time.”
If he takes his home area – Zierenberg and Habichtswald – as an example, he can say that the hunting tenants and hunting cooperatives, together with the farmers, do a lot there to ensure the safety of the newly released deer. He names devices that are plugged into the area in the evening before mowing and startle the does with their high-pitched sound and motivate them to get their offspring out of the area.
Time windows for mowing put great pressure on farmers
Mobile devices have also been purchased that are installed on the tractor or mower and drive the kids to flee with their unpleasant, high-frequency sound, which, however, only works with older kids. The flight instinct is not yet present in the young fawns. Some leaseholders now also have drones with thermal imaging cameras, which Gerhold says are “the safest option” when it comes to tracking down the fawns in the green.
“The size of the area and the small time window for mowing create great pressure on the farmers,” says Stefanie Wetekam, agricultural officer at the district farmers’ association. Nevertheless, she also emphasizes: “I feel an increasing sensitivity among the farmers.” But she also emphasizes that it is not 100 percent impossible for kids to be overlooked and mown, “regardless of which method one chooses. The worst method, however, is not to do anything at all.” That is why the association keeps sending information emails to members “to do something, especially in the endangered areas near the forest.”
200 fawns saved this year
In any case, the Kitzrettung Nordhessen, in cooperation with the farmers and the hunting tenants, has already had considerable success to report, although the operational season, which runs from the end of April to the end of June, is not over yet. On 21 days of operation, says Chairman Florian Bayan, up to three teams rescued around 200 fawns in the region this year and flown a good 1200 hectares. You might have taken part in the meadow in Altenstädt without much effort. (Norbert Mueller)
Last year, hunters also helped in the search for fawns in fields.
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