Forest animals

Bear Ursus arctos
There are living four bears – Made, Mikus, Puika and Ilzīte – in the Līgatne Nature Trails. Ilzīte is the most favourite of them. Ilzīte was born on 11 January 2001 in the enclosure of Līgatne Nature Trails. She has not received a drop of mother’s milk – she grew up with the help of our animal nurse Velga. When the she-bear was born, her fur was extraordinarily grey. When she was around 5 months old, it gradually became brown. When Ilzīte reached the 9 months her weight was 48 kg.

When she was little, she liked to climb trees up to the top, swing in the wind and break the branches. Ilzīte likes to eat bread, carrots, apples, cucumbers, oatmeal porridge with jam and honey. She is very keen on hazelnuts, different fruit and berries, salad, acorns and boiled meat.

Red Fox Vulpes vulpes L.

Are two foxes in the Līgatne Nature Trails.

Red foxes are essentially omnivores. They mostly eat rodents, rabbits, frogs, lizards, eggs, fish and fruit. They like to eat mice that they can hear from a very long distance and even under snow.

Foxes have an excellent smell – their nose is more than 400 times more sensitive than a human nose. They are very „talkative” as well – they can growl, howl and bark. In different situations it can use one of around 40 sounds that it can make.

Lynx Lynx lynx
Are two lynxes in the Līgatne Nature Trails – Leonora and Vilijs. In Latvia one can find the Eurasian lynx. A lynx is from 80 to 130 cm long. The Eurasian lynx is the largest, with males averaging 21 kg, and the females averaging 18 kg. In the wild, a lynx can live up to 17 years, but in captivity it can survive up to 25 years of age. The lynx is a carnivore. It mainly eats rats, deer, birds, rodents and rabbits.

Lynx are primarily crepuscular and nocturnal in their habits, spending the daytime in rest and do not hibernate. Eurasian lynxes are hermits that avoid meeting each other. A lynx is very precautious, therefore it is quite difficult to observe it. It has an excellent eyesight and hearing. The tassels on its ears help lynx detect even very silent sounds. Comparing to other senses, the smell is the least developed.

Wild Boar Sus scrofa L.
During your visit you can observe four wild boars in the Līgatne Nature Trails – Ansis, Grieta, Lilija and Mūsa.

A large wild boar male is at least five years old, higher than a meter in his nape, almost two meters in length and weighs around 200 kg. A female wild boar is smaller. On average a wild boar lives up to 3 to 8 years, in captivity – up to 21 year. In May wild boar mothers alone give birth to 2-12 cubs.

Wild boars are primarily nocturnal animals, although they may be more diurnal in times of food shortage. Wild boar has an omnivorous diet, consuming vegetable matter (beech mast, acorns, green plants, and tubers), carrion, and live animal prey (earthworms, insect larvae, and small vertebrates).

Wild boars create their lairs pushing and pulling the fallen leaves, grass and moss with the help of their snouts and front legs. In cold weather males like to sleep in the anthills or red forest ants. Wild boars use the same sleeping place for many times if it seems safe.

Owls
In the territory of Latvia there are living or observed 13 owl species. In Līgatne Nature Trails there are Eagles Owls and a Tawny Owl.

The Tawny Owl lives in quite large forests, by farms, in cemeteries and even in towns. It lays its eggs in hollows of aspens and oaks, as well as in cracks of buildings and under roofs. They like to use suitable bird-boxes. Most commonly they eat mice, but they also like maybugs, rain-worms, frogs, toads and youngsters of other birds. In one brood they have two to six youngsters. They leave the hollow or the bird-box while not able to fly. Owlets lightly crawl from branch to branch and ask for food with deep whistles from their parents for several weeks.

Eagle Owls live in large forests with good feeding places, for example, lakes rich in waterfowl. Near Gauja eagle owl families use to live in sand stone cave niches. It is also keen on hunting hares, hedgehogs and rats. Sometimes in winter the eagle fowl can be observed in the city, near trash dumps.

The Eagle Owl is a nocturnal predator and does not hibernate.

Red Deer Cervus elaphus L.
In Līgatne Nature Trails there is a herd of Red Deer. The Red Deer is one of the largest deer species and inhabitants of Latvian forests. Generally, the male (stag) Red Deer is typically 175–230 cm long and weighs 160–240 kg; the female is 160–210 cm and weighs 120–170 kg. Red Deer lives up to over 20 years in captivity and on average 10 to 13 years in the wild.  In woodland its diet consists mainly of shrub and tree shoots, but in other habitats it also consumes grasses, sedges and shrubs.

Females in their second autumn can produce one and very rarely two offsprings per year. The offspring will remain with their mothers for almost one full year.

Antlers are made of bone which can grow at a rate of 2.5cm a day. A soft covering known as velvet helps to protect newly forming antlers in the spring. European red deer antlers are distinctive in being rather straight and rugose, with the fourth and fifth tines forming a "crown" or "cup" in larger males.

Wolf Canis lupus L.
There is a couple of wolves living in the Līgatne Nature Trails – Akels and Rakša.

Wolf is a carnivorous mammal, diurnally consuming up to 5 kg of feed. After a prolonged period of absolute fasting it may devour up to 10 kg of feed. In Latvia, wolf can enjoy more diverse feed as compared to the situation in the majority of central and west European countries. We have four species of wild ungulates in Latvia: elk, red deer, wild boar, roe deer; two species of hare – mountain, and brown, Eurasian beaver and a number of other animals, favoured by wolf as prey. The wolf’s diet may vary depending on the season, with wild ungulates – (cervidae, wild boar) predominating in winter and more diverse feed in summer, including birds, small mammals, berries, fruit, etc.

Nowadays, in Europe forest is the most essential habitat for wolf, where it feels safe. The fact that wolf has become a typical forest dweller is of less importance here. Approximately one thousand years ago wolves lived in an open landscape. Wolf as a species is highly flexible, and can adapt itself to a wide variety of ambient conditions.

Though they almost never attack humans, wolves are considered one of the animal world's most fearsome natural villains. They do attack domestic animals, and countless wolves have been shot, trapped and poisoned because of this tendency.

European Elk Alces alces L.
In Līgatne Nature Trails lives a whole elk family – mother Līnīte, father Antiņš and daughter Saulcerīte (Saulīte). Līnīte is the elk who has lived the longest time in the Līgatne Nature Trails. All of them are social and friendly. Nevertheless, during rutting-time one must be very careful because Antiņš wishes to ‚protect‘ his ladies and may become aggressive and try to get into the fence with his antlers.

The Elk is the largest species of deer with a head and body length of 200 to 300 cm. Its weight seldom reaches 250 to 800 kg. In the wild Elk have an average lifespan of between 8 and 12 years. Usually a single young is born, but up to 4 young may be born, although this is uncommon. Elk are mostly active during the early hours of the morning and in the late afternoons.

They do not hibernate but during the winter months when there is little food to be found they will find a sheltered location and spend much of the winter there. Elk have the largest and heaviest antlers of any deer. Only the males carry antlers. The antlers can be up to 2 metres in length, and weigh as much as 35 kilograms. The antlers are lost each year between December and March. Elk are excellent swimmers.

It feeds on vegetative parts of trees, shrubs, dwarf shrubs, herbs, and aquatic plants, and is a pest of agriculture and forestry in at least parts of its range. It is estimated that they must eat about 40 kg each day.

Roe deer Capreolus capreolus L.
All Roe Deer living in the Līgatne Nature Trails have lived together with people before they got here. Therefore they are not able to live as wild animals anymore and so have been saved from a safe death.

The European roe deer is the smallest member of the deer family in Latvia with a body length of 95-135 cm. Its weight seldom reaches 40 kg – that is, about the size of a large dog. Females give birth after a ten-month gestation period, typically to two spotted fawns of opposite sexes. The Roe Deer attains a maximum life span (in the wild) of ten years.

The Roe Deer is primarily active during the twilight. They do not hibernate. The Roe deer eats mainly grass, leaves, berries and young shoots. It particularly likes very young, tender grass with high moisture content i.e. grass that has received rain the day before.

Only the males have antlers, which are lost during winter, but which re-grow in time for the mating season. The Roe Deer spends most of its life alone, preferring to live solitary, except when mating during the breeding season.

It occupies a wide variety of habitats, including deciduous, mixed or coniferous forests, moorland, pastures, arable land, and suburban areas with large gardens. It prefers landscapes with a mosaic of woodland and farmland. Roe deer are well adapted to modern agricultural landscapes.

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