Our first spring exercise in Transylvania is over

Experience

The first spring internship organised by our Foundation, during which a student of the Hungarian University of Agricultural and Life Sciences had the opportunity to expand his professional knowledge and experience in the thousand-faced Transylvania, has come to an end. We could get to know a new, spring face of the wildlife management practice of the fabulous region, which has been home to our summer internships for years, from the student's richly experienced reports(here and here), who also writes in detail about his experiences of the last days in his internship diary.

Ms Diána Mészáros Gazsó practical diary Part III

On Thursday we woke up to the weather turning rainy again, making it harder to get going in the morning. We went to the area's spreaders, which we filled with fresh forage. In turn came the Fourth, Pile, Nice Forest, Swamp. Perhaps due to the dreary, rainy weather, the forest was very quiet. We saw bear, deer and wild boar tracks everywhere we went, but no game showed itself. There was one interesting thing, though. The bear migration in the area of the Halmi Medveles is quite big in the evenings. Attila had been sleeping out in the den this week and heard the bears fighting and howling at each other. The mating season has started, and the males start to rival each other. Around the den, large pine trees had been broken up and two bloody fur balls were discovered in the forest. These are some guys!

The next day we took salt again to the salt pans in the area. With the small Polaris, you can get to places that are impossible to reach with an off-road car. We did manage to get stuck once, but thanks to Boti's ingenuity we were soon free of the mud. We also set up a wildlife camera, as we don't have the time or the manpower to monitor every single spreader continuously. This invention is very useful in this profession and is often used.

On the last day, we were back to the sprays, and the hunting company is expecting guests for the weekend. When they come out for a stalk, they will be lucky enough to see one or two wild boars of the shootable category, thanks to the feeding, and they will also be able to see the bears, which is always interesting. At one of the bear camps, I noticed that when the bear comes into the scatter, it uses the same path and follows the same trail it had already trodden. Interesting.

Photo by Diána Mészárosné Gazsó

The two weeks of the exercise have passed at lightning speed. I have gained both knowledge and experience, and met good people, which is a great treasure these days. The farewell was bittersweet. I was a little homesick, but the community and the place took me away. I would advise everyone, if you have the opportunity to come here, don't hesitate! You're in for a once in a lifetime experience, a super fun adventure.

I would like to thank the Fauna and Flora Foundation for making this unusual exercise possible in Transylvania, in the hunting ground of Commando. Thanks to my university professor Dr. Miklós Heltai for supporting me in this project. I am also grateful to Attila Tankó, the chief hunter of the area, for introducing me to the local game management and hunting rules and customs and for trying to make my experience as rich and memorable as possible. Thank you to Botond Demes, professional hunter, for the meaningful discussions and for sharing his many years of professional experience with me. Many thanks to the Girls who put and still put the finest Transylvanian food on the table every day. I wish them success, good health and perseverance in the years to come!

Cover photo by Diána Mészárosné Gazsó

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