The Photo Trap Has Captured Winter Fishing of Animals In The Oka Reserve

A photo trap on the territory of the Oka State Reserve watched as boars, foxes, otters, eagles and other animals took turns to go fishing for a small polynya from the beginning of February to mid-March.

The lakes of the floodplain of the Pra River - the Oka tributary - are poor in oxygen, the water is dark, peaty. So the death of fish in the winter is not a rarity there. And this year in January, some old river beds “burned out” according to the words of fishermen: the fish began to gasp and die there. And the first to know about this were wild boars and foxes.

A fox sensed the "flavor" of the fish and tried to get it, picking ice in places where it is thinner. But the real fishing began when a wild boar came to the place. He “probed” with the snout the state of the ice, chose the most promising places for the holes making, cleared the snow and opened the ice, using, for lack of an ice-screw and ice pick, hoofs, snouts and fangs. Sensing the influx of oxygen, the fish rushed to the surface of the water and hit right in the beast's mouth. Making about a dozen holes, wild boar walked from one to another, checking them like a real fisherman. These holes served animals more than one day.

Boar activity facilitated access to fish for other animals. The fox quickly oriented itself — it ran to the lake along the boar’s trail, and returned back with a fish in its teeth. The fox ate and went to hide the excess in the snow. After a good thaw, raccoon dogs woke up and also went to the lake...

Another eminent angler is the white-tailed eagle. The fish is the basis of its diet, but it is impossible to break the thick ice, it is necessary to look for polynyas or boar holes. If there is a slightly open water, the eagle can hold a real master class in fishing with the help of paws. It sits on the ice, looks into the water with an eagle eye, and then grabs with its paw! 

It was surprising to see a gray owl, sitting down by the water several nights in a row. Usually owls specialize in rodent catching. But in fact, back in 1997, employees of the Oka Reserve found traces of an owl's meal near one of the old houses of Prа: remnants of the water beetles, pike, perch, and ide. Like this year, the number of rodents was low, and the owl had to expand its diet.