When we first set up our wildlife camera in the forest, we weren’t quite sure what to expect. The forest lies tucked away behind a small road with a few houses, people and dogs. How much wildlife would there really be? We had seen clear signs of wild boar digging up the ground and roe deer feeding on the young trees, but beyond that, we didn’t know much.
We set up the camera and left it undisturbed for six months, from spring to summer. When we finally took it down and went through the footage, we were surprised. We saw:
🦊 Red fox
🐗 Wild boar
🦌 Roe deer and fallow deer
🐦 Great tit
🐇 European hare
🦡 European badger
Since then, summer has turned into autumn, and autumn into winter on Björkesö. Several familiar friends appear again:
🦊 Red fox
🐗 Wild boar
🦌 Roe deer
🐦 Great tit (our little camera terrorist)
🐇 European hare
🦡 European badger
Our forestry workers and our faithful companion, Maja the dog, also managed to appear on camera. One thing made us curious, though: the fallow deer seem to have disappeared. Where did they go?
We were also surprised to see the fox apparently chasing two roe deer. Take a look at 12:14. Was it just playing, or was it unusually hungry? A small fox could hardly bring down an adult roe deer.
For us, it is fascinating to see what happens in the forest when we are not there. The many different animal species are a sign of a lively and healthy forest.